[x123]

"Indecisiveness, Staring, Blank Mind" - those are the symptoms. They happen every few months for a few days and then go away. Normally I have considered them to be a different manifestation of depression - like my brain is so tired of fretting that it just turns itself off to rest. I can't do anything. Even talking is difficult. I start a sentence and change my mind or get confused halfway through a thought. I can't get any work done and I can't do anything relaxing either. All I can do is stare straight ahead like a zombie. (It seems to be gone this morning thankfully. )

Do other people experience this due to depression? This last time I began to worry that something might be wrong with my health. Is this normal for depression?

[Sunflower123]

My brain shuts down like that if I am overwhelmed or overly stressed or tired. I haven't attributed it to depression. Maybe I should. You could keep a log of these episodes to see if there is a pattern and have it checked out by a doctor if it continues.

[x123]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

My brain shuts down like that if I am overwhelmed or overly stressed or tired. I haven't attributed it to depression. Maybe I should. You could keep a log of these episodes to see if there is a pattern and have it checked out by a doctor if it continues.

Thanks, I will try to do that.

I also was thinking that there must be a way to rest a brain routinely to prevent the exhaustion. Meditation is somewhat like brain exercises, so I don't know if that would give the brain rest or not. Meditation forces the brain to quiet down which might help. Just random thoughts. (I have never been able to learn meditation, but I have tried a few times.)

[Sunflower123]

Yeah, me to. I have an app called Calm that has a Daily Calm meditation which my tdoc told me to try to do everyday (it's different each day and lasts around 10 minutes). Some days I can and some days I can't.

[Thunder Bow]

On medications?

[x123]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

On medications?

No. I have been dieting the last six months, but I was having these episodes of zombie behavior before I started dieting. (I have only lost 10 or so, so it isn't a very intense diet.)

[CepheidVariable]

Originally Posted by x123

I also was thinking that there must be a way to rest a brain routinely to prevent the exhaustion. Meditation is somewhat like brain exercises, so I don't know if that would give the brain rest or not. Meditation forces the brain to quiet down which might help. Just random thoughts. (I have never been able to learn meditation, but I have tried a few times.)

Have you tried these audio guides?

Free Guided Meditations - UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

They're generic mindfulness guides, so they should be broadly applicable.

They helped me in that they made it clear not to try and "force" anything, but to just gently experience and not treat it as an exercise.

Granted, I haven't been able to do much more than sometimes achieve the focus on a single thought or experience, but that helps a little. It's some temporary relief from all the fretting that I also do.

[x123]

Originally Posted by CepheidVariable

Have you tried these audio guides?

Free Guided Meditations - UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

They're generic mindfulness guides, so they should be broadly applicable.

They helped me in that they made it clear not to try and "force" anything, but to just gently experience and not treat it as an exercise.

Granted, I haven't been able to do much more than sometimes achieve the focus on a single thought or experience, but that helps a little. It's some temporary relief from all the fretting that I also do.

Sorry to be so slow to reply, @CepheidVariable . Those videos might be helpful. I was trying to meditate a few years ago by staring at a candle, but that only lasted a month or so.

I find certain music also helps me relax. That is probably true for everybody I suppose. There is a "Traditional Music Channel" on youtube that has a lot of folk music such as American Indian, Mongolian, etc. That stuff is soothing to me.

[avlady]

to be in an actual state of indicision, like having to decide between one thing or another, having to give up the one thing can cause anxiety and restlessness, as i've experienced. If it continues then the old saying not to decide is to decide will come into the picture. Things will come to a head and you will be forced to decide and this could lead to serious side affects.

[x123]

Originally Posted by avlady

to be in an actual state of indicision, like having to decide between one thing or another, having to give up the one thing can cause anxiety and restlessness, as i've experienced. If it continues then the old saying not to decide is to decide will come into the picture. Things will come to a head and you will be forced to decide and this could lead to serious side affects.

What you say is very true. I have read that sometimes choosing anything is better than choosing nothing. Usually the decision made by time running out is the worst.

In my case it is silly stuff that I can't decide. For example, I might be hungry but I can't eat because I can't decide what I should eat. One thing sounds good but maybe it has some disadvantage such as being high in fat or high in calories. I can't even decide what I want to say when I am having a conversation. I just go silent halfway through a sentence. It's weird. LOL