Struggling to understand things

I just can't understand anything. I study Business, Law and Politics and every time i try and read the text, especially in Politics, nothing goes in my head. I don't take anything in and rather I just read the words without any meaning. It's unbelievably embarrassing when my teacher asks me to discuss what I've just read and I'm just sitting there thinking WTF is wrong with me and pretend I didn't read properly.

Although I know 100% i'm not dyslexic or anything, but from a young age I've always struggled taking in things straight away, I'd have to read it a couple of times to understand it, which wasn't very common but probably still normal, but now it's become a whole nother level!

The worst thing is It's not just when i'm studying my subjects, but even when i'm trying to understand a video (yes a video, something as simple as that) it just goes in one ear and comes out of the other. I feel so embarrassed and utterly useless. I honestly think I've become retarded.

Reply 1

BTAnonymous

you're not a retard by definition, trust me. I can tell by your typing that you're not a protoplasmic slime.

So you're saying if you watch a film you don't understand it?

Reply 2

Izzayyyy

It might just be to do with a few different factors... how much sleep do you get usually?? how much time do spend on your phone a day usually ???

Reply 3

username3590460

Your memory is just ****
Try being me , I don’t know half the words of the English language smh! My sister said that to me once and it’s true.

Reply 4

HateOCR

Original post by Anonymous

Was this really necessary

Reply 5

Anonymous #2

Brain fog?

I think I got that too

Reply 6

adamdubs

Original post by Izzayyyy

It might just be to do with a few different factors... how much sleep do you get usually??

I've had a similar-ish experience during periods of time in which I've had little sleep.
If you're getting less than 7/8 hours of sleep per day, you should defo try to go to bed earlier.

Also, I felt a bit like this during my AS exams. I talked to someone about it and we figured out it was due to stress.
If you have a lot of stress in your life right now, that's probably what the cause of the problem is. Try to reduce the amount of stress by doing whatever - confront any issues you have etc.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 7

username3697430

Trust me, we've all been there.

For my GCSE English which seem like ages now, I had to explain what I just read and typically you can get away with it by talking bs..

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 8

Anonymous #3

lol i'm actually the exact same. I used to be known as one of the clever ones but now i can't take things in. I think I daydream too much and I'm quite slow at processing

Reply 9

pinksnowflake

This happens to me while in class, I can't really concentrate on what the teacher is saying, but I mostly study on my own, so I don't mind it.
Maybe something's on your mind? Or the thing you're reading is not interesting enough to you. I sometimes happen to read something and have to reread it because I didn't actually process it. Maybe you need to read more to get used to it? It's like a mental exercise

Reply 10

Langerhan

Original post by Anonymous

from a young age I've always struggled taking in things straight away, I'd have to read it a couple of times to understand it, which wasn't very common but probably still normal, but now it's become a whole nother level!

This sounds like a processing speed issue, which is something you can get extra time for during exams even with an officially diagnosed learning difficulty. Try making an appointment with your SENCO and talking to them about the difficulties you've been having in class. Stress that it's been this way for your entire school career, but you've made an effort to ensure nobody's picked up on it before.

Reply 11

Anonymous #1

Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it. I just feel really useless because I can't even read or understand and take in anything. Like I was watching a video on the stock market for dummies, yes for dummies, and it did seem very easy to grasp, but I was lost 1 minute into the video, and its around 4 minutes long in total.

Another issue is that my English skills are actually quite decent online, as you can probably see, but when it's pen to paper in the class, or when I'm writing an assignment on Word, I instantly become a retard and my writing skills are immensely basic and poor. Gosh I feel like I'm just rambling and complaining too much, but this is extremely concerning.

Anyway, that is a different topic, but in regards to my reading and understanding abilities, is there anything I can do about this. Should I first practice reading particular things that are targeted for circumstances (or conditions, although I don't like to say it like that) like mine. Is there even such thing as that. Is there anything I can do.

Reply 12

Anonymous #1

Original post by Izzayyyy

It might just be to do with a few different factors... how much sleep do you get usually?? how much time do spend on your phone a day usually ???

I usually get 7 hours, so sleep isn't an issue, but in regards to using my phone, then I would say I pretty much use it all day. I'm always on my phone 24/7, just doing the usual addictive things on it, like Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube. Nothing productive really.

Reply 13

Anonymous #1

Original post by pinksnowflake

That is like me. I literally go to class and don't learn a single thing. Its all so fast. I can't just pick up on one thing straight away. This may not sound true but honestly I have learnt nothing in class since September. I go to the lessons, I don't understand ANYTHING, literally, because I just don't take anything in. Like my brain just doesn't process anything. And then worst of all, once I've learnt it, I forget it after like 5 minutes. It's really, really bad, like terribly concerning.

This has never happened to me before. Is it because I haven't studied in like 6 months and haven't really used it properly for so long, so my brain isn't functioning well?

Bump

This happens to me when I'm reading something I'm not interested in. Also in some business meetings if I don't know the subject area well enough and have no point of reference to personal experience. Note that within areas such as politics / economics ideas are expressed in a way that does not pertain to concrete actionable concepts. I personally struggle with memorising highly theoretical ramblings where I cannot identify a practical application method.

Reply 16

username3482522

Maybe the problem is a linguistic one.

[video="youtube;dWfrMMNeK2k"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWfrMMNeK2k[/video]

Reply 17

username3433230

Consider being checked out for ADHD, it sounds to me like you're able to function adequately outside of studies, so it's likely concentrating on things like school work is a difficulty of yours.

Also, you can't 100% say you have no mental health problems or learning difficulties even if a trained professional says as much, so don't just assume you're perfectly okay without at least some consultation. Mental issues can arise later in life, it's not just a birth thing so seriously, SEEK HELP.