This is a new article. Concentration is a debilitating symptom of my depression and I'm sure others can relate.

"Trauma during one's youth may not just cause difficulties with emotions later in life but may also impact day-to-day functioning like driving, working, education and relationships due to brain changes that stem from the trauma,"...

Does a history of abuse before the age of 18 affect later capacity to concentrate and stay focused?

According to a new study Veterans with a history of physical or sexual abuse or witnessing family violence before the age of 18 have a reduced ability to concentrate compared to Veterans who were not abused.

The study, which appears in the journal Brain and Behavior, revealed that this failure to concentrate was associated with abnormal connectivity in the brain, between the amygdala, a core region for emotion, and frontal areas that help maintain focus. Collectively, these findings offer a new perspective on the long-term impact of psychological trauma years, if not decades, after childhood.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0410154748.htm

I've always told my therapist it feels like I have brain damage.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Skies

This is a new article. Concentration is a debilitating symptom of my depression and I'm sure others can relate.



I've always told my therapist it feels like I have brain damage.

You don't have brain damage you are a unique person, the one and only you
When I was a baby I had a lot of convulsions (what they called them but I think they were seizures) I was allergic to eggs and when I had a fever to spike I would have a seizure. My last one was age 10, riding a minibike wide open down a gravel road, wearing no helmet, shorts, t-shirt and no shoes. Ask me if I got chewed up in the rocks....yes. May still have some in my head and that would explain some things. We , some friends and I, were camping with mom at a campground that had acres and acres of trails. So we would be gone most of the day. But when I had the wreck so far away my friends had to get these grungy men in an old pick up to take me back to camp. Mom about passed out when she saw these men bring me to the campsite in the back of a truck, unconscious, covered in blood. I don't remember coming to until we got home which was about and hour away. Mom wanted to give me a bath and wash my hair before taking me to the hospital. My point is with all that going on I have wondered about brain damage myself. But it really doesn't matter, I am who I am, love me or leave me

[reb569]

I have always had concentration issues. In college, I found a way to work around it that worked well for me. In my psych 101 class, they covered ways to help remember things covered in class and for studying. Things like sitting in the same seat, maintaining the same caffeine level, tying key ideas to a two something, like an acronym, or place or person, studying the same time and in the same place, reading material out loud. My first semester in college, just out of the Air Force so it was a huge time of change for me, I used all of these and it really worked. I was terrified that I was going to flunk out, especially after my high school history (dropped out in middle of senior year and got my GED in the Air Force). I aced every class that semester and had a 4.0 gpa after that first semester. I maintained that gpa for 3 semesters and then transferred to a University.

My ability to concentrate is definitely related to how stressed out I am. I have basically no ability to concentrate under high stress situations, and when less stressed, it can sometime be quite challenging too. Of course concentration is also an issue when I'm depressed. I guess the time, currently anyway, where I really can concentrate, is when I'm really into a project and there is no possibility of interruptions, which tends to be in the early morning between 2 am and 8 am.

[OliverB]

I look like haveing ADD so I was given Concerta for it...

Hey Reb569- Zoomie here too-I was in the Air Force. Oddly, i became super focused and did great at one of the most stressful jobs. So my cognitive style was the opposite of yours in a way.

I was my cognitive type back then-emotion separated by thought rather than integrated. Years later, I lost that ability, and they somehow integrated and...it didn't work so well.

It looks like you found some resourceful was to compensate. My phsychiatrist sadi that to me recently.

Ambien is closing my lids now, guess it's time to sleep.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Skies

Hey Reb569- Zoomie here too-I was in the Air Force. Oddly, i became super focused and did great at one of the most stressful jobs. So my cognitive style was the opposite of yours in a way.

I was my cognitive type back then-emotion separated by thought rather than integrated. Years later, I lost that ability, and they somehow integrated and...it didn't work so well.

It looks like you found some resourceful was to compensate. My phsychiatrist sadi that to me recently.

Ambien is closing my lids now, guess it's time to sleep.

I was in the Air Force too How about that? What are the odds ? I worked in Civil Engineering as a sheet metal and welding specialist in building construction.

[reb569]

And I was an Aerospace Ground Equipment Technician (AGE). I kept some of my CPTSD at bay while active duty through doing a lot of drinking I think.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

And I was an Aerospace Ground Equipment Technician (AGE). I kept some of my CPTSD at bay while active duty through doing a lot of drinking I think.

We partied a lot two. Had coed dorms, it was pretty wild when the sun went down LOL