Can anxiety make your brain feel "locked"/make you feel stupid?

[London_Girl]

I know this sounds like a weird question but it's how I've felt recently. I'm still questioning whether what I've been experiencing for the past few months is anxiety or something more sinister as I find it hard to believe anxiety can make you feel this weird and unlike your self even at times when you don't feel anxious.

Earlier I was writing a cover letter for a job I'm applying for and I struggled to think of a basic word when writing about why I wanted to work for the company, it was the weirdest thing ever and freaked me out to the point of a panic attack. If there is one thing I've been good throughout my life (and there's a lot I'm bad at!) it has been my literacy and have been told by a lot of people I'm articulate but at the moment I feel borderline illiterate.

A week ago my anxiety was so bad I felt like my head was going to explode and I went to A&E because I just couldn't take it anymore and now my head feels empty and like I can't express myself the way I used to before the anxiety started. I keep feeling like this must be early Schizophrenia or some medical condition. My head goes from feeling really intense, full of anxiety to feeling like there is a tight band around it, dizzy and then like my mind is empty, all these different bizarre feelings but never normal anymore. Even writing out this now feels like a struggle and is taking me a lot longer than it used to.

Can anxiety make your brain/mind feel this weird? It's almost worse than the anxiety itself, the empty feeling I get after an episode of anxiety has passed. Maybe it's my overloaded-with-anxiety brain "taking a break" because things have gotten too much.

---------- Post added at 03:08 ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 ----------

Also, another question, I've been prescribed Citalopram but haven't yet taken any. I'm wondering whether or not meds will make this feeling worse? I've heard some people say because it obviously helps with the anxiety/depression, once your body gets used to it, it makes your mind clearer but I'm worried it will only make my mind feel more foggy/empty than it does currently.

[kittikat]

Hi London Girl,

Just wanted to reassure you that this seems to be quite common and I definitely feel that my mental function is impaired with anxiety. I too am intelligent and articulate, but I know the feelings you describe very well. I have found that I have also become very forgetful.

I think the anxious mind is constantly on red alert, and therefore, as you say overloaded.

I am not on Citalopram, but I do take Venlafaxine. As you probably know, the meds will make you feel a little worse before you start to feel better. I still have times that I find it hard to articulate myself properly and I notice this more when I am having a bad day. But, the anxiety has definitely improved over time.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in this. I can remember questioning my sanity many times in the past, and wondering where "I" had gone. It does get better. I wish you all the best and hope you make the right decision about the meds...and good luck with the job application! Kitti x

[semper solus]

Hi

As kitticat said you really are not alone. I have the same thing
Like you I have filled out some applications for jobs and the question

Please tell us why you want to work for the company stumps me.

My brain goea dead and think to myself why do i want to work for them. I have to google for insperation.

[Tanner40]

London Girl, when my anxiety was at it's worst, I forgot names of co- workers and regularly forgot words that I knew quite well. I am intelligent and articulate, but anxiety doesn't seem to be discerning when it comes to intelligence levels. The more that I used to panic or worry about not being able to find the perfect word, the worse that it would become.

It was only when I began to practice acceptance of my anxiety that it became easier to deal with. Anxiety takes a lot of time, effort and work to recover from. It's a daily activities list for me, that helps to keep my anxiety in check.

[meche]

If this is a sign of something sinister then I'm in real trouble ! Tanner40 is absolutely right. Once you accept it's only anxiety and a symptom of a very tired, stressed mind then it becomes less of a problem. When I start forgetting words or wondering why I walked into a room and question why I've put sugar in the fridge then I know it's time for me to take a step back, slow down & relax. Big hugs. xx

[harasgenster]

Yes this is an extremely frustrating, but totally harmless anxiety symptom. I had this at it's worst when I worked as a journalist - I can't tell you how annoying that was! It took me ages to get to the end of a sentence because I'd forget what I was writing half way through.

Best thing for this is to rest your brain. You're overworked, essentially - it's mental exhaustion. Resting your brain doesn't necessarily mean doing nothing (because then you start thinking yourself into circles and tiring yourself back out!) Often the thing I found most helpful was to find something I found fun and throwing myself into that. A bit of fun stops you worrying for a while and gives your brain time to recuperate. Also, plenty of sleep, try not to have caffeine as that makes this particular symptom worse (you're just tiring yourself out with caffeine), and try to get some natural light and exercise. You just need to give your mind a bit of room to rest so it can get back up to pace again.

[meggie23]

I have had all of those symptoms, I haven't been able to express myself for a couple of months now and been brain dead. I feel like i don't even know who i am.
I was actually trying to work my relationship out as it was very rocky, at the same time as coming off medication for anxiety/depression so it was two contributing factors that made my anxiety rocket through the roof. The most frustrating part is that i just couldn't seem to act as full of beans as i normally would, which i know is something that helped us bounce off each other well. I was slow to laugh at his jokes and even then i couldn't always muster out a decent laugh most of the time. I was either frozen in fear, could barely string a sentence together and could not solve any tasks so he began to get rather frustrated with me to say the least. My mind was just full of fog, nothing else. I'd just be in ditsy mode like wait for him to come and unlock his car so i can get in, when it was a convertible with the roof off of it, so all i had to do was reach in and open the door from the inside! Then, other times, i was scatty, impulsive, totally douchey, blurted out a lot of odd or silly things that seemed beyond my control, almost like a form of tourettes, except instead of being able to say 'sorry, i don't know why i said that' i only panicked more and made it worse. He'd go to leave after spending an evening with me and i'd shout out 'text me!' like a lunatic rather than just being cool and saying the normal 'see you later'. This is my boyfriend we're talking about, not some one night stand or something!
He eventually said he stopped feeling like himself and I can see why when i was so not me!

Has this affected anyone else's relationship like this? Thanks!

[paranoid-viking]

Probably. I mean; I can only talk for myself; I am not an expert on how the brain works; but I get completely irrational and throw logic away when I convince myself that I have a deadly disease although I am educated enough to know better. When otheres act irrational with health anxiety I can see their irrationality but I never see my own. Just human I guess.