Ever since I started a new job last year, I’ve been having these problems. I work in retail. I’m constantly making mistakes, I’m unfocused, forgetful, bad at organisation and using initiative, and sometimes struggling to hear or understand what people are saying to me. Like I don’t hear their words or they don’t register in my head. I’m also having trouble making conversation with my colleagues which is making it difficult to build a relationship with them.
It’s normal to make mistakes, but I am making them constantly and it often causes a great deal of frustration and embarrassment for me, as well as irritation for my colleagues.
I’ve tried to brush it off as me being naturally clumsy person that is very shy and introverted. But I feel like it’s something more than that, because I’m having genuine communication issues too when it comes to hearing and understanding what I’m being told.
If this feels new rather than something you’ve always dealt with, please get evaluated by a doctor right away. Nobody on Lemmy can diagnose you over the Internet.
This isn’t new for me, I’ve always been like this. It’s just that it’s begun to cause me issues again since starting a new job. And yes I intend to see a doctor as soon as possible, but I’m just asking Lemmy in the meantime to see what people think
Do you have anxiety? I had a lot of these issues before I got on anxiety medication when I worked retail.
I think for me it was that my brain was too focused on anxiety and over thinking things that it wasn’t properly paying attention to the job and social aspects
Yeah I have anxiety disorder, I’ve blamed my issues on that for a long time but I’ve just been wondering if it could be something else too.
Do you smoke weed? Are you on medication?
I don’t smoke weed, but I am on Citalopram medication. (Also sorry for taking so long to reply)
Yea, this sounds serious enough to see a doc about. Particularly if it’s a new thing.
Getting mental health conditions properly diagnosed in a clinical environment is absolutely not that simple. I am basing this off of more than a decade of going through the US mental health system at a high level of utilization. I am not saying that OP shouldn’t try to get a professional opinion, it can be valuable but its not the end all be all.
People need to absolutely understand that a lot of the time the doctors are just guessing at what is wrong mental health wise and are subject to a lot of biases. Blind faith in the diagnosis of a dr can lead to years of mistreatment, possibly years of psychoactive drug use that is not actually helpful because you don’t actually have the thing the dr thinks you do. This isn’t hyperbole, it happens quite often. I have heard of countless stories of it happening to other people and has happened to myself included. I am not anti-healthcare or anything, I just recognize that the people working in the industry are human, overworked, and very often don’t have enough time per patent and not enough experience to properly evaluate what is happening inside their head.
Hearing what other people online have to say and self evaluating is absolutely still a valuable thing to do and dismissing op by saying “go to a doctor” is actually anti helpful.
Are you talking about general practitioners or psychiatrist? I think OP should go to a GP if these things aren’t normal, but since OP said they are, they should see a Psychiatrist / psychologist. It’s true, that this may not help depending on the doctor, but a psychiatrist can do real evaluations as to not “guess” and help fine-tune any depression/anxiety meds that are prescribed as to not keep a person on prescriptions that “aren’t actually helpful”. Some of it is guess work, yes, but if you treat for anxiety, try different meds, and it’s still not going away, then a good psychiatrist will suggest something else. This is coming from over a decade of moderate-use of the US mental healthcare system.
I want to point out that saying “you should see a doctor” should always be the first post on any psychological and/or physical problem post for the simple fact that some people do ask questions on the internet instead of seeing a doctor. This is not dismissive and does not prevent people from giving their non-medical opinions, but if someone follows someone’s advice on the internet instead of going to the doctor, this could be a life-and-death mistake.
Also, from what OP said in the original post, this could just as easily been a fairly serious medical condition.
I agree with everything you said except the idea that I was being dismissive. It’s terribly concerning, especially if the symptoms have arisen recently. Because it often takes a long time to arrive at a proper diagnosis, it’s important to start down that path at once.
everyone knows this. not everyone has access to Proper Healthcare. surely a crowd sourced answer you can google to verify is better than nothing
The correct answer will always go to doctor.
I don’t really know what to say if there is no proper health care available, even my country (a developing country too) still have free health care.
It sounds like you need to tell a doctor what you’re telling us. Hopefully it’s just stress or lack of sleep, but these are serious symptoms. Don’t rely on Lemmings for a solution to this one.
deleted by creator
What?
Don’t worry about him, the boulder hit his head when he was a baby.
deleted by creator
Advice to ask a qualified professional is quite different than unqualified advice, which is what I was saying to avoid. But it gets your irony now. :)
This sounds like my wife when her B12 gets low. She needs regular injections.
