https://www.thecut.com/2020/04/coronavirus-self-isolation-time-blindness.html
The link above leads to an article on a subject I know about but did not know it was a condition with an actual name. Time blindness. I have suffered the effects of it for about ten years. Ever since my husband died in 2009.
Symptoms I have are losing track of time daily and many times a day. I had a sense of time without the use of a clock. But now I can't leave the kitchen if I am cooking because I forget how long the potatoes have been boiling and soon I smell them burning. I sit down to the computer to work for half an hour but if I don't set a timer, I will work for three hours before realizing how long I have been there.
This has had a troubling effect on me. I wondered why and what has caused my sense of timing to disappear.
In the article by Bridget Reid, she says Dr. Ari Tuckman, a Pennsylvania-based psychologist who specializes in ADHD, says adults typically develop an innate awareness of time and an ability to track its passing. Some people have what he calls a “harder,” or sharper time awareness: they know when they’ve been out for lunch too long, or when something hasn’t been in the oven for long enough.
Others have a much softer one; they can miss appointments and trains, or play a game for hours and not realize they haven’t eaten dinner. This is where I am now. I am often late for appointments because I underestimate the time it takes to get dressed and to drive to my destination. It makes me angry with myself.
Dr. Tuckman says, At the severe end of the spectrum, toward the soft end, is time blindness, which can profoundly impact someone’s life, if they can’t ever keep deadlines or make social events.
I am grateful that I am not at that end.
Grief is one of the biggest causes of time blindness, says Dr. Tuckman.
Holding onto time is a skill of your mind, like doing math, and sadness sucks up its computing strength, Reid says.
This is a link to an article on how to deal with time blindness and explains more about this strange phenomena. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/guide/a32304056/time-blindness-what-is-it-and-do-you-have-it/
I wonder how many of you might have time blindness, and like me, did not know what it is.
The link above leads to an article on a subject I know about but did not know it was a condition with an actual name. Time blindness. I have suffered the effects of it for about ten years. Ever since my husband died in 2009.
Symptoms I have are losing track of time daily and many times a day. I had a sense of time without the use of a clock. But now I can't leave the kitchen if I am cooking because I forget how long the potatoes have been boiling and soon I smell them burning. I sit down to the computer to work for half an hour but if I don't set a timer, I will work for three hours before realizing how long I have been there.
This has had a troubling effect on me. I wondered why and what has caused my sense of timing to disappear.
In the article by Bridget Reid, she says Dr. Ari Tuckman, a Pennsylvania-based psychologist who specializes in ADHD, says adults typically develop an innate awareness of time and an ability to track its passing. Some people have what he calls a “harder,” or sharper time awareness: they know when they’ve been out for lunch too long, or when something hasn’t been in the oven for long enough.
Others have a much softer one; they can miss appointments and trains, or play a game for hours and not realize they haven’t eaten dinner. This is where I am now. I am often late for appointments because I underestimate the time it takes to get dressed and to drive to my destination. It makes me angry with myself.
Dr. Tuckman says, At the severe end of the spectrum, toward the soft end, is time blindness, which can profoundly impact someone’s life, if they can’t ever keep deadlines or make social events.
I am grateful that I am not at that end.
Grief is one of the biggest causes of time blindness, says Dr. Tuckman.
Holding onto time is a skill of your mind, like doing math, and sadness sucks up its computing strength, Reid says.
This is a link to an article on how to deal with time blindness and explains more about this strange phenomena. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/guide/a32304056/time-blindness-what-is-it-and-do-you-have-it/
I wonder how many of you might have time blindness, and like me, did not know what it is.
Grief is an all encompassing beast isn't it? Some of its effects are known and recognised and others (like time blindness) fly under the radar.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that many people are grieving at the moment - and strongly suspect that many do not realise that is what they are feeling.
Stay well, stay safe.