# Like you don't understand speech?



## Matt89 (Sep 12, 2005)

Hi everyone,

I've had an anxiety/panic disorder for about 2 months and recently started feeling unreal/and "I don't know who I am" feelings.

Has anyone experienced something like when someone speaks you don't know what they are talking about? Like you are forgetting the language?
I fear that I won't be able to understand anyone and not be able to speak.

Help


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## jft (Jan 10, 2005)

Yes Matt, same here. It is as if speech sometimes does not register, like not comprehending text when reading. I in the past have listened to many conversations without following much of it and only nodding my head as if I did. Worse thing is jokes, for I cannot follow them to the punch line. It is strange how this is worse at times than others, but often happens when i am talking or listening too long. I jsut seem to go mentally numb.
jft


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## Imagine (Oct 24, 2004)

Yes, this has been a worry for me for quite a while now, its in a alot of my posts.

Its feels as though I have forgotten the langauge, all words seem bizarre to me, like I've never used or heard them before.

Same goes with all objects.


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## Matt89 (Sep 12, 2005)

But altough this, does anyone seem this goes when your mind is completely off all this crap?

For example,

I was talking to a friend today and I just completely forgot about all this stuff (forgetting language) and spoke to him for a while without realising any of this.

So it's like you DO know the language and objects but you don't as well. Anyone get me?


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## jft (Jan 10, 2005)

I wonder if this all has to do with too much stimuli for our "broken down" systems. I mean if we experience dr/dp because of overload or even "breakdown" of our working mechanics in the brain (hypothesis) then it would follow that sometimes when we are feeling lots of symptoms that even normal stimuli (like converstaion) may be too much for us to process at this moment. I can be totally normal and work the language well most of the day,, but when I start feeling the "fog" roll in I become zombiesh and can predict that things like converstaion are going to be difficult. 
jft


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## MrMortgage (Aug 26, 2005)

same here! somtimes I think I"m gonna forget how to talk and wonder how I talk. Nuts


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2005)

I don't understand this post


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## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

See, now this is just ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong...i've been worried about equally and actually much more ridiculous things than this. But really...you don't forget the bloody language. You don't forget how to assemble ideas or sentences. All that is happening here is that you're focussing too much on thinking about what's happening instead of just letting it happen. It's like if you were riding a bicycle and you started to consciously focus on the weight of your body or the logistics of moving one foot down while the other ascended. You're trying to unlearn what you know, but it won't work...you already know it. You never forget how to ride a bike.

I'm not trying to make light of it. I've had similar situations where i've been idiotically afraid of things that are too ridiculous to even consider. But put it in perspective. Are you seriously forgetting the english language which, as far as i know, has never even happened in recorded history, or are you simply focussing too much on riding the bike, instead of checking out the scenery. So to speak.

s.


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## MrMortgage (Aug 26, 2005)

It's the bike thing! Focusing too much on why the bike is and how its done rather then just letting be. I havent felt like that in awhile but I know were the original poster is coming from. Threw me into a panic attack sometimes!


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## jft (Jan 10, 2005)

I do n't think anybody here is speaking of literally forgetting language. For me if I am very symptomatic (foggy,fatigued, zombiesh, derealized, some dp, etc) it becomes hard to communicate. I can be a very fluid person and usually am in control of my vocabulary, but when feeling poorly I grasp for words, forget what I am talking about, have trouble following what is being said, and thus may fear responding, If I am very symptomatic I get more depersonalized and will actually lose a sense of what I truly believe or who I am, so again it is difficult to express. When I am "normal" all this does not happen. When engaged in conversation while feeling lousy it actualy seems to bottom out, goes nowhere, becasue I lose a sense of attachment to the subject. If your enviroment feels wierd and your innards are temporarily not connected I can see how one would feel uncomfortable in speech. Indeed folks I am with do not really notice that this is happening, or if they do think I am just tired. It is at this point I go home and go to sleep or divert to something else. Of course the language is still there, and you can still ride the bike. It just seems that sometimes one temproarily does not ride with clarity. And all of this can happen without focusing on the problem. Of course one feels aware, but the hypervigalence you speak of does not have to be present for this to happen. It is part of the gamut of other symptoms. For me it has such a physically drainingl component that it is hard to even think let alone focus. I liken it to studying for a final. Up all night and stressed and haven't eaten and you get to the test and can't even comprehend the questions. Yes, you know the words, but they do not connect.
.
It is real. It is like trying to talk to someone while stoned.
jft


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## Matt89 (Sep 12, 2005)

sebastian said:


> See, now this is just ridiculous.
> 
> Don't get me wrong...i've been worried about equally and actually much more ridiculous things than this. But really...you don't forget the bloody language. You don't forget how to assemble ideas or sentences. All that is happening here is that you're focussing too much on thinking about what's happening instead of just letting it happen. It's like if you were riding a bicycle and you started to consciously focus on the weight of your body or the logistics of moving one foot down while the other ascended. You're trying to unlearn what you know, but it won't work...you already know it. You never forget how to ride a bike.
> 
> ...


When you put it that way, I guess I have been focusing to much on it, as I said, if I don't think about it, I can have a perfectly normal conversation with someone.

Sorry if I sounded stupid, it's just as If I feel like I'm going mad


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## falling_free (Nov 3, 2004)

I used to ty and listen to words being spken and then think what if I didnt know the language and try and hear the words (english) being spoken as if they meant nothing to me.


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## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

Matt: I don't think you sounded stupid. You sounded like a perfectly rational anxiety case. I went through the same thing and in fact still have similar problems sometimes. A few weeks ago i had to give a presentation and i stood there stone-faced, and had to excuse myself. It was one of the most humiliating moments of my academic career ("Academic career" sounds so much more palatable than saying i'm taking "Adult education classes", which either makes me sounds like a high school drop out or like i'm attending some sort of sexual education course). I made a post on here about it at the time, but it was the same sort of thing. It's really just a case of anxiety overwhelming you. I even remember when i was like 13 and i worked at this greasy spoon and i had to make change for someone during a rush and i couldn't for the life of me figure it out...even with a bloody calculator. The customer had to walk me through it. I'm sure she thought I was a total moron, but i was just completely unable to do the most simple arithmetic.

s.


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## Matt89 (Sep 12, 2005)

falling_free said:


> I used to ty and listen to words being spken and then think what if I didnt know the language and try and hear the words (english) being spoken as if they meant nothing to me.


Kinda sounds like what I'm doing :?

Hopefully this passes soon.


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## agentcooper (Mar 10, 2005)

a good way to make this pass is to stop thinking about it. i know, i know, easier said than done. the way i do it is i imagine taking all of the energy and thoughts in my head and physically pushing them outward. i don't let my thoughts stay in my head for a second with out "pushing" them right out. i really do NOT let myself dwell on any thought longer than about 1 second. this will get easier and easier.


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## Crumbles (Aug 19, 2004)

you know, the more and more I read about DP/DR, it becomes more and more clear that a big problem with it is we just focus on it too much.

I sort of know what you're talking about. I remember when I was younger I would say a word over and over and over again (like refridgerator or something) and the word would eventually seem weird if you did it long enough. I thought I was just weird, but most of my friends said they have done this or had that happen to them at one point in time.

Maybe you are just focusing on the words so much they just seem weird to you now.

I'm pretty sure (excluding brain deteriation or something) you can't just "forget" English though ...


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## enigma (Feb 18, 2005)

Crumbles said:


> I'm pretty sure (excluding brain deteriation or something) you can't just "forget" English though ...


Mнение снова?

э


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