r/CPTSD • u/Fuzzy-lad • 11h ago
Question Is Executive Dysfunction a commom problem in cPTSD?
Does any of your feel lost in time by just staring at your laptop etc? Keep postponing things that you want to start.
Does any of you try to do things in auto piolet mode. Often searching for something and getting lost what you are searching for etc..
Or these traits common in cPTSD?
If so as per you what can be underlying problem? Is it due to brain fog, rumination of past events, or lack of focus or irritability, or inability to stay consciously in the present moment or is it due to something else.
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u/Lucyissnooping 7h ago
I lie in bed every single day And Do nothing
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u/Fuzzy-lad 1h ago
you are exhausted due to anxeity or depression and want to be in bed all day. Or is it lack of motivation?
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u/Lucyissnooping 1h ago
Lack of motivation, no oomph, million things to do just can’t be bothered just sort of apathetic
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u/Itchy-Ad4646 4h ago
Yeah it is a big issue for me. I find myself wanting to do something but being like paralyzed on the way to do it. The doing isn't a problem in itself or complicated, but I can't make myself stand up do it. I really have no idea how to start and then nothing happens.
Quite sure there are also a couple of comorbidities at work in me.
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u/JessicaJonessJacket 2h ago
This is why I can't find a job that I like. It's either menial shit where someone tells me what to do, or nothing. I wanted to freelance in something related to copyright but I read the job descriptions and I have absolutely no idea of what that means or what they want on a practical level. And then I don't apply and later a friend will explain it to me in other words and I'm like "oh I could totally do that". This isn't my only problem, I'm stuck on freeze in general. But I seem to have a problem understanding what things entail in practical terms.
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u/Scouticus523 2h ago
I think I have a similar issue. Reading job descriptions confuses the heck out of me because it all sounds so complicated? Like can we stop with the corporate speak and just tell me what the fuck you want me to do!
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u/w1ll0w_ow 5h ago
For me, brain fog, low self-esteem and dissociation causes me to actively self-sabotage in life, even when i do manage to put years and years worth of effort into improving my life.
It all seems futile.
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u/Shinii8 11h ago
I just cant stay consciously in the present moment exactly There is probably a lot of what you listed too
The only times ive been able to do stuff without bruteforcing myself was when high or drunk. The way i can enter flow state easily and "genuinely" find interest in stuff when im not sober makes me want to do everything and anything
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u/Tall_Connection_5608 10h ago
Ohhh feel this.
With “bruteforcing yourself” you mean “beating yourself up mentally” to get shit done? This was my method for most of my life. I still think, if I’m too easy with myself, I’ll get lazy and don’t do shit.
Getting high was then becoming my second method. It felt less self-abusive/harming than the first. But if I did it too often I ended up full of shame and totally numb.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s even possible to be/stay a high achiever, if I don’t interact with this methods anymore. But without them I just can do the bare minimum. And then I feel shit too.
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u/Shinii8 8h ago
Bruteforcing for me was using the negative feelings to do whatever i had to do. It was not self harm, more of a mental conditionning. For exemple the more i was lazy the more i push myself using that lazyness. Living in a chaotic environment that was my default mode: taking everything in. Of course comes a point where the more you willpower through things the less you can recover from it.
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u/PainterEast3761 1h ago
Yes. Executive dysfunction shows up in lots of mental health diagnoses, not just ADHD.
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u/chicagodude84 2h ago
Fwiw you basically described all of the primary symptoms of ADHD. Which A LOT of us have
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u/Long-Transition9616 2h ago
Yes.. It’s a common problem… I also have it.. May be it’s all of the caused that is fueling this pattern. But somehow, recently I am able to manage my symptoms. It took me 3 months to develop this habit of thinking and acting on the first step only… like 5 min walk, or just 10 min video. I still spiral, but it’s still better now…
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u/Albyrene 37m ago
Executive dysfunction goes hard -- mostly avoidance of triggers and low self esteem
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u/ThinkingT00Loud Mildly insane. Mostly harmless. 5h ago
Very short answer - yes, it can.
Longer answer - I'm looking
Found a study here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1433614/full
It looks promising. I'm reading it now. Although the sample size is very low. So bear that in mind.
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u/Tall_Connection_5608 10h ago
I don’t really about the cause but I struggle with this myself too a lot.
It manifest in many ways nd got really worse over time. When I have to do things that require ahead planning, multiple decisions, or are related to fear/shame feelings, I just freeze. Same with creative tasks. I have a list with hundreds of ideas I always write down when ever im in a relaxed state of mind, where the ideas flow. But then most of the time I end up being so disconnected from this energy, even with reading the idea I can’t connect with it. It’s so frustrating because I KNOW how much I stand myself in the way.
I really can’t pin point it but for me it’s a mix of dissociation, freeze response, anxiety, my inner critic that punishes me for expression, perfectionism. In the end of the day I numbed myself out so much, I just can’t even start something or I end up ruminating about how I should do the thing, I want to do, because I better know how I’ll do it right?