Posted by Jennifer on August 4, 2000, at 5:22:16
In reply to Re: Depression and IQ loss, posted by stjames on August 3, 2000, at 21:57:22
OK, I'm in a totally silly mood and am probably going to ruin this thread (sorry). But I LOL with the brain fog thing. We watched "Joe versus the Volcano" today...and if you haven't ever seen it, you have to. It's an fairly old movie with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. In the movie, he's depressed and is diagnosed with a "brain cloud". It's terminal. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but I'll spare the rest incase you haven't.
As far as the brain fog...my feeling is that since the chemicals are out of whack in your brain; and your brain is the central control of your body, it's kind of like having too little RAM on your high speed computer. Even though the capability is there, it's too busy using whatever is available to maintain homeostasis throughout the body, and some sense of stability in itself at the same time. It doesn't have the time to concurrently look for things you are "thinking" about. It's too busy. I know whenever I lose total thought of what I was thinking I just say my brain is rebooting!
Now...since you do develop additional neural pathways each time you learn something new...and this is why those who continually exercise their brain do better after strokes....maybe reading and learning new things will help to give you more "RAM", and help unveil that IQ you have hiding in there. I'm sure it will take time. The less you use it, the more you lose it...and vice versa. Proof positive is that I used to be fairly fluent in spanish, and now I can only say "Hola, coma esta?" "Tiene dolor?" "Esta embarazada?" "Yo soy enfermera" and "Punga sus manos en la cabeza" (Hi, how are you?...Are you in pain?...Are you pregnant...I'm a nurse....and... Put your hands on your head!(always important during a robbery!) Next thing you know I'll ask someone if they're pregnant, have them put their hands on their head, and tell them they're about to be in pain!
Have fun! Jen
> > Could someone explain or at least point me in the way
> > of information detailing why when we (I ) are depressed we
> > seem to drop IQ?
> >
>
> James here....
>
> IQ really measures ability to learn and process. Brain fog
> from depression slows and muddies thinking and processing.
>
> James
poster:Jennifer
thread:42107
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000729/msgs/42145.html