Difficulity with Talking and Listening?
 

Hello everyone,
I am currently 21 months past concussion.

Although some of my thinking abilities have improved, I realize that my talking and listening abilities have not improved much.

It this unusual or do others find talking and listening (discussions with others) very mentally fatiguing?

For example, a 15 minute one-on-one easy discussion can leave me very mentally fatigued, requiring hours and hours of rest to recover from.

If you have similar difficulties, how do you handle it at your workplace?

Yes, talking and listening can still fatigue me. A big contributor is background noise and voices. Also, if the subject matter or speaking style requires complex sentences, the mental processing can be exhausting. If this happens when my wife is around, she will usually notice me starting to go spacey eyed and pull me away.

It is a rare occurrence now because I have learned to moderate these times.

Trying to hold a conversation that is basically chat and talk for talk sake can be difficult as we often struggle with creative thought 'on the fly.' We do better with time to prepare our thoughts. I frequently rehearse my comments in a discussion before opening my mouth.

My best to you.

Yes! For me too, it is difficult. I try to add challenges bit by bit. I think it helps.
Good luck!

Oh yes!
 

Talking and listening.

You nailed it right there. I know as a teacher, these are two HUGELY connected yet different capacities.

I need answers and questiions repeated. I have no problem asking for that.

Last week I saw my MD about my insomnia and he spewed some really super fast speech.

I had to say, "What did you say? Please say that again."

Earlier in our meeting, I felt overwhelmed with his rushed presence and even put my hands in my head and said, "I hate coming here. You are rushing."

I think this was my reaction to how fast he moves, thinks, and talks. And once he did slow down it was a good visit there. He does listen. Thank God.



Don't be afraid to tell people to repeate their questions, answers or whatever. This is part of our cognitive-------------slowness, whatever.

You are not alone in this, and I know for myself, writing and e-mail are easier because it is a bit slower -- more at my pace.

You need speech at your pace to retrain your brain.

Take care

pm