Discussion Anyone else feeling like depression and stress made you dumb?

[_Minsk]

Feeling like this constant stress, without being able to withdraw from it, made you dumb in some way?
like short term memory and related stuff?

 

[Backwood_tilt]

Yes.

Stress is a form of neural-inflammation that can affect memory, language, all kinds of capacities. My short term memory and long term memory are definitely shot to shit from stress.

If you are unfortunate enough to have this in your developmental years like I did, im sure the damage is even greater and even more debilitating.

 

[Nogodallchaos]

Yes I went to getting straight A's to getting straight F's. I even scored a 0/80 on a test once.

 

[_Minsk]

Yes.

Stress is a form of neural-inflammation that can affect memory, language, all kinds of capacities. My short term memory and long term memory are definitely shot to shit from stress.

If you are unfortunate enough to have this in your developmental years like I did, im sure the damage is even greater and even more debilitating.

'memory, language, all kinds of capacities' can relate a lot to this, thanks for sharing

 

[Fragile]

depression and anxiety are known to cause some areas of the brain to shrink and even be damaged permanently, no surprise that i feel so unintelligent most of the time.

and then the medications used to treat mental illnesses have similar effects, so i can only imagine how bad my brain looks right now if it were to be compared to a healthy brain.

 

[BooGirl]

I've read about it, but my grades are still pretty good, somehow. I guess I'm lucky.

 

[waterbottleman]

I dont think depression made me dumb, but I do know it has greatly impacted my ability to concentrate and my motivation is totally down the drain as well.

Somehow I managed to get through college with good grades without medication or therapy, which is kind of amazing in hindsight especially since I studied a difficult subject.

 

[BlueWidow]

Yes! Stress+Depression+Extreme Grief For Husband+Exhaustion & Brain Fog From Thyroid= Me, sitting and staring at the wall for hours on end (if it gets much worse I'll be drooling into a cup all day), not knowing what day it is or what time it is, dreading every new minute as it passes, and hoping I at least have enough ability to focus and concentrate long enough to complete ctb without issues.

 

[mediocre]

Yes experiencing stress due to severe bullying when I was 12 impeded my growth as a person. I just completely shut down. On the outside I am 27 but on the inside I am still a frightened 12 year old. I have never recovered from that time in my life. I stopped communicating and I didn't learn any new skills. I definitely view myself as dumb and unable to comprehend basic things. Even writing this I feel like I'm not using the right words to describe what I went through. It's just been 15 years of misery and nothingness.

 

[SugarbushMtn]

It is also about apathy as well, I could care less how I would do a "test" or equivalent today..

 

[Ame]

depression and anxiety are known to cause some areas of the brain to shrink and even be damaged permanently, no surprise that i feel so unintelligent most of the time. and then the medications used to treat mental illnesses have similar effects, so i can only imagine how bad my brain looks right now if it were to be compared to a healthy brain.

This is essentially what has been observed in those suffering from enduring depression and anxiety.

"Neuroimaging studies investigating the neural substrates of learning and memory deficits in MDD have focused mostly on the structural abnormalities of the hippocampus. Specifically, research employing neuroimaging techniques has shown that MDD patients' memory dysfunction is associated with hippocampal atrophy"​

There is a large body of research that demonstrates that prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids can have negative effects (in this case, hippocampal atrophy) on the hippocampus, a part of the limbic system that plays an important role in learning and memory. I do feel less sharp and more stupid than I did before the peak of my depression and no lie, I have been morbidly curious to see the extent of the damage. Unfortunately, I never had an fMRI prior to the onset of my mental illnesses, so I don't have a baseline to use for a comparison. It sucks to try and live life with a room temperature IQ in degrees Celsius obviously and half a brain cell;;;

 

[Green Destiny]

Sustaining multiple head injuries and concussions growing up hasn't helped my smarts and overall ability to think in general. Shit I had to have my hand held academically just so I could graduate high school. But the added depression, anxiety and stress just makes everything worse for my thinking and short/long term memory.

 

[shoganai]

Yes. It's difficult to talk. I can't concentrate on much. I feel like my IQ has dropped 20 or 30 points. At least while I'm online, I can read a post over and over as I respond so I can be somewhat articulate.

 

[Deformationalplagio]

I cant concentrate much but on the other side seeing as how the world really is makes me actually feel a bit smarter then most of the population. Fun fact: smarter people have a higher chsnce for depresion and suicide.

 

[porfin1234]

Constantly being negative and avoiding discomfort has made me dumb.

No discomfort, no growth. No growth = mental death

With the exception of last year ... by moping so find being depressed most of my life I have not read, gotten involved in hobbies, socialized, etc... stunting my growth as a human. Always caught up in my emotions.

I was once told.. why don't you focus on what you think for once rather than how you feel. Yea... by acting on emotion and impulsive I've stopped using my reasoning (and finally screwed me up in worst possible way).

Pretty dumb indeed.

 

[TheEndof]

Yes and no. I feel like in some ways it's made me "smarter" because I've had so much time to reflect. Since I've always been so isolated, I have much more time to learn and re-learn interests and hobbies over the years. However, as my depression has worsened, I've become disinterested in just about everything. My memory is definitely impacted by my depression since I have less mental space for anything else. My disinterest has caused me to definitely act and seem dumber than I actually am, but I don't actually think I've gotten any dumber. I don't know if that makes sense.

 

[_Minsk]

Yes. It's difficult to talk. I can't concentrate on much. I feel like my IQ has dropped 20 or 30 points. At least while I'm online, I can read a post over and over as I respond so I can be somewhat articulate.

feeling the same

 

[CarefulWithThatAxe]

I don't think depression stress or anxiety makes me dumb but it certainly clouds my judgment.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I actually feel as if my mind has been opened. I wish it hadn't! I barely sleep but oddly the fatigue makes me at least FEEL cleverer.
However, I am much less capable of actually DOING things. Memory, coordination, practical skills are all deteriorating. So I feel more intelligent but less capable, which make's me look like an idiot to others.

 

[ALittleBurden]

Absolutely,

For many years, since childhood, I've been struggling with several mental disorders and a lot of stress. For the last 3 years, since they all reached their peak, I can clearly see that my brain is continually degrading. It got to the point that during moments when my thoughts are just freezing, I can sometimes feel numbness or itching inside of my skull. It has to be an imaginary sensation but it's concerning nonetheless. It makes me wonder how my brain must look like.

 

[antivita]

I might do okay academically, but my critical thinking and social skills have gone way down hill. I am really worried about living on my own for the first time because I genuinely feel mentally incompetent.

 

[_Minsk]

I might do okay academically, but my critical thinking and social skills have gone way down hill. I am really worried about living on my own for the first time because I genuinely feel mentally incompetent.

feeling the same, somehow i even had this feeling as kid but i managed to hide the incapability most time to prevent any rejections