[Loial]

I know a lot of people have said it is harder to read whether because of their illness or medication, usually because of lack of concentration but I was wondering if anyone found their reading comprehension had declined.

Now that I'm off APs I'm starting to read again every night but I have noticed that I am finding it harder to infer the meaning of words I am unfamiliar with or simply misreading words I should know completely.

The most obvious example was a news article about "Fat Shaming" which I read as "Shamming", thinking what on earth is that... it took me a while to realise what the word actually was! It's also happened a fair few other times.

I've also found myself part the way through reading a paragraph only to feel like I am reading a jumble of words & have to restart. I think this has more to do with concentration though.

Does anyone else have similar problems? I figure it must be down to the cognitive effects of psychosis.

[daisymazed]

Hi Loial,
I do get words confused a bit. But then again I'm confused about a lot of things.

I used to be quite good at reading aloud, like in school and reading presentations in College. I was always able to read fast and fluidly but last night while I was babysitting I was trying to read the kids a story off my phone and I just kept getting caught up and jumbling up words. The kids actually started messing with me because of it, I found it funny but it is quite concerning. I'd say it's the meds and I was losing concentration as I was reading so it was hard to stay focused.

[Loial]

Originally Posted by chickenfoot

but last night while I was babysitting I was trying to read the kids a story off my phone and I just kept getting caught up and jumbling up words.

I've found the same problem reading books to my nephew... with the simple books with short sentences it is alright but on some of the books with paragraphs I'd end up missing out words & stuff! He didn't seem to notice but he is only 4 so...

I think it's all to easy to blame things on medication but seeing as these problems seem to have remained even though I've been med-free for 3 weeks now, it can't be the cause.

Originally Posted by Loial

I've found the same problem reading books to my nephew... with the simple books with short sentences it is alright but on some of the books with paragraphs I'd end up missing out words & stuff! He didn't seem to notice but he is only 4 so...

I think it's all to easy to blame things on medication but seeing as these problems seem to have remained even though I've been med-free for 3 weeks now, it can't be the cause.

Give him a few more years and he'll be hanging on every word haha.

I don't know really, I like to blame the meds, it's easier . I do think it would take a while for your body to revert back to 'normal' after being on meds for so long. I know it takes months for the depot I'm on to fully exit your system, but that's a depot.

I would be interested to see some articles on reading comprehension among people with psychoses and see if the damage is caused by the disorder or by meds.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by chickenfoot

I would be interested to see some articles on reading comprehension among people with psychoses and see if the damage is caused by the disorder or by meds.

I think it would be hard to do that study as most people likely to cooperate in a study would be on meds....they have that go with the system mindset. Personally I think the psychosis causes the reading problems but the medicine stops you from recovering. In my time on and off meds I spent a lot of effort relearning and playing brain games. Anyway I hit my peak scores just before relapse and after going back on meds have been about 100 points lower on a 1600 point scale. I think by interfering with neurotransmitters the meds slow down learning. This is just my personal theory not scientific at all.....still it may be because I have a mood component and the meds don't let me reach the highs.

[Loial]

Originally Posted by chickenfoot

I would be interested to see some articles on reading comprehension among people with psychoses and see if the damage is caused by the disorder or by meds.

Cognitive defects are certainly a feature of schizophrenia & I would imagine would account for things like this although I haven't found any specific mention of it in relation to that. Whether or not this extends to other forms of psychoses I'm not sure.

I did a quick Google search & there are some articles showing lower reading comprehension & phonological awareness in schizophrenics. I doubt there will be any studies that factor in medication... it's certainly the case that medication can reduce concentration though.

I'm able to read and write just fine. I've always had to write complex concepts down and re-read them over and over again until I am comfortable wit them. However, since my mood stabilizer, Lamictal, I find my short term memory isn't as good as it once was. Lamictal treats my bipolarII symptoms. Still, I've found ways around it so that I can wrestle with tough concepts and foreign words.

I basically have to find key arguments, copy and past them, then after reading the primary text with the supplements I can go into depths with them and create a web of ideas to them to keep it in order.

I do remember in the early stages of Schizopjhrenia my thought processes slowed down while I was unmedicated. I would read sentence over and over again. That's why I write it all down, then go over it with a red pen, then with a green pen for the final process.

My mind is pretty sharp still, even though the Lamictal causes memory loss. I'm on a pretty high dosage and it happens. It's better than being enraged and so depressive that I want to kill myself.

Pro's and Con's to all meds sigh. I can't wait for the day I'm done with this book casually. Light reads where it doesn't take slow, deep reads.

One thing to note that drastically ruined my thought and memory was the shinking of my hippo campus due to stress. It's the center of memory. It was almost like I had dementia. All that stress over the period of a year ruined my memory but it healed once I got onto Geodon. My memory was back in full swing.

