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A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

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Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ADHD is sometimes wittily described as time dyslexia As someone with ADHD, this wildly misrepresents the actual disorder. ADHD itself has nothing to do with time, it has to do with executive function . Someone with ADHD can try to will themselves into doing something and simply not be able to. They'll try to make a command, and their body or brain will not listen to them. It will completely refuse to do what they t…

I realize my comment above can be read as "time dyslexia is the whole problem with ADHD" and that was not my intention. Thanks for your perspective! I also totally agree that ADHD-ers know what time is. That said, ADHD is a thing I have to deal with and for me and a number of those I know who have ADHD, "time dyslexia" is a very good explanation for a subset of the problems we observe. > They absolutely cannot work o…

> Here it is you who are taking agency away from ADHD-ers.

What do you mean? All the mechanisms you've listed can be ways to help, yes, but you still can't just decide to do those things. You can try to reformat it or place it in some other context where it becomes doable, but these are specific coping mechanisms that shouldn't always be necessary, like they are for someone with severe enough ADHD.

I apologize for implying that all ADHD is that severe, I'll see if I can edit it to be more clear there, but I'm not trying to take agency away; I'm trying to point out how it results in that "time dyslexia", and why it's a disorder (rather than just, say, laziness).

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

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Edit: based on interaction elsewhere in this thread, it seems I and LoganDark agree very much. I don't have time to rewrite this now, the compile finished a few minutes ago already, so just keep in mind that I and LoganDark seems to agree to a large degree when you read this.

----------------

There are the medical definitions, and there are the things you understand when you have friends and family with ADHD and you hear them describe it.

Yes, executive function is the problem.

Also yes, thanks partially to that and frequent comorbidities ADHD-ers also experience:

- time blindness (maybe because flow is so much more important to ADHD-ers that they have learned to hold to it at all cost?)

- on average fewer slots in short time memory (I don't know it this is in DSM, but it is well known)

- anxiety and depression

- etc

Every doctor I have spoken to is well aware that ADHD has many problems in addition to the ones stated in the diagnostic criterias.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize my comment above can be read as "time dyslexia is the whole problem with ADHD" and that was not my intention. Thanks for your perspective! I also totally agree that ADHD-ers know what time is. That said, ADHD is a thing I have to deal with and for me and a number of those I know who have ADHD, "time dyslexia" is a very good explanation for a subset of the problems we observe. > They absolutely cannot work o…

> Here it is you who are taking agency away from ADHD-ers. What do you mean? All the mechanisms you've listed can be ways to help, yes, but you still can't just decide to do those things. You can try to reformat it or place it in some other context where it becomes doable, but these are specific coping mechanisms that shouldn't always be necessary, like they are for someone with severe enough ADHD. I apologize for im…

> You can try to reformat it or place it in some other context where it becomes doable, but these are specific coping mechanisms that shouldn't always be necessary, like they are for someone with severe enough ADHD

OK, I see, I think we agree very much here.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#64

What about solitude, solitary confinement, social isolation, with respect to the perception of time ? How much of it is link to a physiological injury like inflammation vs loss of markers ?

I was imprisoned on false charges and tortured by the United States government. A precedent-setting appeal freed me, but not before I spent a long time in solitary confinement, much of that on a hunger strike.

Solitary confinement causes brain damage so severe it is visible on a CT scan. The area that it damages is the hippocampus, which is key of in the perception of time and spatial memory. I can still perceive time on an immediate basis, in terms of music and speech, but a year goes by in a haze. Short seconds, like walking into another room, seem to pass slowly against the rapid progress of my thoughts which are now unanchored to the immediate physical realm and I forget what I went to the other room for if there's not a persistent reminder such as hunger or the need to use the toilet to remind me. I write what I plan to do into a notes app before I move anywhere, even one room over in my own house. Living a normal life has become impossible.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#65

ADHD is sometimes wittily described as time dyslexia, and while I haven't met anyone who has described symptoms as bad as this and also know friends with ADHD who play music seemingly effortlessly, this article was still very interesting to me. I have understood and it also observed that meditation can help somewhat, and I wonder what else can help for people otherwise function well who struggle with time?

> ADHD is sometimes wittily described as time dyslexia As someone with ADHD, this wildly misrepresents the actual disorder. ADHD itself has nothing to do with time, it has to do with executive function . Someone with ADHD can try to will themselves into doing something and simply not be able to. They'll try to make a command, and their body or brain will not listen to them. It will completely refuse to do what they t…

Random question,

Do all of you have ADHD? If not, that would be... Surprisingly I guess but also kind of hopeful.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#66
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ADHD is sometimes wittily described as time dyslexia As someone with ADHD, this wildly misrepresents the actual disorder. ADHD itself has nothing to do with time, it has to do with executive function . Someone with ADHD can try to will themselves into doing something and simply not be able to. They'll try to make a command, and their body or brain will not listen to them. It will completely refuse to do what they t…

Random question, Do all of you have ADHD? If not, that would be... Surprisingly I guess but also kind of hopeful.

Do you mean all of my dissociative identities? The answer is yes. DID can result in individual identities having different access to certain parts of the brain (for example, certain identities could have aphantasia while others have vivid imaginations), but as far as I'm aware, ADHD is a problem with the brain's reward system itself (the one that has to do with dopamine), so it affects the entire brain function, no matter which part.

However, I've been in situations where different identities can do things that I can't (i.e. switch in order to get out of bed in the morning), so I don't think anything is necessarily set in stone...

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#67

After my mom's stroke she basically lost the concept of time. Apparently it's relatively common. Kids don't get the concept of time until an age, and you can lose it. Amazing how much you need it how things fall apart in this modern life without it. Didn't help that she decided to use a 2017 calendar in 2018, I questioned my sanity as I unraveled the mess. It very much impacted her life. About the only good thing was…

How does that work in practice? She can read a clock right? So would she just not remember to look at the clock to see the time? Genuinely curious.

What do you think makes you remember “oh, now I have to look at the clock?

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#68
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work in practice? She can read a clock right? So would she just not remember to look at the clock to see the time? Genuinely curious.

What do you think makes you remember “oh, now I have to look at the clock?

The fact that I wear one on my wrist and glance at it by chance without having to remember. The fact that there’s a clock on every appliance in my house and I look at those without intention to do so. Maybe all of that is subconscious action based on my perception of time. I’m not sure.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#69
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Random question, Do all of you have ADHD? If not, that would be... Surprisingly I guess but also kind of hopeful.

Do you mean all of my dissociative identities? The answer is yes. DID can result in individual identities having different access to certain parts of the brain (for example, certain identities could have aphantasia while others have vivid imaginations), but as far as I'm aware, ADHD is a problem with the brain's reward system itself (the one that has to do with dopamine), so it affects the entire brain function, no m…

Hi again, and thanks for your website about plurality.

I am not affected but I am aware of at least one person who seemed to be affected and it was really really interesting to read.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#70
post #59
post #56

I tried a 5mg THC edible last week (new user) and I lost my short term memory for about 50 hours. It was hell because I could still remember some things but my visual memory was 0, so it was like I was always coming out of a dark cloud that's 15 seconds behind me, but perceiving now in full clarity. It really messed with my perception of time. I wonder how many times I thought: "what's going on... ok you lost your sh…

This syndrome is common, but 50 hours is unusually long.

It was 50 hours til I felt 100% normal. The bulk of it was in the first several hours.
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