Can years of social isolation and antidepressants ...

[Foxglove]

make you stupid? It's like I can feel myself getting dumber and more slow-witted every day. Before my SP got to be as bad as it is now, I used to work and socialize with others, more or less. I felt then that I was reasonably intelligent and clever. Now I feel like I can't even speak a complete sentence that makes sense. I feel like I am always a little bit stoned or drunk, even though I'm not. My husband makes a sport of how easily he can defeat me in an argument, how quickly he can make me shut up by making me feel small and stupid. Does anyone else here ever feel this way? This is all getting to be too much for me.

 

[SocialRetahd]

No, antidepressants and depression cannot have permanent cognitive defects that I know of. But depression can make you feel like an idiot.

 

[Shonen_Yo]

Lack of confidence can make you appear deaf and dumb. But SAers are internal thinkers, it's always the loners/quiet ones who happen to be the smartest people in the world.

 

[Thelema]

I don't think it makes us dumber I think it makes us slower on our feet so to speak. We're like sprinters that have spent a few years sitting on our butts and then suddenly want to go sprinting again. The muscles are weak so we don't do as well as the others that have had constant practice. (I hope that makes some kind of sense :lol: ). I seem to stumble over what I say and just don't have the mental power to be witty and funny it seems. When I was younger I was witty and could think of funny stuff all the time but now not so much. Also there is now a fear of sounding dumb or all kinds of stuff also that don't help.

 

[phoenix1]

I know what you mean foxglove. I've felt that way in the past too. I think its more the numbing effect of the antidepressants than anything else. Anti-depressants may help stop the onslaught of continual sadness and pain, but no one can deny its numbing effect. Its like when you are on it, you just dont have the extra drive, that extra emotional power that fuels your thoughts and your mind to motivationally higher levels. I even have trouble remembered the days when I was on anti-depressants, it was just a dull blur of days.

It isnt permanent though. As soon as I got off my anti-depressants, I felt my 'life force' seeping back. It might mean that I'm more likely to feel pain and sadness, but I'm also more likely to feel the other side of emotions as well that drive me to want to fight back and give me the power to better achieve what I want from life. I'm more frail, but I'm not numb anymore, and it feels like a cloud being lifted from my emotions and my mind.

There are times when antidepressants are helpful at difficult times in life, but with my experience, I like being off them. I could crash into the depths of hell at any moment, but I feel 'alive' again, and for me, that means I'm willing to risk going to hell and back.

 

[spdiegoguy]

I kind of understand what you are saying, but I am not on any meds. In social situations though, I do feel as my mind escapes me and I am unable to think. I feel real ignorant around people because I cannot seem to express my feelings and thoughts into words. It's frustrating and yes, I do feel stupid. I believe it has alot to do with my daily activities. What kind of activities does your day consist of. I think if surfing the web or watching tv consumes the majority of it, then the lack of mind stimulation might be the reason.

 

[Slash]

make you stupid? It's like I can feel myself getting dumber and more slow-witted every day. Before my SP got to be as bad as it is now, I used to work and socialize with others, more or less. I felt then that I was reasonably intelligent and clever. Now I feel like I can't even speak a complete sentence that makes sense. I feel like I am always a little bit stoned or drunk, even though I'm not. My husband makes a sport of how easily he can defeat me in an argument, how quickly he can make me shut up by making me feel small and stupid. Does anyone else here ever feel this way? This is all getting to be too much for me.

No i don't think that it can make one stupid, I do agree on the slow witted part though.

Put it this way at times it feels like i'm making choices or reacting in slowmotion sort of like the mind is clouded. I to feel this has somewhat happened, It is also harder i've found for me to pull things into focus. little things like time, and date or day.

I find that when one has had little to do over time, the body and mind has a tendency to start shutting down. Though this could just be the years of depression, as i've certainly felt much more alert or active after a good workout,.

I am not taking any meds.

 

[fruitbat]

I don't think it's the medications or the actual depression...

When I'm around people I sort of retreat very deeply into my own head, and can only manage nods or 'yes', 'no', 'fine' and things like that. And when people ask me something that requires an actual answer I just say 'I don't know' or sometimes I just shrug or say nothing at all. That definitely makes me feel stupid and slow-witted, and I imagine the other person thinks I'm stupid and/or rude.

