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I wish (or I think I wish) that there was a way to self-measure mental acuity on the job. I have felt a mental slowing down on rare occasions, but haven't a clue about the validity of these perceptions. I work as a consultant with hospital trade associations and the feedback I get from my clients (spoken and unspoken) is that they see me as mentally acute and no different since I was diagnosed 4 years ago. However, I DO perceive a difference in expectations from those clients who are aware of my PD and those who are not. Expectations seem lower (and kindness seems higher) from those who know I have PD. My own feelings are that there is a lessening of mental acuity--or an increase in mental laziness. This may be PD related or it may be a side effect of Zoloft which I have been taking since I was dx. (100 mg). However, I credit the zoloft for my "good attitude" and ability to endure a lot of little frustrations fairly easily. I do work hard on things which I regard as mentally demanding such as learning a new language (Italian) through tapes and now lessons, some computer courses, and lots of exercise. I hope this helps. Charles Countryman wrote: > John: > > Thank you for your comments. I suspect that Parkinson's is also > affecting me in ways other than movement disorder and facial masking > that I am not aware of. I will probably do the testing, but I'm still > in the preliminary stage of making the arrangements. > > My employment involves mostly routine methods and procedures, but I have > a lot of freedom to organize my own work day schedule. I am having > more difficulty focusing my attention on task, shifting my attention > from one task to another, recalling info, my spoken vocabulary and > probably my written composition have declined. It is difficult to > measure my output, because I'm not producing a physical product or > making a sale. The main tool I use is a PC connected to my > organization's information system, but a lot of my work goes on in my > head. That's becoming an issue for me at work. The physical symptoms > of Parkinson's can be seen. But how do you measure when you suspect > that mental processing is slowing down, vocabulary may be regressing, or > other "higher level" functions may be impaired? > > I would be interested in hearing from others on the list. Putting it > directly, did PD cause people to be "dumber" on the job or elsewhere? > My neuro tells me other patients have told him this, but he hasn't seen > hard proof. How have others measured this? Is it the natural course > of PD that you start "feeling" that you are getting dumber, not smarter > or maintaining your cognitive abilities, even if the medications improve > your physical functioning. > > Thanks, Charley