Misunderstandings

[RemyZee]

There are times I am totally clueless. I find myself reacting to what people say in ways that make it seem like I didn't hear anything they were just talking about--and chances are I didn't. My mind sneaks off after around 5 seconds of talking to someone and I completely forget what they just said, or what I just said. People do things that I completely misinterpret--partly because I stop being able to interpret or even hear what people are saying. I can maybe follow people for a couple of minutes before things get jumbled. I have been told before that it seems like I'm not understanding what people say. That is exactly what is happening. When I was a teenager my family gave me a tee shirt for the holidays--it said "I know you're there, I'm just not listening" because people always assume I'm not listening..... when in actuality I am listening TOO much. It's almost like taking it all in at the same time, I can't filter out the unimportant parts, so I go into the nodding and uh huh mode...basically where I have no idea what someone is saying but I act like I do--nodding my head and looking for an escape hatch. It means I can never really be myself in real time--the things inside get lost in the clutter. Also, it is completely different to do things in writing.

 

[Kayla55]

I know what you mean, I've always gotten this a lot. I think PTSD makes it worse, at my age I'm such a recluse and to exacerbate the above mentioned issue I'm stuck in my own world, often trying to navigate life on my inner terms and missing whats being said until someone states the obvious in more blatant form that it's impossible for me to live in my capsule of denial any further.