It honestly could be any number of things. You should go and see a doctor.
I also came here to suggest a B vitamin deficiency. It’s just a quick blood test to find out. Doctor is the way to go.
deleted by creator
People are already saying ADHD which is great, but I don’t think ADHD alone would explain the problem developing ~1 year ago. Might you have long COVID?
This reads exactly like my symptoms that attribute to Covid. But that’s a self diagnosis.
It could be also be GAD or autism
It’s not COVID as I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. Thanks for the suggestion though!
deleted by creator
Have you considered seeing a doctor about possibly having ADHD or something related?
ADHD is definitely a possibility. I have it and can relate to those issues. However stress, anxiety and fatigue can also cause problems like this without there being an underlying condition like ADHD. Definitely agree on seeking professional help though, if that’s possible.
And/or ASD.
Yes - I’m considering this about myself recently, that I have been undiagnosed ASD and ADHD. Try the test on the ADHD Centre’s website, and cross-reference with the Aspie test perhaps. Then if you get positive results, take these to your local (or even the ADHD centre or another nearby private clinician, since the waiting times could be quite long 3-10 years in the UK).
I can definitely relate to those issues and it matches with my yet-unconfirmed, highly suspected case of AuDHD. It’s quite common to have both.
Right to Choose may be useful for you: https://psychiatry-uk.com/right-to-choose-asd/
I ended up just accepting I must be ASD (since there is no medication for it it doesn’t really matter, I just keep myself aware of things I can do to improve my quality of life, where possible), and got diagnosed with ADHD in Taiwan (took a short morning and <£50 including meds, certs and whatnot).
Yes, I meant to add that I intend to see a doctor soon. I just decided to ask Lemmy to see what people think in the meantime.
That’s adhd, bud. Go talk to a psychologist to be sure.
Make an appointment with your general practitioner and get a referral to a neurologist. The part about not being able to follow conversations is alarming.
Its a common symptom in autism.
I often will dissociate when in a new work environment, and it causes these symptoms. It will also feel like I’m not really the one moving my body, everything is far away/in a cave, and I’ll get incredibly startled by any person coming through a door or turning a corner. First time it happened at work when I was a teenager I sat in my car for 30 minutes after work because I didn’t think it would be safe to drive. It felt like I was intoxicated.
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and then later autism
I struggle with similar symptoms regularly. For me the culprit is boring old anxiety. I know how to relax. I know I am not in danger. Anxious brain gonna do anxious brain stuff. Not saying this is your solution, but it sounds very close to my experience. Just like they say drowning doest look like it does in the movies, anxiety can present in many ways. Therapy is a really good thing. If you feel weird about that, I’d say (forgive the woo woo) just go for a walk every day for a week. Sounds like your brain needs a break. Love to you boss. Times tuff.
Seconding this. My anxiety behaves very similarly when I’m in stressful situations. New jobs have definitely shown to be that for me.
Not saying that is what OP has but sounds so similar.
Do you have ADD?
Cause this sounds like my ADD to be honest…
I’m ADHD (inattentive type, so just ADD I guess).
This all checks out. The audio processing disorder part is particularly frustrating. I can hear everything perfectly, but can’t focus on a person speaking because my brain will give equal attention to every other noise source around me. I feel like a robot trying to solve a captcha when I process speech.
There’s a LOT of symptoms and traits to ADHD. Perhaps find a list and run through them. Like, do you find that stimulants have an opposite effect and actually calm you down? Do you naturally sleep several hours after everyone else? Do you fidget and jitter when idle? are you “time blind”?
I can hear everything perfectly, but can’t focus on a person speaking because my brain will give equal attention to every other noise source around me.
THAT’S A SYMPTOM OF ADD??? I did not know that! Honestly, I thought that was just normal or I needed special hearing aids even though annual hearing tests came out perfect.
Look up ADHD and “Auditory Processing Disorder”. I believe there’s a decent overlap between the two.
Quick answer: talk to a medical professional—could be any myriad of things going on but seriously: cognitive changes are not best diagnosed by asking strangers on the least-used social media platform available. To reiterate: talk to a medical professional.
Have your sleeping habits changed with the new job? If you’re not sleeping well regularly that could potentially be a cause.
You have ADHD
Yep!
Carbon monoxide, or if your job exposes you to cleaning chemicals that could be improperly diluted regularly. If you haven’t considered diet and exercise that’s a thing.
