Educational reference
About this symptom
Difficulty concentrating covers several distinct experiences: losing the thread of a conversation or a page, being unable to hold information in mind long enough to use it, or finding that decisions which were once routine now feel effortful or impossible.
People often describe reading a paragraph several times without absorbing it, or standing in a shop unable to choose. It is frequently accompanied by frustration and by worry about what it means.
Concentration is affected by almost everything that affects the brain. It is prominent in depressive conditions and in anxiety, where attention is occupied by worry; it occurs after trauma and in the disturbed sleep that accompanies most mental health conditions; and it is central to attention-related conditions. It also follows from pain, medication, alcohol, thyroid conditions, and ordinary sleep deprivation.
When concentration changes noticeably and persists, assessment usually considers sleep and physical health alongside mood.