Scared of losing my memory

[MrsB]

Hi I'm new to this forum.
Iv suffered with anxiety for just over two years now. Iv dealt with it through self help, hypnotherapy and a little bit of Cbt. At times Iv been a lot more in control of it than others, some other times I haven't been as good.
Recently Iv become terrified that I'm going to all of a sudden lose my memory to the point I'd forget who people are. And obviously the more I'm thinking about it, the worse I'm getting. I know that by thinking that way I'm only going to make it worse for myself which is even more annoying!
Anyone else that has gone through this particular phase that can offer some advice?
Thanks 😮

[.Poppy.]

I think it all has to do with the fear of losing control. For me, the scariest HA fears I had were those that involved MS or ALS, which would be losing control of my body.

Loss of memory is basically losing control of your mind. It's a scary, scary thing. I haven't had too many bouts with fear regarding this, but I've had some.

The other day was my first day back on campus after a semester off. I knew where I needed to go, but I ended up going the wrong way and I actually had to stop and figure out where I was and where I needed to be. It was a scary moment - I felt like I didn't recognize anything for a second and that I was totally lost, even though I'd gone to that school for 4 years and should know where I needed to be. In the end, I circled a building, saw something familiar, and figured it out :)


At the end of the day, losing your memory is very, very rare - at this point, it would be something like a TBI that would do it and obviously if that happened you'd have other things to worry about :). Try, every time you feel this way, to say "this is silly" and do something to distract yourself. Whatever it takes.