Hi all,
I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom on how to improve some lingering cognition issues that make my life a bit difficult. Officially, I have diagnoses of add, anxiety, depression. My VIQ is significantly higher than a comparatively low PIQ. Since I was young, I remember not being able to focus well, couldn't recall the main detail of stories, but I'd then overfocus to compensate. I've gotten better with concrete, structured tasks over the years and can survive in the settings.
Apart from just task management, the big frustration is when trying to apply/anticipate how my interests translate into near and far term preferences and options. Career-wise, I can be interested in the outcome of work, but then get very frustrated/bored by the process. Sometimes, it feels like I either haven't thought through and kept in mind the essential details of some options, and instead got interested in some sporadic details. I can get very motivated by instances and moments, but can't always recall/regenerate that excitement/enthusiasm into a larger focus. So I was in research, and thought about going into psych research, but found that I found the data cleaning and conceptual inconsistency really tedious. Same about health services research. So while I've worked hard and achieved in the classroom, this hasn't translated to proportionate outcomes in achieving the same financial/life returns since I get stuck not advancing in any career.
Sometimes when I think about something abstractly, I'll have to read up on all the details just to get the context. Otherwise, I can't infer the specifics. Some people can just jump to a less time consuming starting point.
Is this a lack of ability to think abstractly, an executive function issue or something else? Is this an executive function issue that matches ADD, something more like NVLD or something else? What might help?
Exercise and good diet help me manage my mood, anxiety and energy. Nothing has really touched this long term/abstract thinking issue. Currently, I am on 2 mg Intuniv, 75 mg pristiq. I take magnesium. I was found to have a vit c deficiency and HPHPA imbalance and just finished a course of intermittment high dose probiotics and vanco. Which doesn't seem to have done too much.
One ADD specialist says this sounds like an inability to keep a mental template in mind and recommended strattera. This has helped me read books and get to the basic meaning much better. But not necessarily manage that kind of directed focus.
I read research on internal directed attention, which suggests that the default mode network and the frontal/parietal cortex play significant roles. But little research is done on how abstract/complex/open ended the thinking is. Would self directed goal setting fall into divergent thinking?
I've done a lot to try to manage my issues wholistically. I work with an ADD coach, tried different medication/supplement approaches (mind you this is hard when you can't always think strategically) and tried CBT/ACBT/MCBT. My issues don't fit neatly into one box.
Stimulants help with getting things done, not with being able to get to the essence of an abstract thought. But honestly, only concerta didn't make me excessively too nervous and hyperfocused. I was on wellbutrin, which helped to an extent, but that made me nervous. I was briefly on memantime. I could think at least in terms of strategy, but it made me anxious after awhile.
Edited by whiteelephant, 13 January 2019 - 05:43 PM.