Do you find you interrupt people a lot when they are talking/change the subject?

[Chris-duck]

It depends who I'm with tbh, but I basically never -focus- on one thing at one time, whether I voice whatever has distracted me, depends on who I'm talking to and what we're talking about. I'll always be walking along the street like "oh look a squirrel!" It's really just whether I voice it or not

 

[Sideways]

This so relinds me of a particular person in my trauma group who has the cptsd/did/bpd combo. Knowing in advance that it’s basically impossible to hold a conversation with her is helpful. It makes it a whole lot less frustrating when I can remind myself “This is part pf her pathology”. She does complete subject changes, usually after just a few comments are exchanged. Every time.

There’s a whole lot of contributing issues going on in her case. A big one is the fact that her childhood was so whacked and traumatic that she never actually learned how to socialise. She has trouble concentrating and sticking with a subject because she’s also easily overwhelmed, has the typical concentration issues, and spends much of her time in some level of dissociated state.

One of the pitfalls of many mental illnesses is, in one way or another, they often impact our ability to be socially successful. And withdrawing socially, typical to ptsd, can have the side-effect of becoming even more socially inept.

Pre-ptsd I pulled off being social and holding conversations reasonably well. Now? It’s just exhausting.

 

[Changing4Best]

Yes, I know I do it, but I think it might be part of my Bipolar, I am not sure. I know that not long ago, a friend of mine hinted at it by saying she has a "friend" who does this a lot and it finally occurred to her that it was not intended to be rude, just part of that person's personality. I had done it to her many times and when she said this, I had a strong feeling she was trying to tell me that I do it to her and maybe hoping that I might realize it and stop it. I know it is annoying, but I cannot help it. I still do it anyway! I guess, as she said, it is part of my personality.

 

[Lionheart]

I try not to but know that I do interrupt sometimes. I think I do it because I listen with the intent to reply. If I don't respond right away, I lose my train of thought. I think it is probably caused by anxiety, a desire to be heard, and to add something of importance to the conversation. Even so, to my mind, at least for me, it is poor impulse control.

 

[EveHarrington]

I do but it’s because I have a wandering mind and my mind goes on to another topic and I suddenly want to share what I’m thinking.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I'm just curious if others with PTSD find this to be something they do

Yep, all the time. Which super sucks because I work in a call center as a internet/VOP phone/PC tech support rep and 75% of my job is ACTIVE listening, which involves shutting up and understanding what the customer is saying (and not saying), showing empathy on all of it (including the bazaillon life stuff they mention that has zero to do with why they are calling), and then fixing the issue and getting the customer to understand the issue (which is a battle in of itself when I am technically minded and most of the population is techniclly ignorant up to the point of not even knowing their PC is turned off or that wireless does not mean their modems don't need to be plugged into a cable jack on the wall).

I tend to interupt customers and also repeat myself 5 times in 5 different ways when the customer got it the first time I said it.

I do also tend to intrupt people in real life and talk about off subject topics. I do it on here too. Accidently hijacking a thread, not even knowing I did so. I think a lot of it is that my mind runs very fast. It is constantly moving even when someone is speaking to me. I think that has a lot to do with anxiety. Most of the time, I have no idea I just interupted them (or hijacked a thread on here). My therapist gently points it out as well.

I think some of it is having severe social anxiety as well but I tend to think most of it is a brain running a millon miles an hour 24/7 and with that, it is also hard to take in things people say.

It sucks to deal with! That's for sure! I think all you can really do and gently point out that they interputed you. Or just intrupt them with something like "I was saying XYZ" or something gentle like that. Sometimes I feel really horrible about it and beat myself up for it. Not that you can make anyone feel anything but I'd try to be gentle about it as they may not even know or realize they did it or do it in general. I didn't until someone told me. Then I became more aware to try not to. So, maybe a gentle talk to said person advising them that they do this.