[pinkvilla]

I need some opinions on this situation.

People usually describe me as a deep sophisticated person. I do have an interest in complex matters and can talk about issues in depth. My peers respect that about me.

The problem is I freak out in simple situations. For example,today I had to fill in a form which required copying some info from a given sheet. One information was too small and I looked confused to find it that the receptionist said she will fill that column. I could see that she was amused that I did not find it and I was there to do a big presentation.
I felt so much shame. This happens to me all the time. I sometimes look confused over simple things and look stupid and this ruins my stand especially with people I am meeting for the first time or someone who doesn't know me very well. In a coffee shop ,I'll look confused if I don't find the sugar or a straw.

How do I solve this because it is causing a lot of stress in life. What could be wrong??

Are you medicated? How new is this problem? Do you think there might be a relationship between your meds and this problem. Have you had recent emotional changes?

I experienced this for about a week after crashing from a hypomanic spell of a few weeks prior to that but I seem to be improving again.

[leejosepho]

Sometimes the simplest things seem the most elusive, and I think at least part of the problem is that some of us tend to over-think those simple things...but then that can beg the question as to how to distinguish simple from complex when our brains seem wired for dissecting complexities. Looking from the other end, my wife says I seldom make mistakes but the mistakes I do make are almost always big ones.

[Cyllya]

It sounds like what happens to me with working memory problems (sometimes exacerbated by attention problems), because I have ADHD.

You ever walk into a room only to realize you can't remember why you went there? That's an example of a working memory fail. If you have poor working memory, the same kind of problem happens all the time, for all sorts of things, not just for walking to rooms. For example, forgetting what program I wanted to open (and why) in the time it takes me to move my mouse cursor to the START menu. When I'm reading a book that has small text, little line spacing, and/or long paragraphs, I'll easily lose my place, then I'll forget what I just read in the time it takes me to find the next line. I often have trouble with verbal communication, so it's easy for someone to think I'm not-too-bright if they meet me in the wrong circumstance. (Here's an article someone wrote about the speech problem in case you can commiserate.)

On particularly bad days, whenever I have such a working memory fail, I'll wonder, "Wait, what was I [doing/looking for]?" but I'll sort of get mentally "stuck" at that point and zone out for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure I have a stupid-looking facial expression during this.

Besides ADHD, you can get similar symptoms from poor sleep, autism, brain injury, med side effects (psych meds, anesthesia from surgery, probably others), age-related cognitive issues, etc. I think hormone or nutrition issues could cause it too.

[pinkvilla]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Are you medicated? How new is this problem? Do you think there might be a relationship between your meds and this problem. Have you had recent emotional changes?

I experienced this for about a week after crashing from a hypomanic spell of a few weeks prior to that but I seem to be improving again.

No I'm not on any meds. I am recovering from postpartum depression with therapy . Maybe I need to go on meds . I have a lot of stress in life now. The foggy brain is hard to live with.