does anyone here suffer from attentional problems?

Post Reply New Topic

the kind of attentional problems that make you feel slower than most at times. like it's sometimes exhausting to try and pay attention to a conversation, or journal or do anything that requires a great deal of mental energy? i find it extremely frustrating and that it sends my confidence up and down, up and down, up and down...

I think that you posted this while I was writing mine, which is kind of about the same thing and a little creepy. So yeah! I hear ya

Dang... I hit reply cause I think I had something to say... but I forget what the topic was about....
Oh wait.. there it is below this window box....

Yeah... it requires a physical and mental effort for me to pay attention to something that is more than a couple minutes long... unless a) no distractions and b) it's about something I'm currently researching (ie, current special interest)

Having to pay attention to something that my mind doesn't seem to want to pay attention to, drains me. I think that is more the reason I have anti-social tendencies as opposed to the other reasons aspies give...
But then again... it's no different trying to "pay attention to NT's social cues" than to "pay attention to their talking"
I have to consciously prevent other ideas from distracting me, and as other ideas and thoughts constantly bombard my conscious mind, i'm having to push them away, so I miss bits and pieces of what is being said (or emoted) so I'm constantly having to go back, and either try to remember what they said (pull it from subconscious) or extrapolate what they said from what they are now saying. All this then makes me realize that i've just missed even more of what they said, and the process begins anew... all the while being bombarded with other ideas and thoughts.

kinda systemic in it's nature.. when i'm well rested, it's easier... if i'm groggy.. good luck!

At times I do. It's like my brain is saying
"Sorry! Full capacity has been reached. Please try again later."

I have over-concentrating problems. I don't think they're very similar though.

Depends on what I'm doing at the time.

I have Inattentive ADHD. So, yes. But i also over-concentrate on things. If it's not one of the things my brain has fixated on, i have trouble paying attention, so i miss a lot of things.

Yes I do, but that is from ADD.

I have two states. I'm either hyper-focused or very easily distracted and low focus. If I'm reading, researching or working on an activity that I'm highly interested in, I go into hyper focus mode and can concentrate extremely well. I have to be in the right environment though. If there are distractions, I can't do this.

Any other time, I'm highly distractable and find focusing for more than 15 minutes at a time impossible.

Listening to anyone else talk, this happens:

At times I do. It's like my brain is saying
"Sorry! Full capacity has been reached. Please try again later."

Yep. I have ADHD as well as AS. Medication helps, but isn't 100%.

~Kate

I have ADHD but I can hyperfocus, especially if it really interests me. I don't really know if that ability is ADHD or AS.

I am a one at a time person. If there is more than one conversation going, it's tough to keep up but I can still manage. If it's more than three then everything seems drowned out and I can't make out what people are really saying.

NullChamber wrote: the kind of attentional problems that make you feel slower than most at times. like it's sometimes exhausting to try and pay attention to a conversation, or journal or do anything that requires a great deal of mental energy? i find it extremely frustrating and that it sends my confidence up and down, up and down, up and down... - Yes, I am ADHD Inattentive, central auditory processing disorder (CAPD/APD), and mild dyspraxia. In my case, I was fortunate to find that, for me, caffeine works a little (not a cure) to temporarily reduce some of my ADHD Inattention symptoms and pay attention a little better (not a cure). - pgd