Ever since I started a new job last year, I’ve been having these problems. I work in retail. I’m constantly making mistakes, I’m unfocused, forgetful, bad at organisation and using initiative, and sometimes struggling to hear or understand what people are saying to me. Like I don’t hear their words or they don’t register in my head. I’m also having trouble making conversation with my colleagues which is making it difficult to build a relationship with them.
It’s normal to make mistakes, but I am making them constantly and it often causes a great deal of frustration and embarrassment for me, as well as irritation for my colleagues.
I’ve tried to brush it off as me being naturally clumsy person that is very shy and introverted. But I feel like it’s something more than that, because I’m having genuine communication issues too when it comes to hearing and understanding what I’m being told.
Getting mental health conditions properly diagnosed in a clinical environment is absolutely not that simple. I am basing this off of more than a decade of going through the US mental health system at a high level of utilization. I am not saying that OP shouldn’t try to get a professional opinion, it can be valuable but its not the end all be all.
People need to absolutely understand that a lot of the time the doctors are just guessing at what is wrong mental health wise and are subject to a lot of biases. Blind faith in the diagnosis of a dr can lead to years of mistreatment, possibly years of psychoactive drug use that is not actually helpful because you don’t actually have the thing the dr thinks you do. This isn’t hyperbole, it happens quite often. I have heard of countless stories of it happening to other people and has happened to myself included. I am not anti-healthcare or anything, I just recognize that the people working in the industry are human, overworked, and very often don’t have enough time per patent and not enough experience to properly evaluate what is happening inside their head.
Hearing what other people online have to say and self evaluating is absolutely still a valuable thing to do and dismissing op by saying “go to a doctor” is actually anti helpful.
Are you talking about general practitioners or psychiatrist? I think OP should go to a GP if these things aren’t normal, but since OP said they are, they should see a Psychiatrist / psychologist. It’s true, that this may not help depending on the doctor, but a psychiatrist can do real evaluations as to not “guess” and help fine-tune any depression/anxiety meds that are prescribed as to not keep a person on prescriptions that “aren’t actually helpful”. Some of it is guess work, yes, but if you treat for anxiety, try different meds, and it’s still not going away, then a good psychiatrist will suggest something else. This is coming from over a decade of moderate-use of the US mental healthcare system.
I want to point out that saying “you should see a doctor” should always be the first post on any psychological and/or physical problem post for the simple fact that some people do ask questions on the internet instead of seeing a doctor. This is not dismissive and does not prevent people from giving their non-medical opinions, but if someone follows someone’s advice on the internet instead of going to the doctor, this could be a life-and-death mistake.
Also, from what OP said in the original post, this could just as easily been a fairly serious medical condition.
I agree with everything you said except the idea that I was being dismissive. It’s terribly concerning, especially if the symptoms have arisen recently. Because it often takes a long time to arrive at a proper diagnosis, it’s important to start down that path at once.