Slow/Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Screening Questions – Dale Mortimer, M.D.

Slow/Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Screening Questions‍

While not yet an official psychiatric diagnosis, Slow (or Sluggish) Cognitive Tempo appears to be a diagnostically valid and separate diagnosis from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Furthermore, data from twin studies has found that Slow (or Sluggish) Cognitive Tempo is significantly heritable (i.e., genetic). Please check the symptoms below which describe the identified patient well:

• ❒ Sluggish
• ❒ Tired/lethargic/sluggish
• ❒ Slow in processing information, slow in thinking, and prone to make mistakes in doing so
• ❒ Often loses his or her train of thought/ cognitive set
• ❒ Often sleepy/drowsy during the day
• ❒ Often spacey
• ❒ Often in a fog mentally
• ❒ Often underactive/slow moving/hypoactive
• ❒ Often daydreams
• ❒ Is often lost in his or her own thoughts
• ❒ Often stares blankly
• ❒ Often easily confused
• ❒ Often apathetic/unmotivated
• ❒ Having more problems than others with consistently remembering information that was previously learned
• ❒ Compared with peers, viewed by others as more socially reticent, shy or withdrawn
• ❒ Compared with peers, more passive or even hesitant rather than impulsive in speaking or acting
• ❒ Schoolwork is impaired due to making excessive errors rather than because of reduced productivity (i.e., doesn’t turn in homework)
• ❒ Having a poor focus of attention, or being unable to distinguish what is important from what is not important in information that has to be processed quickly.
• ❒ Sleep problems (please specify):

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Difficulty staying asleep
• Waking up too early in the morning
• Snoring
• Teeth clenching/grinding at night
• Sleep walking
• Sleep talking
• Bed–wetting
• Frequent nightmares
• Restless legs before falling asleep
• Repeatedly kicking or flaying arms while asleep

‍