[sheds]

I have been having huge problems with becoming overwhelmed easily. I don't even know how to describe this. My kids got i-touches this past weekend and they had so many questions. I was totally overwhelmed. My patience level was gone. I finally told them to not ask me any questions about this because I had no idea. I have also been having problems with making the right decisions. It seems like everything I say is wrong so again, I told my family to not ask me anything of importance. I told my husband that he needs to "step up to the plate" because I have no confidence in my decisions. Why after all this time does this affect me? I feel extremely stupid!

[Mark in Idaho]

It is not uncommon to get overloaded by questions like your kids asked. Their dependence on Mom is a hard habit to change.

My wife had a saying for our kids, " I am sorry, I don't have any brain cells for your question/request right now." She is not even brain injured, just a mom.

Technology seems to be a common overload issue with PCS. The concepts often do not any easy to understand processes.

I have a Dell Axim PDA that was given to me by a tbi friend because he can't figure out how to use it. I got it updated for him to use a few months ago. He never used it and the batteries died and it lost the programs I installed. After he gave it to me, I struggled for a few days to figure out how I updated it and installed the programs I had installed just a few months ago. My mind was quick to get that chaos/overload feeling.

I finally got it working because I found that I can play freecell on it, where I can not play freecell on my desk computer. It is amazing how easy it is to stare at a new gadget and have my mind go blank, or even overload. I used to build computers from scratch. Now, it takes a serious effort to even try to understand the basics.

The PCS brain is commonly overloaded by multi-step tasks. Probably a problem with the i-touch gadgets.

Maybe you need to tell your husband that you need decision making issues broken down into smaller bites, especially with the kids. They can be overwhelming to even healthy brains.

Do you have any work-arounds for the bigger questions in daily life? Maybe using your computer to write out your thoughts about an issue. The ability to use a computer to be your short term memory so you can look at your memory rather than try to actually remember.

Maybe you can even request that decision issues be written down. Then you can respond with, " What about x? Who is involved? All of the particulars. My kids learned (against their selfish desires) to expect to answer the big questions, Who? What? When? Where? and then, I'll get back to you with an answer.

I understand how you can feel like an alien visiting from a different world sometimes. The daily tasks can seem to feel so foreign. Believe me I understand. I am having one of those mornings. My wife just started a two month temp job with the Census Bureau. I am going to be without my sounding board for two months. She'll come home tired needing me to pick up the tasks.

So, try to relax and wait for one of those good days to get back to making decisions. Try to break up your day and tasks.

My best to you.