I was imprisoned on false charges and tortured by the United States government. A precedent-setting appeal freed me, but not before I spent a long time in solitary confinement, much of that on a hunger strike.
Solitary confinement causes brain damage so severe it is visible on a CT scan. The area that it damages is the hippocampus, which is key of in the perception of time and spatial memory. I can still perceive time on an immediate basis, in terms of music and speech, but a year goes by in a haze. Short seconds, like walking into another room, seem to pass slowly against the rapid progress of my thoughts which are now unanchored to the immediate physical realm and I forget what I went to the other room for if there's not a persistent reminder such as hunger or the need to use the toilet to remind me. I write what I plan to do into a notes app before I move anywhere, even one room over in my own house. Living a normal life has become impossible.
Malnutrition probably didn't help with respect to the CT injuries.
Does in-person conversation help to stabilize your flow of time ?
Can piggybacking on someone else (like a helper, or group activities) help you recover your own sense of longer term coherency by synchronizing your flow with others ?
> Does in-person conversation help to stabilize your flow of time?
No, it makes it a lot harder. It's easiest on a short-term basis if I constantly echo a phrase over and over in my head, like an internal metronome. I can't do that and talk at the same time. Nothing really helps, it is actual physical damage to your brain and nobody knows how to fix it. The best thing is to just accept that your brain is really broken and start finding mnemonics and workarounds to get by.
I think that the forced repetition of thoughts to compensate for memory also primes the brain for anxiety, long-term.
I use my music memory to do things when continuity breaks down. I think of a short, familiar melody, and attach words to it based on what I need to do. Like getting a song stuck in my head on purpose. As I move through rooms, I gain and lose awareness and I probably won't know what I was up to by the time I arrive - but then I notice a melody with instructions is playing in my head.
Anything that leaves my visual field can leave my awareness. I have found that attaching clothespins to my shirt with a post-it is helpful for more complex tasks.
Following conversation is hard for me. At some point I want to look into using an AAC device to both track where a conversation has been and remember what I'm trying to say.
My brain injury happened when I was a child, but wasn't diagnosed until I was nearly 30. There really aren't many resources available for anyone outside of the education system.
Solitary confinement causes brain damage so severe it is visible on a CT scan. The area that it damages is the hippocampus, which is key of in the perception of time and spatial memory. I can still perceive time on an immediate basis, in terms of music and speech, but a year goes by in a haze. Short seconds, like walking into another room, seem to pass slowly against the rapid progress of my thoughts which are now unanchored to the immediate physical realm and I forget what I went to the other room for if there's not a persistent reminder such as hunger or the need to use the toilet to remind me. I write what I plan to do into a notes app before I move anywhere, even one room over in my own house. Living a normal life has become impossible.