I can't understand this, I love books they are my 'hideaway' and I can't sit still to read them. Has this happened to anyone before?

It is the most frustrating thing in the whole world and I don't understand it.

I have been through this and it is frustrating! Why not check out some audiobooks at the library. Its not as fun as reading but I used to find it entertaining.

Misscat

A major part of my job is to read articles and to write manuscripts as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, I literally found that impossible for the last week and a half because my anxiety was too bad. I literally couldn't keep my hands from shaking, so typing proved to be quite a challenge. Plus, I had the attention span of a three-year-old, so I couldn't get through the scientific papers I needed to read or even hold a thought long enough to write a paragraph on an idea. It was quite a rough patch. Seriously.

I've actually had people ask me if I had ADHD, but that's clearly not the case. My lack of focus is linked entirely to mania/anxiety, and it can be severely problematic. I wish I had an idea of how to deal with it, but right now I'm at a loss on that one

Anyway, I hope you can find something that works for you.

Cheers

Cowgirl, I am going through the same thing right now. I love to read, and I have been having such a hard time being able to relax and focus on what I'm reading. Also, I have been so stressed lately, that when I finally can settle down to read, I can only read a few pages or so and then I am out!! I usually don't have time during the day to read, so I settle down the last hour before I plan to go to sleep to read, but I just haven't been making it more than 5 or 10 minutes!

It is very frustrating! I am a teacher, so I am looking forward to having some time in the summer where I can catch up on my reading and work on my tan, lol!

I know how you feel, I've got an essay to write and I need to research the subjects but what ever I read just goes in and out within seconds, I can read a sentence and come to the end thinking "wait, what was that about again?", I've taken a break from it because I'll just be reading the same sentence over and over again. My advice is to just take a break, do something that relaxes you, take a bath etc then try again. x

Cowgirl,
I have had the same problem for a long time and I am just starting to read books again. I think being depressed stopped my focus on reading. Try to stay on course to recovering from depression and you will read again.
Doug

Hi Cowgirl,

This has been a frequent problem for me in the past and was directly associated with my anxiety level. Is your treatment team addressing these issues for you. You are one vote, but how are the others in your team dealing with this for you? But when the mind is going a mile a minute unable to concentrate on its own, there is little chance of processing outside issues, even if that just means reading a book or even just an article. I can remember times I couldn't even read the funny papers, lol.

Address your treatment team with this symptom and hopefully the underlying cause will be addressed. Keep us posted, we care.

Peace and Love.... wayne

Thanks so much everyone, I thought it was just me. My partner really couldn't understand when I tried to tell him yesterday.

Wayne I don't really have a 'treatment team' as such I see a GP and saw a psychiatrist last week and he said depression, stress and anxiety. I knew about the depression and stress but not so much about the anxiety.

I had a GP appointment today and need to go back next Wednesday morning again. The GP hasn't had the report from the Mental Health care people but I also saw a social worker type guy who gave me some leaflets on anxiety and they are referring me for CBT which is a 3-6 month wait.

I've found soothing music and walking helped a little

Hi Cowgirl,

Ahh, but you do have a treatment team, your GP, your Psychiatrist and yourself. And you should make sure they are communicating with each other. It is too your advantage to have them talking about you. They can share observations, compare diagnoses, and most importantly, make sure they are giving you meds that might effect how the other one works. And of course, you are the most important member of your team. Without you, the team wouldn't exist, lol. Not really, but you are the source of input in which they can then devise a comprehensive treatment plan.

YOUR PART? Write down all the meds you have taken, how long you took them and whether or not they did what they were given to you for. So create some kind of log with them all. Why, even treatment failure will give them that much more material to work with. For instance, all of the SSRIs do not work in the same parts of your brain. And many of the new ones are specifically designed to target certain areas of your brain. So even a drug that didn't work tells them something. And like I said, some of the newer ADs are very specific in which part of your brain they work in. One day, pCare will entail getting a PET scan that will reveal what parts of your brain is working and which parts are not making much noise at all. They know what a "normal" brain looks like, so now they will be able to give you a med that will revitalize those areas of dysfunction. And that time isn't too far off, only the expense of multiple PET scans, ie. a BEFORE and AFTER and then another follow-up (or more) to not only follow your process pictorially, but also to 'tweak' your dosages and treatment schedule.

Keep us posted, I hope your desire to read comes back soon. Anxiety totally ruined my concentration, all I could think of was how bad my anxiety would get during the course of the day.

Peace and Love.... .wayne

Thanks Wayne. My desire is still here hoping I can soon though!!

They haven't sent the reports to the GP yet and it was a on-off Pschiatrist appointment... The system is so frustrating right now. I am trying to get the help!!

When I was first diagnosed with Panic Disorder, I lost my ability to concentrate while reading. I started meds and the first thing I tried to do was follow a recipe, as I have kids who like sweets and it's also a hobbie, to bake. I had to read that recipe about 30 times to make sure everything was in there. What a circus that was. After that, I just cooked things I knew how to make from scratch.

I read paragraphs in the newspaper, and would see if I could remember what I read. The first week was horrible. I also love to read and do it for the relaxation part as much as my love of reading. I'll read cereal boxes if there's nothing around, and I have stacks of books. Anyhow, it took about 2 weeks until my concentration came back. I owe it to the Lexparo that I was on at the time. It was the only med I was taking, and it worked! I'm still reading. I was at Walmart last time looking for something interesting and couldn't find anything

Help!

Love, Jackie

I am so glad that it got better after a while Jackie. You've given me reassurance, thank you.

I hope you find some good books soon. Do you use a library?

I buy, borrow, trade and use the library. I like a couple of authors and their style, but lately, they have gotten stale. I'm looking. My daughter find good books and has a series about a vampire. I think one of the books is called 'Twilight'. Have you heard of these books? They're very popular over here. I don't know if I can get into this, but may try out of boredom.

Jackie