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Verdandi
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01 Dec 2011, 10:25 pm

Tuttle wrote:
Sometimes what prevents me from eating is that I can't eat unless I make a decision about what to eat, and I don't know how to make a decision about what to eat, so even though I'm hungry I won't be able to eat for the next few hours until the hunger overrides the block and forces me to eat.

I am really bad at making decisions or answering questions that I can't do quite right.


This happens to me a lot. I had to force eating into a schedule, and then force a kind of decision tree into the process to try to avoid it. Like, "If I can't decide what to eat, make a tuna, ham, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Just to take decision-making out of my hands because the decision's already been made.

I also prioritize in that order - tuna if it's available. If not, then ham. If not, then PB&J.



pensieve
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01 Dec 2011, 11:34 pm

Aimless wrote:
I do have times when it seems like the gears in my head get stuck. I can't answer simple questions or make simple decisions. It's like the processing just stops. I would think this is not just exhaustion but overload.

By 'exhaustion' I mean cognitive and physical exhaustion.
It's like electromagnetism - can't have one without the other. For me personally, I mean.

I just remembered that I've had triggers that have led to a sudden shut down, usually having to do with people talking about me socialising. I interpret 'shut down' literally: body/brain shut down. Not a complete brain shut down but the higher thinking area is working at a very limited capacity and my body is so fatigued, like after a seizure.

I would probably call what you're describing as 'sensory overload' or 'brain fog' due to my inattentive symptoms. And I'd probably need to eat, have water, take a supplement or take my ADHD medication. This is probably why I don't call them 'shut downs' because most of my life was spent being predominately Inattentive ADHD.

Verdandi wrote:
Tuttle wrote:
Sometimes what prevents me from eating is that I can't eat unless I make a decision about what to eat, and I don't know how to make a decision about what to eat, so even though I'm hungry I won't be able to eat for the next few hours until the hunger overrides the block and forces me to eat.

I am really bad at making decisions or answering questions that I can't do quite right.


This happens to me a lot. I had to force eating into a schedule, and then force a kind of decision tree into the process to try to avoid it. Like, "If I can't decide what to eat, make a tuna, ham, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Just to take decision-making out of my hands because the decision's already been made.

I also prioritize in that order - tuna if it's available. If not, then ham. If not, then PB&J.

This is my situation right now.
I need to plan on what I will eat or once I enter that kitchen I will begin panicking and may have a meltdown.


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Verdandi
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02 Dec 2011, 4:36 am

pensieve wrote:
I just remembered that I've had triggers that have led to a sudden shut down, usually having to do with people talking about me socialising. I interpret 'shut down' literally: body/brain shut down. Not a complete brain shut down but the higher thinking area is working at a very limited capacity and my body is so fatigued, like after a seizure.

I would probably call what you're describing as 'sensory overload' or 'brain fog' due to my inattentive symptoms. And I'd probably need to eat, have water, take a supplement or take my ADHD medication. This is probably why I don't call them 'shut downs' because most of my life was spent being predominately Inattentive ADHD.


My initial interpretation was and remained for a long time very literal. I found out that other things would qualify as shut downs but am terrible at identifying them, but getting that understanding first, and then understanding that at least some of my cognitive problems result from what seems like parts of my brain shutting off due to certain stimuli (loud noises, for example) pushes the idea of "shut down" into what feels like a vague and ambiguous area that I can't fully define as well as I'd prefer.

What I usually recognize as a shut down is like what happened last night probably an hour before I posted here - I was in the kitchen talking to people and just stopped moving or interacting with people or talking at all, and spent the time looking at the light on a dent in my water bottle, and shifting it back and forth to see the reflection cause an illusion of depth. But moving? Getting myself dinner? Serious effort, and I didn't really want to eat.

Anyway, I ended up with a more severe shutdown a bit later. All things considered, I can only imagine what state I'd be in if I'd gone in a car loaded with people - two of whom don't care about the impact their smoking has on me - to a store crowded with holiday shoppers. and been out for two and a half hours in that kind of hell. 8O