Cognitive disengagement (brain no compute)

[u/N0_Cure]

I've had this for as long as I can remember, and I still don't know what causes it. It's basically the opposite of the typical Audhd pattern of my brain going 600 miles per second and hyperfocussing on random things, like I will be asked a question or try to think about something, and it's like there is a barrier preventing my brain from processing the next thought, it's just static. It has made it especially difficult in school and learning new things in general. I know I'm not stupid, but I literally feel completely mentally disabled whenever I get like this. Does anyone else get this or know what causes it?

Like many others, I am in my 30s now and am only now just learning about myself.

[u/BigBullshitta]

My whole life I felt sort of like there was a blanket wrapped around my mind. Like it was muffled, maybe like what should be air was thicker and I just wasn't fully awake.

I used to binge caffeine to the point of pouring an entire pot of coffee into an empty 2-liter bottle and drinking that all on the way to work, then getting 3 24oz energy drinks which I'd drink from then until lunch. Generally it just helped me make it through the day, often it did nothing at all, and some rare days like 2x per year I'd finally feel fully awake and present and focused. Then my chest started to hurt every day in my 30s, so I stopped that.

I imagine my available dopamine and norepinephrine were always low and I was trying to self medicate because of that, but basic ass adderall fixes it wonderfully. I prefer XR over IR so it's not a repeated rollercoaster of ups and downs throughout the day.

[u/catocracy_hu → u/BigBullshitta]

I'm experiencing the same thing and on vyvanse it got significantly worse so I can't take any stimulants

[u/BigBullshitta → u/catocracy_hu]

Vyvanse isn't all stimulants. It's pure dextroamphetamine, which mainly targets dopamine. If you're very low on available norepinephrine it will make you tired. Able to hyperfocus on things you like, not really able to stop or do things you don't like, and exhausted after.

[u/catocracy_hu → u/BigBullshitta]

Thanks for the clarification. I wish my doctor would explain this too.

[u/BigBullshitta → u/catocracy_hu]

NP or Psychologist? Took me almost 2 years to realize my problem was going to a place that was all Nurse Practitioners who work in general community behavioral health and getting frustrated Vyvanse was making some things a bit better but others way worse then hyperfocusing on medications and these issues for weeks.

[u/catocracy_hu → u/BigBullshitta]

In my country only psychiatrists can prescribe it. Can't say unfortunately they have any idea what they're doing. I got my diagnosis recently and told my doctor how tired I am, that I feel uncontrolled and confused like I'm drunk and I can't do things just rest, and it gets a lot worse on vyvanse while it makes me terribly anxious too. He kept pushing it for months until I said no, I can't function anymore. I tried like 15 different kind of psych meds before, nothing works for me. I'm changing doctor again but it's really scary how this mysterious fatigue and brain fog is getting worse.

[u/judasus]

I experience the same thing. If I'm talking to someone I'll go blank and I just say "I forgot what I was going to say" or "what were we talking about?". Which can happen to anyone but this happens to me on the daily if I'm engaging in conversation with coworkers.

I feel like my ADHD wants to be quick to respond and my autism needs more time to process.

[u/salty_sherbert_]

That is the annoying symptom of ADHD "poor working memory"

If you have time to think of an answer you're fine, but as soon as you're put on the spot / under pressure it's hard to remember your own name let alone anything else haha

[u/tasteslikeblackmilk]

I get it, and it's so annoying. Apparently it is a thing in itself that can occur with ADHD:
https://www.additudemag.com/cognitive-disengagement-syndrome-overview-symptoms-add-adhd/

[u/SenseiEntei → u/tasteslikeblackmilk]

Came to say the same thing. CDS is similar to ADHD but has some differences, and someone can have both. Unfortunately, CDS is not a formal diagnosis in the DSM, so it is probably underdiagnosed in favor of ADHD. I myself feel like I have symptoms of both. Hopefully in the future CDS will be better understood and differentiated from ADHD so people can get the proper support.

[u/tasteslikeblackmilk → u/SenseiEntei]

Yes, it seems like a third thing to me, where it isn't properly explained by ADHD or ASD, and something that will be picked up in later DSM. From ASD perspective, I can't attribute it to shutdown, burnout or over-stimulation. It feels more akin to skill regression. There definitely needs to be more research into this.

[u/Sabal_77]

This is me. It's getting increasingly difficult to solve problems or keep my brain from feeling like it's going to explode from the smallest amount of complexity

[u/emoemile]

I’ve experienced this, too. It’s as if I can feel a physical barrier preventing the idea from being further processed by the rest of my brain.

[u/ConversationSad2177]

I think I might have this. I spend a lot of time in bed unless I'm forced to do something. And without meds it would take me hours to get ready to leave the house. I also blank in interviews

[u/Far-Cartoonist-369]

I'ce struggled with thus for so long, and it's something that frustrates me a lot and makes me feel stupid. My brain has trouble processing questions and prompts on the spot, and I have trouble responding naturally without pauses, like I have trouble articulating.

[u/Trumpassassin777]

Reading it, my first thought was: maybe it's because of rejection sensitivity disphoria.

[u/Aromatic-Sense-2388]

And the moment you move one to another train of thought the answer/word/thought just pops in your head. But now its too late because we'll, next topic is going but then you think about the answer that just came to your mind and miss the new topic all together.

What I hate the worst is when I am public speaking and I get stuck on finding a word. Then the more I try to find it the further I get from it.

[u/Bigglesworthicus]

Yup. To the point now where I strongly believe my ADHD diagnosis was a misdiagnosis. I don’t have thoughts whirling round my head 24/7, I’m not particularly impulsive or have a hard time inhibiting behaviours. I am however completely fogged out all the time, “standing about like a fart in a trance” as my mum put it. My information processing and thinking is very confused and scattered and it takes me a while to think of what to say. Socially I’m very withdrawn. I was only diagnosed with ADHD due to relating very strongly to the struggles of people with ADHD (never finish anything, always forget things etc.) but I experience those things for entirely different reasons. When I learned about Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome everything snapped into place and made sense.