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I have a lot of the cognitive impairments described here.
The psychiatrists like he says are definitely too focused on the positives, and don’t seem to want to even discuss this. At least in my experience also
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Yeah. My dr thinks I’m developing dementia but maybe it’s just negatives
Sz can definitely cause dementia like symptoms. I have cycles that make me feel very dumb sometimes. My primary said she’d send me for dementia tests depending on what my pdoc said and if meds helped or not.
Luckily, my med helped. I have less “dumb” parts of the cycle. I am very forgetful at times. So much that it’s a running gag in my family about my forgetfulness.
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That’s not fair!
At the moment my brain is working in a very strange way. I am heavily reliant on intrusive thoughts helping me to process things and recall memories. It’s kinda like have a Siri inside my head. Sometimes it wants me to kill myself, but much of the time it seems to be helping me think properly. Not sure if this counts as a cognitive issue or not?
I’m extremely forgetful. Sometimes I’ll go to do something I’ve done many times before and yet I’ll forget how to do it. It’s scary. When I worked as a medical receptionist, I did the same things every day for a long time. On my last day of employment, I suddenly couldn’t remember how to do my job. It scared me and still does
No, a cognitive issue is more like forgetting or not understanding things.
Yours could be a form of cognitive issue, though, since you’re processing stuff oddly.
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I totally get that.
Sometimes at work I will freeze up because I blank on what to do. It usually passes quickly, but it freaks me out and I have to hide it when taking care of a patron.
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I get easily confused by all this stuff when I try to relate to my own experience day to day.
Over the years I think I have learned to compensate for this kinda stuff that makes it a bit less of an issue.
To these doctors it’s an illness, but I view it as just part of me as an individual, as I am not going to wake up one day and not have sz.
Sz did decrease my university grades from As to B-Cs so no severe cognitive symptoms. My negatives are more severe than my cognitive symptoms.
Yeah, I think that is a healthy way to look at it! We all have quirks and sometimes they make life harder, but accepting them and learning workarounds is important to function.
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It’s the only choice we have if we want to fight back and push on and try and live as full life as we can despite the odds.
Cannot admit defeat even though bad days do still happen.
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I think it is helpful to get a clear understanding of what cognitive impairment means so I have pasted the definition below:
Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
- disorganized thinking.
- slow thinking.
- difficulty understanding.
- poor concentration.
- poor memory.
- difficulty expressing thoughts.
- difficulty integrating thoughts, feelings and behavior.
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That’s my experience too. If you can easily do x and yet flunk y you’re more like to be described as lazy,obstructive etc rather than it be seen as a cognitive issue that needs addressing.
My own weak areas are planning,non- verbal memory, spatial perception(that has improved but is comparatively weak compared to my verbal ability) , visual short term memory.
II can have days when I’m mentally as sharp as can be, and days when I’m struggling to organise my thoughts. My autobiographical memory is quite poor, and certain things that come naturally to most people don’t for me. For example brushing my teeth and taking oral meds…Both are long term. Going on depot was due to the poor record with oral meds.
At 63 there is a greater personal concern about dementia than there was a decade ago. I actually had my 1st test for signs of MCI/ dementia at my recent video consultation. Thankfully I did OK.
Thanks for sharing. Quite interesting. Too bad that there is no fda approved treatment yet. How do you deal with cognitive impairment? Can you keep up a job? I lost mine due to delusions, cognitive impairment and paranoia.
@Jasmine I am sorry you lost your job for those reasons. You may find that in the future you will be able to do some form of work. In my case after a few years of talk about work, and then looking for work for about two years, I got the job where I am now, and have been for 15 years. I do data entry and it is a pretty good job. I don’t find it boring and the job requires some thinking.
I have had some problems with my illness but it has not made me lose my job. For one, I am not so great with socializing.
It may depend on how bad your symptoms are. You may have to take a job you don’t think is your top choice.
I was helped by a job coach for the mentally ill.
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Anyone who’s ever done any work of any kind here has got me beat all ways round. I had a very brief spell helping with the hospital library(going round wards) but just couldn’t cope with it. I also did a bit of washing up at a large rather rundown hotel my wife and I were staying at. They had normal paying guests, and those who were on benefits. My wife did some of the cooking. They knocked a little bit off our rent.
I
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