Forgetfulness causing more anxiety

[cattia]

Lately I have been experiencing memory problems. Like yesterday, it took me a minute to remember the name of one of my students. This is a student I know pretty well. I certainly know her name, I just went blank on it. Earlier this week I lost my phone and I could have sworn I had only been in the kitchen but it turned up in the living room and I didn't even remember that I'd been in there, although I had been dashing around sorting washing etc out. Then last night I put a pan on the stove to cook pasts with no water in it. I am already worried about a brain tumour but now an having anxiety about dementia too. I am about to turn 40 so would be young for dementia but it does happen in younger people. This level of forgetfulness can't be normal.

[SLA]

This level of forgetfulness can't be normal.

It can.

Most of health anxiety is about having too high expectations for everything.

Anxiety will exacerbate tiredness, and that makes you less able to rationalise and remember things.

Then you think you have dementia, and it fuels the anxiety.

Its a downwards spiral. Get off it!

[Colicab85]

I had a period of forgetfulness, i started testing myself and if i could remember things from my childhood and general knowledge questions and things like that.

Anxiety is really really weird and it will cause you to do and think some really weird things.

[russ0131]

I had that for some time. Are you taking any anxiety meds? They seemed to **** my memory a bit.

Mostly long term memory, like, I couldn't remember the name of some old friends. I'm 20.

[cattia]

Thank you all for the replies. I am not taking any medication but I have been very tired and had a lot on lately. I wonder if it could be that. It I start trying to test my memory it gets even worse because then I panic and can't remember anything.

[Dave1]

Anxiety causes me to be forgetful. I think my mind gets pre-occupied by worry and I'm not concentrating on what I'm doing.

[GlassPinata]

I am 44, and often suffer from extreme forgetfulness.
It is actually a side effect of the anxiety, i believe.
i get so frazzled sometimes, in my panic about various things, I forget the simplest things- the names of people I know, my own phone number.
I think it is because we are so distracted by our worries.

Try to give yourself some cognitive tests, at a time when you feel calm.
I think you'll see that when you are focused, your memory is still quite okay.

best wishes.

[cattia]

Thank you, I will maybe try that when I calm down! I just get so freaked out when I'm in class, and there is a student and I'm just looking at her and I can't for the life of me think of her name! I don't actually teach this girl but I see her often enough. I suppose the brain gets tired and I have definitely been under a lot of stress lately. Thank you for the advice everyone.

[Panicer]

Hi cattia

I have struggled with my memory on and off since my anxiety appeared last year. Memory was always one of my strong points which worried me.
I've mentioned it to my GP, psychologist and psychiatrist at some point and they all said basically the same thing. Our minds can become so overloaded worrying about anxiety and being hyper-vigilant etc that something has to give and it's often memory. They also all said it's not a permanent thing and will improve when our anxiety levels drop. Hope that helps put your mind at ease