Confounding Factor

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Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,597
Location: In the recesses of my mind

19 Mar 2007, 12:21 pm

I just realized something that at leasts contributes partially to slowing down my thought process at times...

I, like a lot of people here, talk to myself a lot... it's often kinda muted and distant... but i can actively bring it to the front and use this kind of self dialogue to help me think things over. i do this especially when i'm thinking about something i'm gonna have to communicate in the near future (sitting here putting comments on essay papers is what's triggering this line of thought, actually)

but thanks to my new roommate (who JUST left)... i realized that all the noise they were making made it hard to hear my own voice while i was thinking... i mean, the noise just became so distracting all my verbal thoughts came to a grinding hault...and it made me realize how much of a factor this might play day to day when i have to talk to people. i

i do think i have some sort of auditory processing issues... never been tested though. but at any rate, i'm sure there must be a lot of people who DO have this combo of talkin to themselves AND having CAPD...

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Erilyn
Snowy Owl

Joined: 1 Mar 2007
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Posts: 166
Location: British Columbia, Canada

19 Mar 2007, 12:45 pm

My thought process is extremely fragile. Part of my problem is that I can FEEL my brain working, so if there is any outside stimuli to take my attention away from that process, then it’s incredibly difficult to recover it. Kinda like an object that is just out of reach – you can brush it with your fingertips, but can’t get a firm grip on it. I could never understand people who do homework (or any mental work) with the TV or stereo on.

I could never even study or work in a library – even the oppressive silence was distracting. I could hear people turning pages in their books, the occasional whispered conversation, even the air in the vents overhead. I think the only reason I survived tests and exams was because of my adrenaline level. This is probably also why I always procrastinated with essays and other assignments. If it wasn’t due for weeks, I couldn’t focus on it no matter how hard I tried.

But I also have ADD, as well as CAPD.

Starr
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Age: 69
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,052

19 Mar 2007, 12:46 pm

I can understand that experience Sedaka. Noise/people talking (which sometimes feels like the same thing when you're trying to think about something) is enough to give me a meltdown/brain-freeze. First my thinking slows right down and I start getting a 'time lapse' - the gap between someone speaking to me and my understanding what they say. If they don't shut up, or if I don't get away from them, my brain completely freezes and I can't even think my own thoughts for a while, it all just grinds to a stop. I wish I could filter out extraneous sounds, maybe that's what some people can do, otherwise how do they think/listen to music/perform actions etc at the same time?

Erilyn
Snowy Owl

Joined: 1 Mar 2007
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Posts: 166
Location: British Columbia, Canada

19 Mar 2007, 4:36 pm

Starr wrote:

There was a receptionist at my company who could talk on the phone, process a payment from a face-to-face customer, and write notes all at the same time. Usually with tons of people talking around her. Just thinking about it reduces my brain to mush.