Who is an absent-minded person and how can he deal with inattention?

Any person has encountered a situation where he forgot something, didn’t have time, promised something and didn’t fulfill it. Quite often this is not directly related to memory, but is a consequence of absent-mindedness or inattention. Scientists have proven that a simple lack of concentration often makes life difficult for people. This means that something needs to be changed, and we will tell you how to get rid of absent-mindedness and inattention.

Classification

Absent-mindedness is a condition characterized by inattention and forgetfulness that constantly accompany a person.

Psychologists note the presence of three types of inattention.

1. Fluttering attention. Characterized by insufficient concentration of attention and easy switching from one task to another. This type of inattention often occurs in preschool children. It can also occur with severe fatigue, as a result of insomnia, monotonous work or severe headache.
2. Professorial absent-mindedness. There is a serious concentration on one specific matter. Such concentration is found in professors or scientists who are fixated on their thoughts. We should not forget that many great personalities were absent-minded, as they were focused on their discovery or creativity. It also occurs in individuals who are absorbed beyond the idea, fixated on a fixed idea.
3. Weak concentration. An even greater weakening of switchability is characteristic. Occurs in people with reduced activity of nervous processes. Senile absent-mindedness often occurs.

Considers such types of absent-mindedness as well.

1. Insufficient concentration. Characterized by a decrease in the ability to remember what is heard or seen. Occurs in people who react acutely to various conditions. For example, it is a consequence of lack of sleep, severe anxiety, fatigue.
2. Rigidity. Lethargy, slowness, which is characterized by difficulty switching from topic to topic. Occurs in patients with epileptic syndrome, hebephrenia, and hypomania.
3. Unstable attention of spasmodic nature. There is constant jumping from topic to topic, which leads to absent-mindedness and forgetfulness. Occurs in children with attention deficit disorder.

What other factors influence our absent-mindedness?

• Preoccupation with other matters;
• familiar and predictable surroundings;
• stress;
• the presence of interference that distracts us from the task;
• fatigue – both physical and mental;
• age;
• conditions conducive to perceptual errors.

Absent-mindedness can be not only an annoying hindrance in our affairs. Drivers, train operators, air traffic controllers are well aware of the irreparable consequences it can lead to. If a person's work involves a set of monotonous, repetitive operations, its quality may also suffer from the worker's inattention. Moreover, there are many cases where a person was unable to pursue a career due to his inability to focus properly on his studies. This is why it is so important to monitor your focus.

Possible reasons

Anxious thoughts and constant worries can lead to absent-mindedness.
Let's look at what factors can cause a person to become absent-minded:

• the presence of monotonous, monotonous work;
• severe fatigue;
• prolonged headaches;
• the result of simultaneous execution of several tasks;
• the presence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia;
• anxiety disorder, depression;
• organic brain damage;
• consequences of insomnia, chronic lack of sleep;
• the result of mental or physical fatigue;
• changes with age - in people over 70 years of age, the ability to concentrate their attention significantly decreases, which leads to absent-mindedness;
• the presence of extreme anxiety can also lead to inattention;
• the presence of pathology in the body, namely: atherosclerosis, hypertension, osteochondrosis, hydrocephalus, vascular dementia, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, vegetative-vascular dystonia, iron deficiency anemia;
• a sudden distraction while performing an automatic action can also lead to absent-mindedness. For example, in a situation when a woman is peeling potatoes, she is distracted by a phone call, and she automatically throws the peeled tuber into the trash can and the skin into the pan.

How to get rid of absent-mindedness and forgetfulness

Be prepared that you will have to make an effort of will, but believe me: it will only be beneficial! So, first it is important to establish a rest and sleep schedule: sleep at least 8 hours a day and allow yourself to relax when your body requires it. Give up bad habits, balance your diet, quit smoking, and drink less alcohol. It is also advisable to reduce stressful situations to a minimum, although this is quite difficult.

Sometimes, to get rid of absent-mindedness, the listed measures are not enough: this means that the problem is aggravated by a lack of specific substances in the body: vitamin B12 and folic acid. Introduce foods rich in folic acid into your diet: spinach and lettuce, seeds and nuts, mushrooms, grains, eggs, tomatoes, liver and citrus fruits. Vitamin B12 is found in fish, seafood, sour cream, cheese and rabbit meat. In practice, it has been verified that with regular use of the listed products, the manifestation of inattention is significantly reduced, and sometimes even completely disappears.

