Levels of cognitive dysfunction

[Snowdrop]

I'm always learning something coming here to PR.

While I have been increasingly ill in the past decade I was mildly to moderately ill most of my life and so the cognitive dichotomy that sinclair brings up I noticed long ago and had forgotten. I can't now remember all the ways it played out over the years but I remember it troubling me why I couldn't push through the 'hard stuff'. I guess it just uses more cognitive energy to confront some tasks more than others.

Because I confronted this symptom so long ago being isolated (before internet) I assumed it was just me. This isn't the first time I've found others sharing a 'peculiar' symptom/misfunctioning of mine.

 

[picante]

Wow, I have a really unusual example of this. I work at home as a French-English translator, so I set my own schedule, and if I feel exhausted, I can rest. It's really ideal for someone with CFS.

Now, I am aware that my work is truly mental gymnastics, as it involves restructuring the information in every sentence going from French into English. But even when I'm having a low-energy day, I can still do it. Possibly it's because I don't have to interact with anyone.

What I cannot do on a low-energy day is deal with red tape for my dad. He has Alzheimer's, and I'm his Power of Attorney. The phone calls are the worst, like calling his doctor's office or the VA. I just don't have the oomph to deal with the *%#@! phone menus and being passed from one person to the next.