the messiest, messiest mess

tenthirty
Community Member

hi i don’t really know what to do at the moment so i suppose ill post here

lately i have been feeling really, really incompetent. like i don’t know if it’s in my head or not but i am always making mistakes, like, really basic mistakes, mistakes that should not have been made they’re so basic, and i have been forgetting the simplest things (like my dad will tell me to close the curtains and put the waterbottle in the recycling, and i’ll do the curtains and forget the bottle. like, every time a situation like this happens).

usually when i make stupid mistakes or forget things like this the people around me start getting annoyed (my dad will yell at me for forgetting to unload the dishwasher or putting something in the wrong type of bin, or my math teacher will usually just try and close the conversation if she’s helping me with something basic and i keep messing up).

i also keep messing up in social situations as well (forgetting birthdays, zoning out whilst friends are talking) and it’s starting to take its toll. i just feel really useless and incompetent and ive been feeling this more often.

does anyone have any advice? or any similar situations? it’d be nice to know i’m not going completely crazy 🙂

2 Replies 2

smallwolf
Community Champion
Community Champion

tenthirty,

None of the things you have mentioned per se would indicate you are going crazy what you put it.

It also somewhat depends on what you are telling yourself. And then possibly how often this occurs. Except you mention you feel incompetent for what you regard as really basic mistakes. While forgetfulness can be related to depression and anxiety, it could also be related to sleep. For example, one of the first thing my psychiatrist asked me was how well did I sleep, or did it wake up during the night etc. There are various bed time routines to assist in your sleep that might reduce your forgetfulness. Can talk about that more later?

When you are asked or told to do something, are you thinking about other things at the same time? Not saying you are not concentrating on them, but these other thoughts prevent you from really listening? Another example, my life can ask me to do something but I am really thinking about something at work that is bothering me, so I really only hear 1/2 of what she says.

But if you wanted advice, begin with acceptance. Acceptance of yourself and that you will make mistakes and cannot remember everything. I rely on FB for birthdays, my calendar for appointments, etc. If you are like me, and you set yourself up to do everything perfectly, you will invariably fail at some point. Embrace yourself for who you are.

We can talk some later if you like,

Tim

quirkywords
Community Champion
Community Champion

tenthirty welcome to this forum. This place as you can tell my smallwolfs reply, is a very caring and friendly place.

I am wondering if you have been doing this for years or this is just something that has happened in the last few months.

The habit being asked to do things and then doing one, is something that many people do. I only ask people to do one thing at a time for this reason.

I would stop using the words 'messup ' and crazy , as they do not help you.

Honestly I have done and still do all of the things you have mentioned but I also know I many things well as I am sure you do too.

What would you say is your greatest skill?

I know the more stressed I am the more likely I am to forget things.

Once I tried to put shoes on the baby and booties on the 3 year old!! The 3 yearold thought it was upside down day!!

Quirky