Concentration Difficulty: Causes

What causes concentration difficulty?

Concentration difficulties can be caused by medical, cognitive or psychological problems or may be related to sleep disorders or medications, alcohol or drugs.

Psychological conditions that can interfere with concentration include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, emotional trauma, and stress.

Medical causes of concentration difficulty

Concentration difficulty may be caused by medical conditions including:

• Congestive heart failure (deterioration of the heart’s ability to pump blood)
• Heavy metal poisoning
• Infections
• Kidney disease (which includes any type of kidney problem such as kidney stones, kidney failure, and kidney anomalies)
• Liver disease (which includes any type of liver problem such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure)
• Medication side effects
• Metabolic disorders and certain vitamin deficiencies
• Pain syndromes
• Seizure disorders
• Sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep)
• Stroke
• Vision disorders

Cognitive causes of concentration difficulty

Concentration difficulty can also be caused by cognitive problems including:

• Attention deficit disorder
• Delirium
• Dementia
• Learning disabilities

Psychological causes of concentration difficulty

Concentration difficulty can also be caused by psychological conditions including:

• Alcohol or substance abuse
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder (alternating periods of depression and elevated mood)
• Depression
• Emotional trauma
• Schizophrenia (severe brain disorder affecting thought processes and emotional responses)
• Stress

Serious or life-threatening causes of concentration difficulty

In some cases, concentration difficulty may be a symptom of a serious or life-threatening condition that should be immediately evaluated in an emergency setting. These include:

• Brain or spinal cord injury
• Brain or spinal cord tumor
• Delirium
• Drug overdose
• Encephalitis (inflammation and swelling of the brain due to a viral infection or other causes)
• Heat stroke
• Kidney failure
• Meningitis (infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord)
• Seizure
• Sepsis (severe infection of the bloodstream)
• Stroke

Questions for diagnosing the cause of concentration difficulty

To diagnose your condition, your doctor or licensed health care practitioner will ask you several questions related to your concentration difficulty including:

• How long have you had difficulty with concentration?
• Do you have any other symptoms?
• Do you have any difficulties with sleeping?
• Do you have any medical problems?
• Did anything such as an injury or illness precede the symptoms?
• What medications are you taking? Are you taking any new medications?
• Do you drink any alcohol?
• Are you using any street drugs?

What are the potential complications of concentration difficulty?

Because concentration difficulty can be due to serious diseases, failure to seek treatment can result in serious complications and permanent damage. Once the underlying cause is diagnosed, it is important for you to follow the treatment plan that you and your health care professional design specifically for you to reduce the risk of potential complications including:

• Developmental delays and failure to thrive
• Learning disability
• Paralysis or inability to move a body part
• Permanent cognitive impairment
• Permanent loss of sensation
• Personality changes
• Physical disability

References:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). PubMed Health. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/. Accessed May 2, 2011.

Stress: The different kinds of stress. American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-kinds.aspx. Accessed May 2, 2011.