[John437]

Hi all, i am new to this forum i found it while searching for information about my problem I wrote up in the title i hope there are some people here who had similar issues and can help me find out what causes this as recently it caused me to lose my first job, but it is a major problem in my everyday life too.

I will try to explain it with a series of examples as i can't put it into words.

When i try to play chess after the first few moves -which generally consist of setting up your pieces in position- my mind goes blank when things are ready to become complicated and i cannot think of things to continue the match so i end up stalling and playing defensive while not having initiative ideas myself.

When i play a video game after the first few hours of intoducion of the story and characters and the "preparation" of the whole experience is over and the actual game is about to start i lose passion/commitment/interest/ in the whole thing and cannot enjoy it anymore.

When i try to write music (my main hobby right now which i really want to improve at) I can compose the beginning of the song fine, do a buildup for the chorus however after i get past a certain point when a song would need to progress into its main point (the chorus phrase) my mind goes blank and i dont have any ideas to continue.

And of course the reason why i noticed this is a major problem, I started my first job 3 months ago after some heavy delay. It was a 8 hour job which required my attention full time when i was in work hours, it involved minor problem solving but was 70% routine. However when it did involve some problem solving and there was a problem i was not sure how to do i could barely think up any ideas to continue so my progress was very slow most of the time. (I was also unobservant a lot of times)

I am normally a decent problem solver and can be a little creative when it does not involve any responsibility, but at times like these in the examples my mind goes blank and i feel my brain is hesitating, afraid of something and wants to stop it right now, right as things are starting to get complicated or start to matter it yells: "wait, this is too much of a hassle! ill make you feel like a zombie if you don't stop this right now and do something else!" and so even if i fight it and try to continue the "zombie" feeling is there meaning i lose all my motivation to do the activity I set out to do and lose any creativity and passion/energy i had for it when i started.

I really hope someone can give me some help/advice on what this is and what causes it, I have symtoms of ADHD and Depression but none of those are as irritating as this.

[RenouncedTroglodyte]

Hello there!! Welcome to Psych Central!!

I believe you do have ADD, was not entirely sure though, not until I saw your profile. Still though, depression can really harm the brain, because you overthink problems and get into so much sadness that you either don't eat at all, or just eat junk, and makes you look twice at everything that you do, and all of that with a bunch of other stuff can damage your brain very well.

I go through some of the stuff you go through like playing chess. But all the other stuff beside video games, I think they're generated and motivated by low self-esteem, which is something that accompanies depression, and IS caused by depression, making you stop and say "I'm a zombie", if I understand that correctly from you.

I would like to hear more from you, and you came to the right place. People here will help you get through this depression crisis. I hope I did say something helpful

[vital]

Originally Posted by John437

Hi all, i am new to this forum i found it while searching for information about my problem I wrote up in the title i hope there are some people here who had similar issues and can help me find out what causes this as recently it caused me to lose my first job, but it is a major problem in my everyday life too.

I will try to explain it with a series of examples as i can't put it into words.

When i try to play chess after the first few moves -which generally consist of setting up your pieces in position- my mind goes blank when things are ready to become complicated and i cannot think of things to continue the match so i end up stalling and playing defensive while not having initiative ideas myself.

When i play a video game after the first few hours of intoducion of the story and characters and the "preparation" of the whole experience is over and the actual game is about to start i lose passion/commitment/interest/ in the whole thing and cannot enjoy it anymore.

When i try to write music (my main hobby right now which i really want to improve at) I can compose the beginning of the song fine, do a buildup for the chorus however after i get past a certain point when a song would need to progress into its main point (the chorus phrase) my mind goes blank and i dont have any ideas to continue.

And of course the reason why i noticed this is a major problem, I started my first job 3 months ago after some heavy delay. It was a 8 hour job which required my attention full time when i was in work hours, it involved minor problem solving but was 70% routine. However when it did involve some problem solving and there was a problem i was not sure how to do i could barely think up any ideas to continue so my progress was very slow most of the time. (I was also unobservant a lot of times)

I am normally a decent problem solver and can be a little creative when it does not involve any responsibility, but at times like these in the examples my mind goes blank and i feel my brain is hesitating, afraid of something and wants to stop it right now, right as things are starting to get complicated or start to matter it yells: "wait, this is too much of a hassle! ill make you feel like a zombie if you don't stop this right now and do something else!" and so even if i fight it and try to continue the "zombie" feeling is there meaning i lose all my motivation to do the activity I set out to do and lose any creativity and passion/energy i had for it when i started.

I really hope someone can give me some help/advice on what this is and what causes it, I have symtoms of ADHD and Depression but none of those are as irritating as this.

Hi John,

If you are taking psych meds, one of the main complaints of those taking antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs is exactly "feeling like a zombie." I'd bring it up with your M.D.

If you haven't done, it, I think it's almost always a good idea is to carefully check if you've got an underlying medical or nutritional problem that might not have been checked. I made a list here:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/4262681-post105.html

- vital

[Fuzzybear]

[John437]

Thank you for the replies, I currently don't take any meds nor am i planning to. I may have deficiency in some vitamins tough recently i had a blood test and no major problems were found.

I agree with the idea that low self-esteem and ADD symptoms are a big factor in my issues but I think there's something else that is the main culprit in my problem, I have two acquaintances who have ADHD/dyslexia and share most of the symptoms I have besides this one. I remember that i always had problems paying attention to multiple threads of information for example if i am doing something like reading subtitles on a video and someone is talking to me i could barely recall what the person was saying while i was reading and if i try to pay attention to two things i cant hold it on any of them so basically I can only do one thing while i ignore the other -which at that point only serves as a distranction-. (dont know how much of this is normal)

Another interesting example that can be related to the others mentioned in the first post: When i am hanging out with a friend i can act normally as in be talkative, hold a topic/conversation/pay attention etc but if i am in a group - at least 2-3 more people - My brain blocks up and i can barely think of anything to say in coversations and i become noticeably silent and start daydreaming most of the time (i am pretty shy around strangers true but this also happens when all the members of the group are people im comfortable with)

I really want to find a name for this symptom at least so i can better understand it maybe find a treatment for it. depression and adhd do lower my quality of life but this problem prevents me from doing basic things that involve any "big picture" thinking (Like driving, i do have a license but this problem kicks in and i can barely pay attention to my surroundings so i dont really drive at all as i would be pretty dangerous on the road )