Same conversation syndrome

[Colster]

Today I went over to my Mum's house, and done some minor repairs to one of her cars. We chatted as I worked. The conversation was the same as we have nearly every time, save for events within recent news.

Whilst outside on her driveway, another of her elderly friends joined us. The conversation towards me, was exactly the same as it always is.

Later in the evening, my alcoholic friend visited. As you might have guessed, we had the same conversation, albeit with relevant date changes.

The situation is becoming soul destroying. Any attempt by myself to steer the conversation into other subjects, is always cut abruptly short with the ever circling and almost scripted responses.

There is a part of me that really wants to shock and offend them by interrupting and just responding to all their usual statements, without giving them the opportunity to issue them first;

"Yes, No, Wednesday, 7:30, £15.95, Huge, Hurty, Still have the rash. "

I honestly do not know what to do it. But, it is genuinely starting to feel a little unhealthy for me. Somewhere there is any army using the same tactics to torture war criminals. Napalm to the intelligent free thinking mind.

We live in a world of endless television, countless works of literature, and an unfathomable expanse of internet. Yet for at least the past two years, each week, the same conversation.

 

[TheSkaFish]

I hear you. Only for me it's reversed, I kind of worry that I'm "same conversation guy", like I'm one of the characters in your story that says the same thing every time.

It's something that I'm trying to become more aware of.

 

[Sarah G]

It is soul destroying. My husband's had a memory disorder for ten years and it still wrecks my head. Of all his health issues and disabilities it's the most frustrating. I really feel like I'm going insane.
But like you say, other people do it too, conversationally. We become stuck records. Trying to introduce new concepts seems to be so incredibly mind-blowing to others that they act like I'm crazy?
On the other hand, I too have some cognitive decline going on so to my son... I'm that guy

Edit: My conscience is nagging me. I'm guilty of this myself, more than I'd like to admit.

 

[Colster]

Going back a few years ago, an old friend of mine was involved in a relatively minor motorbike accident, whilst we were racing at Aintree. For the following 12 hours, or thereabouts, his memory span was 9 minutes. Literally every 9 minutes, we had exactly the same conversation. Each time, either I, or later on, a nurse, would have to break the news to him that he is single, and had gone through a bitter separation. Each time we revealed this, the pain and anguish he suffered, was terrible.

After an evening of sleep, he was back to normal, with no recollection of the memory loss.

Yet somehow, we laughed about this, afterwards of course.

 

[Finished]

I hear you. Only for me it's reversed, I kind of worry that I'm "same conversation guy", like I'm one of the characters in your story that says the same thing every time.

It's something that I'm trying to become more aware of.

You've already said that many times too! Ha! ha!

 

[TheSkaFish]

You've already said that many times too! Ha! ha!

Lol. It seems I have, indeed.

 

[Beth Griggs]

Going back a few years ago, an old friend of mine was involved in a relatively minor motorbike accident, whilst we were racing at Aintree. For the following 12 hours, or thereabouts, his memory span was 9 minutes. Literally every 9 minutes, we had exactly the same conversation. Each time, either I, or later on, a nurse, would have to break the news to him that he is single, and had gone through a bitter separation. Each time we revealed this, the pain and anguish he suffered, was terrible.

After an evening of sleep, he was back to normal, with no recollection of the memory loss.

Yet somehow, we laughed about this, afterwards of course.

Like you this sort of thing really gets to me. Once a week we zoom with family who live a long way away. My partner's brother has aspergers. He will go on and on about how it started to rain at 10 am and stopped at ten past, then his cup of coffee. The other day he told us about how he went into a cafe he often goes into for a meal and described one of the other people there, telling us all about what that person has to eat when they are there etc, like we care! What makes it worse is he will tell us all this over and over again. It does not follow that any chat with any one is good, it depends who with and why and what about.