[Shmooey]

I have had significant problems with reading and comprehension since my last three psychotic episodes seem to have permanently damaged my brain.

I used to be able to read all day long, now I can only read for about 20 minutes at a time before I get overwhelmed. I find myself going back to re-read passages a lot more than before as well. Currently I'm reading my own copy of Surviving Schizophrenia and using a highlighter, which helps. I can't do that with library books though, so I've stopped going there for the time being.

Also, my mom gets me a gift subscription to the New Yorker magazine. Each issue usually has three in-depth articles about various topics. It's virtually impossible for me to get through them anymore, to the point where I've asked her not to extend the subscription when it expires.

My typing has suffered too. I proofread so errors don't come through, but I hit backspace more than the other keys, it seems. I used to type 90 words a minute with 99% accuracy, but no longer.

I have had problems reading for a number of years now, whether on meds or off. 3 weeks is hardly any time off so could well improve if med-related. For example, I still suffer with postural hypotension from meds yet haven't taken any type of med for 9 months now. Maybe it needs more time, or maybe it's permanent like my tremor and muscle spasms?

My reading problems are partly concentration related, but also processing issues I think because I miss lines/words and I switch the meanings of words, and read what I expect to read. I can just about skim read a novel because the storyline is usually predictable, though sometimes if it gets technical I can't always follow everything in detail; just the gist. It is concerning that I struggle so much with journal articles as I'm returning to uni soon. I switch things around so, for example, I'll read X does cause...., and then the next sentence read X doesn't cause... And back and forth until I have no idea what the article is trying to argue. I have to read it over and over, and sometimes still don't fully understand what the article means. It's like I can read & understand each individual word but can't add them all together to get the meaning.

I have no idea what causes it all. I have had extensive vision testing because I get headaches 24/7 and it's like I can see, but I also can't see properly at the same time. My visual acquity is fine so I think it must be a processing issue, but I have no idea why it started. Well, I have a theory, but I will never know for sure. Personally, I think it takes years to fully recover from both med use and psychosis, if you can even return to how you were before. We are still in the dark ages of understanding the brain and mind.

*Willow*

[SchizoKing]

Originally Posted by Loial

I know a lot of people have said it is harder to read whether because of their illness or medication, usually because of lack of concentration but I was wondering if anyone found their reading comprehension had declined.

Now that I'm off APs I'm starting to read again every night but I have noticed that I am finding it harder to infer the meaning of words I am unfamiliar with or simply misreading words I should know completely.

The most obvious example was a news article about "Fat Shaming" which I read as "Shamming", thinking what on earth is that... it took me a while to realise what the word actually was! It's also happened a fair few other times.

I've also found myself part the way through reading a paragraph only to feel like I am reading a jumble of words & have to restart. I think this has more to do with concentration though.

Does anyone else have similar problems? I figure it must be down to the cognitive effects of psychosis.

I have been having problems with reading comprehension ever since I was diagnosed. I have tried my hardest to read and retain information but have not had any success. Not sure if its my illness or medication but I am about to start an MBA program so wish me luck. At this point I have nothing to lose and intend to pursue some of the same goals I had prior to being diagnosed.

[Shaly78]

HI just want to chime in. Since things have gotten worst a couple years ago I've noticed like letters added or subtract that would cause my eyes to seem like they wasn't seeing straight. Almost like hypnosis I'm not sure may not be the correct terminology. I've noticed my eye fixates to certain words almost like someone is controlling my head. A couple of years ago I was reading this book and most my eye would catch word that were psychology related. I would turn books to certain pages randomly that would have specific meaning. I suffer with lack of concentration sometimes with reading blacking out and stuff like that is post traumatic stress disorder. There was this one time I was reading and got triggered and all the words seem like they wasn't meant to be read. It was just words on paper if that makes sense. It didn't seem like I was person unable to read it just like my eye won't start left to right to read real weird.

[newtus]

when im unmedicated I can read just fine. usually. on medication my reading comprehension is lowered. psychosis has made it a bit worse but not overall. for me its the medications usually. haldol did a number on me. i used to be able to read philosophy with little or no problem and we all know how hard that is. since being on meds i cant really read anymore. nor spell. it doesnt come as natural as it used to to me. i have to try extra hard and that makes me really sad. because i used to work out college level words and read far above my grade level in grade school. its not like that anymore. and im still in college. i STILL try because i dont want my brain to be disengaged when im older.

[CrazyLo]

I used to be able to read really fast and comprehend...now I have to read slowly or I will misread the words. This is recent. It especially happens when reading people's posts on this site because everyone has a different writing style.