Re: Concentration and Distrac...

["Stephen C. Holahan" <STEVEBYC@xxxxxxx>]

Alan,

Your description of concentration vs distraction fits me to a T.  When on I
find intellectual activity difficult.  When really on("La-La" Land) I can
lose my thought in mid sentence, and can stare at simple math problems until
I almost am in a trance. Often I will doze off  in place.  Even light reading
is impossible.  The flip side is the off, when the lack of movement and the
inability to get comfortable preclude doing much except TV or radio. Unless a
cassette is already in, tapes are out, and CDs are impossible for me to
handle when off.  I get very depressed when off and overwhelmed by the
quantity of tasks to do.

Then as the meds kick in, I can get manic and suddenly discover that I've
waisted most of my   "ON" doing some tinkering in the basement, instead of
the tasks I had planned on. Then as the next OFF arrives my mental facilities
return in time to get more frustrated and depressed at the undone tasks.
 While I have come to accept this daily "ying--yang" as part of my PD, it
still is tough to deal with.  I do find that exercise and physical activity
seem to help me by streching out my doses which can help prevent the "La-La
Land" effect of being "too On". Also having just one or two focused tasks
that are doable helps, as does staying out of the tool shop in basement!!

Take care, I enjoy your many contributions to the "NET"

             Steve Holahan(Stevebyc@xxxxxxx)