I just can’t focus on tv at all. Can’t absorb a single sentence. Have tried changing meds in the past but the change was too hard to maintain.
Right now I am very flat. Don’t think it’s negative symptoms. More like cognitive ones.
I want to cry but tears are impossible from me on these meds.
I am extremely. Extremely grateful I can still enjoy music which is incredible
That sounds serious. If it were me I’d bring it up with my psychiatrist.
I can follow movies but I don’t enjoy them.
How are you with YouTube, and their shorter videos? Maybe you could start with that and build up to longer videos?
I have problems with cognitive symptoms, too. Sometimes, I’m doing much better, able to enjoy TV again and focus. And other times, I just can’t focus, can’t follow the storyline, can’t remember the characters faces or their names…
Based on my own experience, maybe don’t try to force it. If you can’t focus on a TV show or movie with a storyline, could you instead watch something like Shark Tank, Is It Cake, Blown Away, Forged in Fire…?
I find that competition shows are way easier to watch when I’m struggling. You don’t need to absorb every detail to follow along. You miss a few sentences? Doesn’t matter, really. It’s more casual.
I hope this helps. 
Oh, great advice! I find YouTube easier on the brain, because most videos are pretty short.
@everhopeful @Blossom thanks for the great replies!
EH - yeah I can handle YouTube. But I sometimes worry if spending too much time on short clips might be counterproductive for attention span
Blossom - you are right I do find shows like forged in fire easier. In fact I can handle the History channel pretty good
My major sticking point is movies. I said I wanted to cry: this is because movies used to mean so so much to me. As a kid I must have watched Indiana Jones 100 times. Am nostalgic about those times
I think I have to concede that my glory days of movie watching are over
Well…in some cases it’s possible to pause a movie so you don’t need to watch the whole thing at once. You could try watching until you feel you need a break and pause it, then come back to it later.
I have a dvd player that remembers where I turned it off, so it starts at the excact place I stopped it. I don’t know if that will work on streaming services though.
My advice is to find something that you think you might particularly enjoy and keep trying at it. I used to not be able to watch anything for more than 20 mins or so. I would have to break my movies into chunks and watch them a little bit at a time. I often did not finish them because of this. I have since improved and am able to watch movies and series that I am interested in their full length on occasion.
No guarantees this will work for you but worth a shot. Maybe try watching small chunks and over an extended period of time try to work your way up to full length.
Best of luck.
These are classic negative symptoms…
Maybe ask your Dr for Wellbutrin.
Chip away at it. Set a goal of then minutes. Then fifteen. Keep going.
I feel like some actors and people on tv attack me through the screen so I don’t want to watch them because it’s not ok to treat me that way.
You’re perfectly cogent in your writing. There is a lot of music I can’t absorb. TV I can get, most of the time.
pick your favorite movie, do what veliciraptor said, little bits, maybe your favorite parts…if you know the movie, that would be easy. I do the same thing with reading books. I can read four pages at one setting now where used to be I couldn’t finish a page…don’ give up.
Most TV/Movies feel like torture to sit through. Zoning out helps a bit. I can look away but still hear the laugh tracks, characters, dialogue, audio, everything i guess and it bothers me to the point of torture.
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