My fellow b5media blogger Laura at CFS Squared has a series of posts about brain fog. In Brain Fog Episode 1.6 she describes a brain fog story of Erik Eggerston (who blogs at Common Sense PR). His brain fog is brought on by ADD; something like brain fog could be said (I think) to occur in my son Charlie from the moment when some verbal instruction (“Where’s the word ‘dog’?”) and his responding. Writes Laura:
Here is what Eric had to say, when asked if he suffers from brain fog:
My ADD kicks in some days, and I do things like head down to the basement, but once I get there I can’t remember what I was supposed to do. So I go back upstairs, remember what it was, and head back downstairs again.
Can you spot a recurring theme? As I stand in the basement the second time, trying to remember why I came down there, I wish I had one of those pens/memory sticks that let you record a 90-second audio message. Of course, I’d forget to leave myself a message, or it would be a message from two tasks previously…
Sometimes after being given some direction (“Can you shut the car door and take a bag of groceries?”) Charlie does one thing and then gets a look on his face as if he is trying to remember what it was he was supposed to remember and to do.
Living the Scientific Life describes a new pre-employment test that identifies persons whose mind wanders while on the job. The test developer cites how such a test can identify—and weed out—people who might be a risk in jobs such as driving a bus or piloting an airplane. But such tests need to be used with some caveats:
I understand that certain jobs should use such tests, but as a job seeker, I have found that the number of irrelevant and invasive personality tests and checks and whatnot go far beyond mere job safety and performance, having become downright invasive and, in my opinion, vindictive — meant to justify keeping the unemployed trapped in menial, tedious, low-paying jobs or left without any job at all. In my opinion, a potential employer should be required by law to reveal which particular tests they are using, what they are testing for, and they then must be required to destroy all test results upon making a hiring decision, regardless of whether or not they decide to hire the recruit. Something tells me this is not the current practice.
While I suspect driving buses (or piloting planes) are not exactly in Charlie’s future, it is the case that once he learns to concentrate on a task, his attention can be ultra-focused. I’ll also note that my husband Jim has ADHD and his mind has a tendency to wander in the middle of a conversation or a thought, but when he was a New York City taxi driver years ago, he was able to focus very well indeed.
From what I recall from reading my copy of “Stick and Rudder”, the best airplane pilots were considered to be the somewhat “scatterbrained” ones, who’d divide their attention all over, and look in all directions, and most importantly not get fixated on one particular point of attention.
When performing an unnatural act like flying an airplane, I think it’s good to be wary of all possible threats coming from any direction.
I think the experts agree with me, here.
I have ADHD as well, and I think I live in a near constant state of wondering what I meant to do. I go to get supplies for the first task, see a second task that needs to get done, or forget what I needed for the first. Then I see something else to do. If I get around to the first thing on the same day, i’ve done well.
Since my pregnancies, I have this problem a lot- and it is EXTREMELY annoying. According to my OBGYN, this is a very common side effect of pregnancy- the hormones actually damage your brain, and sometimes its permanent. After growing up with a brain that was distinctly photographic and instant recall, finding myself upstairs with no idea why I am there, or unable to complete a task because I can’t remember which steps I have already completed, it really, really frustrating. I’ll have to watch for this with Joey…
I often jump from hyperfocus state to the what-in-the-heck-was-I-just-thinking/doing state. I can bend over to pick something up and forget what I was doing when I get to it. And even though it’s right there in front of me to pick up, my memory isn’t triggered until I stand back up. But I can also obsessively focus on something (where I have to force (sometimes unsuccessfully) myself to eat, drink, pee, sleep, etc.
Bubba on the other hand sounds like Charlie. He can successfully complete two tasks, but any more than that (or sometimes just the two steps) and he either does it out of order (e.g., tries to put the clean shirt on before taking the dirty shirt off), mixes up the tasks (e.g., puts the metal silverware in the trash but the paperplate in the sink), or doesn’t finish the tasks. Visuals work for him (pointing to the trashcan or whatever), but it is clear he checks out after the amount of time it takes to state two directions. I try to pick one or two word directives, which also helps me. He also can hyperfocus when he is creating (like coloring) and gets just as pissy as I do if he is interrupted. I usually don’t have a physical meltdown like Bubba does, but I sure feel like it.
[...] After that, I think about the brain, difference, disability, and (perhaps this shows somewhat how my mind wanders) education and special education and schools. Charlie is different—one could say that there [...]
Eeeek! I’m glad I didn’t have to take that “wandering mind” test before any of my jobs! Seems silly, really – if your mind wanders so much that you’d be an unsafe pilot or bus driver, chances are you would have never received your license in the first place. We of wandering minds learn ways to deal with our fickle attention spans (scheduling lots of things during the day, for example, so we can hop around from task to task), and stress (like a looming deadline) seems to kick-start our ability to hyperfocus. I think employers would be amazed at how often their employees minds wander, and yet miraculously they are able to complete the tasks at hand.