I used to have thoughts like lightning, could think circles around most people, and not just when I was manic or hypomanic. When I was manic the thoughts were way too fast, too fast to keep up with. Now my mind is sluggish.
It wasn’t until my recently-ended job at the hospital that I realized what an impairment this is. The biggest problem I had at that job was being unable to move quickly enough to keep up. The thing is, when you have to think about what you’re doing as you’re doing it, and your thoughts are slow, your actions are going to be slow as well. My coworkers/trainers didn’t understand why I couldn’t just go faster. They didn’t get that I was going as fast as I could. I guess one positive from that job is that I learned about a limitation that I have, so maybe I won’t make the mistake of trying to do such a fast-paced job again.