Yesterday it hit me like a ton of bricks that it took me 3 hours to read 100 pages. My first thought was well damn all those years of smoking and taking psychiatric medication have finally taken it toll on my brain. Worried that at the ripe old age of 32 I wasĀ experiencingĀ cognitive decline due to age I did what every one would do in my situation. I looked up cognitive decline up onĀ GoogleĀ Most of the material was for people in their 60’s or 70’s but none for people in their 30’s. Ā Then I plugged in “is 32 to young to have cognitive decline?” Google showed me a webpage for cognitive decline that has to do with memory. I have no problems with my memory I just read too damn slow.
So next I told trusted sources, my friends. I was all like I am becoming dumber with each passing year. They asked me what iĀ meantĀ and I laid out my theory of cognitive decline. Everyone thought I was being silly but when they heard it took me a past speed reader 3 hours to read 100 pages they became interested. One friend admitted that he felt the same and we speculated that it was due to the instant gratification culture we are living in. We can focus on only 140Ā charactersĀ at one time then we turn to something else. I had to agree, I had borderline ADHD growing up but when Facebook and twitter came along I developed such a short attention span I had to take Stratera to counteract this.
The second theory which many of my friends speculated was that it was due to my anti social behavior. My blocking out everyone and being alone most of the time has finally taken its toll on me. They suggested that I go out and meet new people and socialize more.I had to agree this had some merit so IĀ researchedĀ this and found that it was true. Isolating oneself causes mental factilitesĀ to decline. And to add to it strong social support is the one thing that makes people happierĀ apparentlyĀ being social has more benefits than not, so here’s to my getting social plan!
Wow… this sounds famiar. Well I do live together with my BF though and I still see friends like every other week or so. So I guess it is okay. But I don’t leave the house very often. Especially in the winter. But being autistic, having ADHD, SAD and chronic fatigue is a lot to deal with, as you will probably know. I am curious about your social plan though š
Right now it is mostly getting my self to leave the apt once or twice a week. Then from there I will move up to meeting people.
It actually could be due to any number of things… some material is simply denser, harder to understand, or more complex, and requires more time to read it. For instance, I usually read nonfiction more slowly than I do fiction, and challenging adult fiction slower than, say, YA.
Another factor may be visual. Eye strain can slow you down. So can tracking problems and/or difficulty using or focusing your eyes together. It’s possible you have one or more of these without being aware of it.
You could check with an opthalmologist (not optometrist) with experience in reading issues, who should be able to tell you if you’re having vision or visual processing problems.
Good luck!