Cognitive decline
Does anyone experience cognitive decline as a result of trauma/serious life events? I had an event a year and a half ago and I still haven't managed to get proper treatment for it due a lot of things going wrong. I'm sitting at home a lot and am not able to do much besides doing generally low-key activities because anything that requires much attention or effort causes me to have severe headaches.
It is already a mess but the thing I hate most is I seem to be really having more difficulty pronouncing words and performing any sort of mental tasks. I'm sure it has to do with the stress my head is under but I feel just so awful noting that my head has just become slower and I feel more dull. Tasks that I was good at come more difficult and it makes me lose confidence because I can't do the things I used to or have become worse at them and it crushes me to note this and lose more confidence. Has anyone with prolonged trauma experienced the same? I would hate to turn into a shell of the person I once was, I don't wanna decline into a puddle of mud home-ridden for the rest of my life.
@KittyKeats
So to the extent that I can, I feel that I can identify with some of what you're going through on a cognitive level.
Having Complex PTSD has taught me that it is necessary for me to continually cultivate mindfulness so as to be aware of my mental state. How I'm doing that way often coincides with my own mental acuities on that day.
Whenever I am triggered, emotionally flashbacked, or dissociated, I've noticed a certain amount of slippage--often after the fact.
Therapy (both with counselors and books written by psychotherapists), mindfulness, meditation, and medication have (so far) been my most successful cocktail of treatment.
And as far as you not wanting to be a shell of a person? I get that completely. To the say the least, it is not fair to those who have been traumatized (or to anyone really) to have to struggle so much to be and feel like ourselves on a daily basis.
All I know is, I/we can't give up. :)
