One of the most frustrating aspect of living with depression and anxiety is that at times, my brain can get easily overwhelmed . Whether it’s managing negative thoughts or trying to process what’s going on around me, it doesn’t take much to get my brain going. However, when there’s so many thing going on, it can be easy for my to lose track of my thoughts – a common experience for people living with mental illness. So how does this happen, and what can we do about it?
There are many symptoms of depression that can be easily recognized or seen – feelings of worthlessness or hopeless, feeling tired and empty more than you normally would, losing interests in things you used to enjoy, etc. But one of the most important signs of depression that I learned (and I wouldn’t have considered until I did more research) is having trouble concentrating or remembering details.
Everyone gets scatter-brained now and again (there’s a lot going on in the world today!), but when you experience depression, your mind can become wrapped up in a million different things. If you’ve ever struggled with negative thoughts or feelings of hopelessness, you know how hard it is to concentrate on other things while that’s going on. How can you focus when your internal monologue is going on about how terrible you are?
The common end result of this struggle is that interacting with people can be difficult when you’re in this state. Over the years, I’ve learned some ways to manage this symptom of depression and to try and regain focus when I’ve lost it. I wish I could say that this was an easy trick or something that fit right into place. In reality, it look a renewed focus and creating a new mindset before I could notice a difference.
The first thing I did that helped me deal with this is acknowledging that it happens. That might sound silly, but part of the reason my depression symptoms can worsen from time to time is when I don’t act like they’re real and deny their existence. Naming things for what they are can go a long way toward mental wellness.
The next thing I worked on was recognizing when it happens. This is much easier said than done of course, but the more that I recognized how I’ve lost my train of thought, the more I could work on figuring out how to get back on track. The other aspect of this is that even if you don’t see it happen every time, noticing this even once in a while can go a long way toward building wellness.
My final bit of advice here is that it’s important to be patient with yourself when you lose your train of thought. Whether it feels like your brain won’t work or it’s running at a million miles an hour, experiencing symptoms of mental illness can be hard on your inner dialogue. But the more we emphasize patience, health and growth, the more we can focus on managing our symptoms and lessening their impact instead of trying to make them disappear overnight. And who knows, maybe one day you’ll barely notice them! Dare to dream, right?
My Brain's Not Broken 
Hi,Nathan. Congratulations on your efforts to recognize and acknowledge these issues. And thank you for sharing your insights…and progress. Jim
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jim! I’d like to think I’m not alone in feeling this way, and the more we can acknowledge these things and discuss them, the easier it is for so many others.
LikeLike
At times, I notice the push and pull of feeling overwhelmed, when I’m in conversation with others. It’s very uncomfortable. I do my best to get through. It just goes to show I cannot handle socializing in groups for very long. I do best operating one on one, and even then, I can be overwhelmed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Socializing in groups can be so exhausting! It’s hard to ignore those feelings of being overwhelmed once you notice them, too. When it comes to having conversations, I like to think quality is better than quantity (but maybe I’m just making excuses for myself).
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I agree. 100%… sometimes you get stuck tho in those groups!
LikeLike
Hello.
I’d like to share my experience with mental health. I was 13 yrs old when I spent a month of my summer break in a psychiatric ward from what they said awas from a psychiatric breakdown and chemical imbalance. I had no idea thats what it was at the time. In my mind i thought that I was just overwhelmed by some psychic abilities I was having and it was just getting confusing for me. However, this thinking was due to the hallucinations I was having. Plus the voices became worse. I remember how easy it was to believe them. For example I believed I was hurting people because thats what I was hearing but I wasn’t doing anything.
I can talk alot about the experiences I went through, but instead I want to talk about how it came about.
I was an impressional young girl just starting to mature. I was smoking Marijuana and drinking already and fell hard into a strong first love puppy love never have I felt like that again kind if love for my next door neighbor. It was brutal on me. He was brutal on me. He knew it and messed with my emotions that I felt worthless and not good enough. I felt cursed at times that this love and need for him was put on me.
Here’s where things got dark. He talked about the devil joked about dark things. So there’s me hanging on to every word because I loved him. He was the coolest. I let him use me be mean to me whatever it took for him to finally love me back. Of course there was no use. He knew it. I didn’t.
Hallucinations starting now. Seeing him as the devil now. My world changed into insanity from the thoughts and words and images that I was experiencing. Everything seemed like a coincidence therefore thoughts of me being psychic now are consuming my brain. I can still remember the things that made me think like that.
Funny how nobody knew that I was going through this until that day when I just had enough and told my parents to take me to get looked at. The night I checked in I thought I was possessed and had 666 on my head.
Here is another point I want to make. No matter what it was I knew I would get better. Never did I think im schizophrenic and will always be. Didnt think that the whole time I was there. I remember feeling numb and the day my meds must have started working. I just started to cry from joy. I got a lot of good help from a team of Drs and counselors. They taught me assertiveness and respect for my body. I remember I had to tell my parents I was no.longer a Virginia. That was hard because I’m the baby of the family and honestly I was still a baby at that time. They were right by telling me to be truthful with my parents. My mom and I became a little closer and I think my mom felt as if she failed me but I never blamed her.
I didn’t stay on meds long after I got out. I learned to change my thinking and that I’m in control of my situation and to make better decisions that will be only beneficial in my life.
My experience put me on such a path that I’m proud to say I’m enjoying this journey now that I’m on. It was truly a spiritual awakening and actual glad it happened. I may not be psychic but I have an open mind. I’m almost 51 yrs old and I embrace life lessons even when its difficult because I know its gotta be that way for a good reason. I hope this can give someone hope and faith that its not always meant to be doom and gloom. I know it can be hell sometimes and scary. I lived it. I know. I’m grateful everyday for my healing. I could have been lost forever worse case scenario. My heart goes out to those who struggle.
Well thats part of my story. Anyone else have a happy ending or close to this? I’m curious.
Thank you.
LikeLike