Help please! am i losing my mind?

[stevesinelgin]

hello my fellow NMP pals! I wonder if I could 'pick your brains' so to speak. For a few months now I have felt like maybe my brain is damaged or not working properly for whatever reason. My BP is normal, i havent had strokes or anything obvious....Yet it would seem some scary disconcerting symptoms are lasting a long time, in fact since December last year actually. I have been on 50mg of Sertraline since 2006 which has helped, but now my brain seems to be unable to make its mind up about whether or not i recognise my own family as well as people I've known for years. I do not know whether this is some trick that will persist for a while, my medication or what. I dont feel wound up in any way....just dont see why a 35 year old should have feelings that have me wondering if i am demented in any way. I'm due to have my yearly blood test to see how my blood sugar levels are because of an odd reading a few years back that sorted itself out. Your thoughts and experiences please...I'm doing my best to distract myself anf not worry but you know how it is!

big thanks!

Steve :unsure::hugs::wacko:

[unspoken]

Hi Steve

I haven't experienced this particular symptom so much. I can understand why it seems worrying.

I have anxiety and I had a breakdown and became severely depressed in November of last year. At that time, I suddenly started experiencing difficulty recalling memories. I had this feeling that my mind would suddenly go completely blank when I tried to recall information or an event that I feel sure that I should know. It was like my brain was mocking me and making me panic by letting me down when I needed it. I also struggled, and still do, to remember things that I've just done. I will do something and then have absolutely no memory of having done it and try to do it again. The inability to recall things was more distressing. When I was at my most tired and ill, I couldn't hold a conversation because I'd forget what I was saying before I could finish a sentence.

I think it is likely that this is a psychological trick that your brain is playing on you, to fuel your anxiety. Have you mentioned this to your doctor? Often it only takes 1 thought for the seed of anxiety about something to be planted in your mind, and it is difficult to get past that and reassure yourself that nothing is actually wrong. Once you question something like memory, it seems very fragile and illusive. I think it is unlikely that there is anything wrong with you, but I know that just being told that won't make the anxiety go away.