Diagnostics

To diagnose the causes that influenced the occurrence of absent-mindedness, an MRI may be prescribed

If absent-mindedness is present, the following studies may be prescribed:

• Initially, the patient is recommended to undergo an examination by a neurologist, during which the doctor assesses the state of functioning of fine motor skills and excludes the presence or absence of neurological symptoms;
• conducting a neuropsychological test to assess the level of intellectual abilities, attention and performance;
• genetic analysis;
• blood biochemistry to determine the level of glucose, magnesium, iron, lead;
• ultrasound examination of cerebral vessels using Dopplerography;
• Magnetic resonance imaging;
• electroencephalography with EP.

Treatment

An absent-minded person may not need drug therapy. Sometimes following certain recommendations is enough to improve the process of concentration. However, for certain conditions, medications may also be prescribed, including:

• Piracetam - to improve brain activity;
• Glycine - has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and increases performance;
• Biotredin - improves cognitive functions, improves memory, increases alertness;
• Phenibut - affects the improvement of blood circulation in the brain, thereby increasing the quality of mental activity and memory.

Physiotherapy procedures can also be used, namely:

• inhalation;
• laser therapy;
• Ural Federal District;
• magnetotherapy.

Things to remember:

1. We become distracted, forgetful and inattentive for various reasons. By correctly identifying the cause, you can quickly and effectively regain your concentration.
2. The main causes of inattention: overwork, reluctance to complete planned tasks, failure of the “autopilot”, an excessive number of tasks and lack of attention.
3. Avoid overwork: get enough sleep, walk in the fresh air, take breaks while studying. Use the 45x15 system: 45 minutes of activity - 15 minutes of any other activity.
4. Understand your motivation: prioritize, re-evaluate your goals and bring them into line with your desires, formulate tasks in such a way that they sound more attractive. This will help get rid of constant forgetfulness.
5. Try not to rely on “autopilot” in everyday affairs, train mindfulness, notice the details of the world around you, change the algorithms of routine actions.
6. Minimize the number of tasks, complete them sequentially one after another, try to do small things at once so that they do not accumulate. If there are still a lot of tasks left, use different methods of effective planning - make lists, visualize tasks.
7. Work on your concentration with special exercises.

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Adviсe

I bring to your attention recommendations on how to deal with absent-mindedness.

1. Take short breaks and respites in your work to realize what has been done and understand what still needs to be done. Before starting a new task, be sure to think through its implementation and make a mental plan.
2. Try to concentrate on your business. Often, forgetfulness is a consequence of lack of concentration. For example, when, while performing one task, all thoughts are filled with something else.
3. Try not to put things off until later, even if they seem insignificant and take a little time. Thus, you delay their implementation, which only increases absent-mindedness.
4. You can use visual reminders. Choose a few items that will remind you of specific things to do. Keep them handy so that they are always visible and remind you of what needs to be done.
5. Use conscious associations. You can come up with a relationship between a task and a situation, an important task and a subject. Once you find yourself in a hidden place, you will be able to immediately remember what you planned.
6. Try to get rid of all kinds of junk. This applies to the desktop, both at work and at home, because often it is chaos that leads to absent-mindedness. It is worth taking care of organizing your desktop on your computer.
7. Determine your priorities, concentrate on one object or completing one task. You need to understand that almost no one manages to do two or more things at the same time.
8. Solve problems as they arise, do not invent difficulties for yourself before they happen.

Now you know for what reasons adults may experience inattention and absent-mindedness. It is important to understand that pathology may occur in certain situations. Therefore, if you have other suspicious symptoms, then it is better not to delay, promptly seek help from a specialist, undergo diagnostics, and if any ailment is detected, begin appropriate treatment.

What habits are closely related to the hero of today's material?

• This person maniacally loves to do a million things at the same time and therefore, the quality and result may require the best.
• Creating an environment of presence. Like this? This is when a person has learned to imitate listening to the speaker and even make confirming sounds “aha, uh-huh...”, at a time when his head is occupied with completely different thoughts.
• Emotional sensation of information. A person is so absorbed in external stimuli and his reactions to them that it is difficult for him to switch to another information channel.
• Preference for visual effects rather than auditory ones. Have you ever met a person who, at the moment of dialogue, is obsessed with either running pictures on the TV or similar visual cues? Yes, yes, all this can be called a symptom.