But even with my self-confidence issues, I know I'm a very intelligent person. On my own, online or with my brother (who is the only person I can talk to while at ease, when I'm my actual self) I'm articulate, and funny and am very good at debate.

 

[random]

Foxglove,
Anxiety can make me inattentive and unable to respond to questions. The verbal abuse from my family made it VERY hard to form a sentence when they were laughing at me - the stress of being mistreated and the memories of having been mistreated by others flood into my head and can make talking to a kind person hard, confusing. My sister noted that and would intentionally rattle me by being denigrating so that she could THEN follow up with arguments etc.
I used to be the 'dumb' one in my family - or so I thought. In hindsight - I realize now that I often wasn't 'there' when they were talking. I tuned them out and my thoughts were somewhere else (to get away from them) and then they would suddenly announce that I wasn't paying attion AGAIN or just couldn't 'get it' etc. and I'd snap back to the present - but already humiliated and anxious etc. I guess what I am saying is I don't believe that medication or isolation make you stupid. Being mistreated really affected me though.
PS: Some medications did slow me down some (prozac, lexapro) but I needed them and I don't think they made me stupid - but I guess if family members had been around they could have 'used it against me' to try to make me feel stupid. That sure wouldn't mean that they were 'smart'.

 

[AaronAgassi]

What, medication can never leave you vaguely groggy, even if you are already feeling blue? Seriously?

 

[Gerdje]

Year of isolation do not make you dumber, years of anti-depressants or anti-psychotics DO destroy brain tissue.
Serotonin receivers do necrose.

 

[Horatio]

The Doc told me that known side effects of my meds include memory loss, weight gain and drowsiness. When I first suffered from the memory loss I felt kinda stupid about it, thats when the Doc told me its a known side effect.

 

[Vangelis]

I've never taken any meds and never will. I can't afford them and wouldn't remember anyways. But years of SP has made me socially stupid.

 

[DanFC]

There is plenty of literature out there that supports the conclusion that social isolation can lead to stunted growth of cognitive processes. I don't know how important social interaction is though after neuronal growth and connections have plateaued.

 

[sanitariumcalls]

I'm not sure if the meds I've been on in the past have affected me like that, but I do know that if I isolate more than a weekend (like the times I skip Monday and sometimes Tuesday) and I go out again I feel really weird... like the world is too big and I'm constantly fidgeting and such because all I want to do is run back inside behind my closed blinds and into my couch corner...

 

[Snowdrop]

You just described exactly how I'm feeling and have been feeling for the past 5 ish years now. I'm not sure about the antidepressants as I've only taken them for a few months but I've gradually spoken to less and less people. I've detached myself from friends and going out and I do feel like my speech is not as good/intelligent however you describe it as before. I've had low self esteem as well so everytime I talk it feels like I'm saying something either boring or stupid and as a consequence this makes me stutter, and my brain works slower than usual. I hate it, but I always have to keep positive somehow, some way.

 

[Minty]

I'm fairly socially isolated and I've noticed I am less confident about what I say than when I was younger and went to school five days a week. I'll trail off, unsure if what I was saying made sense, or I'll literally ask the other person, "Does that make sense?" a lot. I stumble over words and have to force myself to speak louder because I'm not used to talking. It's like my voice needs a warm-up.


But other than that--ironically, I think it's made me more intelligent. Social isolation has given me more time to study, read, think about deep subjects, etc.

 

[Hastings & Main]

It won't make you stupider, but like anything else, if you don't keep it up you'll forget certain processes, same as with operating certain types of machinery, math skills (like I know how to tackle algebra anymore) etc.
After longer bouts of limited communication I notice my syntax is totally screwed up, and my mind goes extra-blank along with a few other problems.
It's kinda funny afterwards, but at the time I always feel like a moron...

 

[hippiechild]

Isolation has all sorts of crazy ass effects on thinking... especially if it's long term

isolation is what they use to break down suspects before interrogation

Isolation is sensory deprivation. In the absence of sensory stimulation, people'll create it themselves: Impair a person's vision sufficiently and they'll have visual hallucinations, get someone deaf enough and they'll start hearing again, cut off a hand and leave them permanently overwhelmed with it's tactile sensation.

problem is, self stimulation is rarely productive, never predictive and is easily mistaken for psychosis.

 

[Psychedelicious]

Dissociative

I wouldn't say that it can make you stupid, but it sure as hell can make you go crazy!!