YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

If I were to be honest with you, my friends, I would admit:

I have unwanted thoughts that my mind isn't working very well.

I had the stomach flu two weeks ago, and I was out of it, and fairly woozy, as one is with the awful stomach flu.

I got better, and for a few days immediately afterward I found, at work, that I wasn't quite as nimble in my mind: words often were on the tip of my tongue.

The last few days I've:

a. been lightheaded

b. had the unwanted, persistent thought that I am losing my mental acuity. Not that I am "losing my mind", ie "going crazy", but that I am losing my mental sharpness and won't be able to continue to teach myself code.

I am only as sick as my secrets, so I am glad I posted this. Thanks for listening.

I'll post again in this thread as I take come up with a plan and take action. For now I just want to get this out there.

Hello friend and brother Oak!

I am sorry to hear that you feel your mental acuity is diminished.

I am lately unsure of my ability to be effective in my life goals. My therapist is working with me so that my self-worth and self-love is not conditional upon a certain inner standard of effectiveness. My therapist wants me to begin with the foundation of self-worth and self-love and build everything upon that, and never making my self-worth and self-love conditional.

Your self-worth is obvious to everyone here. I am sure you are just going through a rough patch. The keenness of your mind is revealed in all the posts you make here on the forum, you are able to break down into logical steps everything.

Take care, you are loved and respected.

*hugs* love you, oak

Anxiety is hard on our brains. All those red alert chemicals all the time.
I've dealt with a similar phenomena over the last, I don't know, year or more. My memory used to be so sharp, but it was also that my insecurities wouldn't let me forget. I might not be as sharp as I used to be, but I'm also learning to let myself be less than perfect. If I forget something, it's not a crisis. If it takes me a little longer to learn something, so be it. I am focusing on being a peace as my goal instead of being right and it helps. Learning to make to-do lists and set reminders that I didn't have to do before. Perhaps we're just getting older.

Thank you, very dearly, MM and BGG. You are dear friends.

I've read both of your kind posts several times, and have taken your advice to heart. I hope to post about it soon, but I am mid-week exhausted, so for now all I can send is appreciation!