Not what I expected

[derien]

Possibly I should have been more assertive and asked more questions, but, well, the doctor had come in early for me, because I was an idiot and forgot what time I was supposed to be there. And forgot that I had taken time off work for the appointment.

Anyway, the upshot of that full day of memory testing that I did last week? I'm fine. I'm average on most of the scores, above average on some. The doctor's assessment is Attention Deficit. He suggested I could do stimulants, cognitive behavioral therapy (I'm not quite sure how that applies) or martial arts, because they teach concentration ("By hitting you every time you're not paying attention" was my assertion to Eor, later). And I was like "Stimulants? So I probably shouldn't quit caffeine, then?" But the doctor said caffeine, though one of the best over the counter stimulants, is a little too much peak-and-drop for sustained concentration.

Eor came up with another coping mechanism for me, which is to take one of these many nice journals people give me and spend some contemplative time each evening making my list for the next morning. I'm also making notes as I change things when I'm actually doing it, so I know why and how to adapt for the next day. This is day two, and oddly I kind of like it. I like having some structure that I can look back to. In the back of the book I'm going to start writing down longer-term goals and bigger projects - then maybe I can remember to allot some time to them on the weekends. Of course this will probably last no time at all - next week I'll lose my book or something.

It does amuse me that "Harass CA" has been on my list yesterday and today, and will be tomorrow, even though it's annoying to have to do that. All they have to do is keep ignoring my calls for days on end and never calling back when I'm home.

ETA: Forgot to mention - One of my coworkers (Buck) expressed that he thought the assessment of ADD for me was silly, because I read a lot and write and am patient with people in training and stuff. I don't know. Mainertoo thinks the idea of martial arts for memory is amusing - "I don't remember why I'm beating you up!"

Also, I just got interrupted by a call from CA! Although this young, Southern dude seems to think that there's no way they can charge my credit card without me acknowledging that I want them to do so, so I have to send him the email they sent me to confirm that yes, that IS what they said they were going to do. I would be doing the "wax on, wax off" hand sign right now if this were in person. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Do please let me know how you get on. As you know I'm peridocally quite worried about my memory, concentration etc. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I also have this extremely embarrassing thing where I find it really difficult to recognise people or remember their names even after I've met them a lot of times! I believe it's related to my general memory problems.

Anyway, my last boss recommended for me this Buzan guy and his mind maps. My boss was a very intelligent dude, so I trust that these would probably help me (and maybe you!) but I haven't gotten around to buying one of his books yet. I haven't forgotten though.

I wouldn't completely discount martial arts either. When I took up karate I wanted it mainly to help me sort out my head so I would find drawing easier, and as a bonus I hoped it might mitigate some of my clumsiness (which may or may not be associated with the other stuff I mention). It helped immensely on both counts! Unfortunately now that I am not doing it I am banging into things left, right and centre again and dropping things constantly! Sigh.

Oh yeah, and gingko seems to be good too. Thankfully now I live in a country where it is not illegal! A curse on you Éire! (not really!)

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Periodically. I can spell, honest!

[derien.livejournal.com]

I'm horrible with recognizing people's faces, too, even after I've seen them a few times. There's two cops that work at the airport and sit at the checkpoint with us who look so much alike to me that I'm not sure which one gave me the bottle of barbecue sauce. Not being sure who I've actually talked with before often makes me not want to talk for fear they'll think I'm a nut, referring to things I talked to someone else about. I know that I'm not the only one with this problem because I've had tons of people mistake me for someone else ("I just spoke to you outside, you were having a cigarette." "I don't smoke." I'm pretty sure she must have mistaken me for T-Rex, who is a GIANT woman even among how many tall and strapping women we seem to have working around here, I'm just not built on the same scale. I think that was the point at which I decided to cut my hair. The hair is, for many people, a key to how they remember people. Now I get mistaken for Diva, who, though annoying as all hell, is at least good looking. ;)) but when it's me who can't remember I feel like an idiot.

Anyhow, sorry, I will try to remember to look up the Buzan stuff. :) It does sound as though the martial arts helped you, I should probably look into it more seriously. I've just started taking ginko once a day, but it's a little scary to me. Increases blood flow to the brain and don't take it if you're on anticoagulants, according to the bottle. Hm. What if I had an accident and bled to death because my blood was thinned by the ginko?