Can't focus/concentrate...urgent help needed

[TomMarvolo]

Hello,
I usually have this problem, but it has been increasing in severity and I have much schoolwork due by the end of August.
I cannot concentrate or focus on anything at all anymore. My mind goes blank. If I read, I'll re-read the same line repeatedly but not take it in. It takes me hours to write one paragraph because of this blankness..I might write a few words, and then I'm no longer concentrating and my mind empties.
I'm not always like this; it is as if I have an on and off switch to my mind. Though it almost never occurs at this point, sometimes it turns on, and I have rapid trains of thought again, am aware of everything, like a certain clarity, hypersensitive again. In these periods, I will do an entire project in one sitting, and it is the only way I have gotten large assignments done.
This is extremely frustrating, because people assume I am lazy...I earn 100s on my tests, essays, and so forth, and I can concentrate enough to do what I must at school, but it is negated by not completing my out of school work. I have ten short essays and two book journals as well as math and chemistry assignments and studying to accomplish in over a week. I want to do them so badly, but I can't, and I am so ashamed and horrified at the thought of not getting it done.

I do not want to see a doctor. Even if it requires medication, it will not be fast enough to help me in this situation- are there any other methods I could use for the time being to focus? I have already incorporated a healthy diet lacking in sugar recently, but it has not helped.

[Funnygirl216]

ok calm down ... i think you should try to relax and stop stessing. you lack of concentration could be because of stress and all the pressure. you can easily get anti-depressants for that but you should really go to your doctor. its the best thing but if you cant at all you should drink lots of water make sure you get enough sleep every night (9-10hrs) you should eat lots of carbohydrates like bread and pasta to KEEP you energy levels high ... otherwise i dont no what to tell you exept go to you doctor

good luck xx

[Brandywinne]

Make sure when doing the work all is quiet when your mind starts to wonder bring it back and focus. Make sure your getting enough sleep. Depression can also cause this. Leave the worries and problems at home no matter how bad worries never helped anyone to a solution. Live in the solution and not the problem. If your getting unwanted thoughts in your head you may have an obsessive compulsion disorder. Either way if your not going to seek treatment then you must try  different things until you find what is causing the problem.

[ITCHY2011]

I'm assuming you are college age so we can rule out dementia.  Based on your description you suffer anxiety when trying to do projects outside of the school setting yet you are successful inside school.

Either your mind has reached a point of saturation when you sit down and do your homework -- or something in your study area is distracting you.  Where do you study?  A bedroom?  An office?  Kitchen table?  Are there any traumatic things that happened to you in any of the area's you try to study in?  Get a hobby totally unrelated (take Karate, Dance lessons, or something along those lines)

Solution 1:  If your mind has reached saturation you're working too hard on studying and you need to do something else and get away from it for a while until your mind has a chance to process and store what you've already studied.  


Solution 2:  If your surroundings are provoking anxiety because of a past experience or trauma then try to study at a library or at the school itself.  It seems you do well in those settings.