Why has ptsd taken away maths?

[Sandstone]

I'm heartily sick of being unable to calculate things. I used to do a numerate job, and I have statistics qualifications.

A few weeks ago I needed 120 pieces for my patchwork, divided equally between 3 colours. Somehow I calculated that at 77 of each, and it wasn't until the next day I realised there was any problem with that. Last week I wanted shelf brackets and uprights. I needed 141cm uprights, and spent ages working out how much I need to cut off 96cm uprights to get that. NO!
Then I looked at my sketched layout, saw I needed 4 large brackets, wrote down 2 and ordered 3.

I might feel better about it f I knew why - can anyone explain the reason? It's not just lack of focus. I'm giving these things careful attention, but numeracy seems to have deserted me.

 

[hodge]

I can't explain it, but I go through the same kind of thing. I feel your pain. I think it's a kind of cognitive loss from PTSD.

 

[shimmerz]

I might feel better about it f I knew why - can anyone explain the reason?

Because my brain is so busy scanning to see who is going to try to kill me next that it can't think the way it used to anymore.

Oh, and dissociation does this to me as well.

 

[Sideways]

If this is a recent thing you’ve noticed, definitely keep an eye on it and whether it gets worse. It could well be a cognitive issue to do with your PTSD or a depressive symptom. But it could also be a symptom of something else. If it gets worse, think about raising it with your general doctor to rule out other possibilities.

 

[Friday]

I have a TBI that caused me to lose both my numbers & my maths.

 

[Akhos]

Assuming a physical medical symptom is not the cause for you, but my PTSD does just this (I have been cleared medically due to my level of misunderstanding)- I am not a stupid person, but now, anything more than a simple task, my head just throws it toys out of the cot. It assesses the information and says to itself, my head is too full of other stuff, making sure that nothing is trying to kill me, constantly risk assessing absolutely EVERYTHING because there is a risk there, it knows it, just need to find it, so keep scanning. My head is so full of crap that rationally it doesnt need, but I have little control over it, so when I now tell to help me configure computer networks (something I could previously do in my sleep), it assesses it and says, nope you serve no essential purpose to this very real threat that I know is out there somewhere waiting to completely destroy me and my family. Thinking about you takes away from my need to protect everything about me.

I dont need to know you, or maths, or conversations, or colours, or real intentions of others or anything. I need to protect, not process other stuff. Thought process rejected

If I can offer one bit of advice, dont fight it. Its your brain saying you are way too full at the moment to process complicated information.

 

[Ronin]

If I can offer one bit of advice, dont fight it. Its your brain saying you are way too full at the moment to process complicated information.

... Or persuade yourself it IS a risk-related task that -needs- solving and see if that pushes you anywhere else, on its own.

 

[Sandstone]

it could also be a symptom of something else. If it gets worse, think about raising it with your general doctor to rule out other possibilities.

I don't think it is organic, though it is worsening. Wouldn't something with a physical cause be more consistent, whereas this is intermittent?

It is doubly frustrating, because the things I need maths for are the things I do to distract myself from all the PTSD turmoil.

 

[Friday]

I don't think it is organic, though it is worsening. Wouldn't something with a physical cause be more consistent, whereas this is intermittent?

Depends on the nature of the physiological thing.

Like a joint that aches in the cold? Intermittent. Can also be worsening every winter. Why? Because arthritis does that. As do several other conditions that affect joints in the cold, that, unlike arthritis have very easy fixes. So just suffering, year after year, thinking it's infix able arthritis? Is a pity, when it can be fixed with changing your table salt, or fairly straightforward surgery.

Allergies? Are always either increasing or decreasing, the autoimmune system has this thing against stasis. But how often one is affected by allergies? Will be determined by their exposure to them.

Could go on for awhile. Point being, intermittent AND worsening? Are 2 different symptoms that both help diagnosis, rather than exclude the possibility of diagnosis. Because some things are consistent, some are cyclic, some are intermittent. Some are static, while others are worsening/bettering (and how fast they're getting better or worse is actually a 3rd point in diagnosis).

^^^
Does any of this mean I think you're like me and took a blow to the head years ago that only shows up under illness / stress? Nope. That's one physical possibility. But there's also thyroid, diet, and a whole bunch of other conditions that have neurological symptoms...

^^^
Does any of this mean I think it's physiological at all? Nope. I'm not a neurologist (or endocrinologist, or rheumatologist)...and.. haven't tested you, so there's no way for me to even begin to have an opinion.

Could it be physiological? Yep.
Could it be psychological? Yep.

Personally, I always go rule out physiological causes, when the possibility exists, because they're so much faster/easier to treat than psychological causes.

 

[scout86]

It is doubly frustrating, because the things I need maths for are the things I do to distract myself from all the PTSD turmoil.

Going off what others have said, that part of your brain that's screaming "DANGER!!!" probably doesn't want the distraction and it's going to fight against it. That doesn't mean you should give up, but maybe it's reasonable to expect some resistance.

 

[Changing4Best]

When I was a kid, my dad taught me to do all kinds of math in my head. I memorized tables and all. As an adult up to about my mid-50s, I was a wizz with math in my head, even being able to balance my checking account without ever doing anything on paper. Now? Nope. I need a calculator for just about everything but simple addition. Even that sometimes plagues me. Some of it is the natural course of aging. I have been tested twice for Dementia and do not have it. Normal Senior Moments, yes. That is some of it. Stress?? YUP that is more of it. PTSD, probably, I never checked. I did have an MRI of my brain done though, as it was recommended by my Dr. Results were "normal age related changes." I think we covered just about every possibility and when all physical stuff was ruled out, it is a cross between my Bipolar and PTSD. Both can cause it, so in a sense, I have a double whammy.

So I get print-outs from my bank once a week, so I can see which checks have come through, which charges have come through and hope that I don't overdraw. To be safe though, I keep a cu$hion in my checking account. So at the end of the month, I have at least a hundred in there, just in case some old check comes through or I make a mistake somehow or whatever. I have not overdrawn my account since I started to do all this. Before that? While I was coming to terms with the above? I overdrew it every month! (Until the bank stopped letting it go by).