New and Worried About My Memory

[EhBien]

Hello No More Panic!

I'm new to the boards and have already found them so very helpful! Knowing you're not alone in this is so encouraging. Reading the stories, tips, tricks, and journeys of others allows me to find the peace within myself to enjoy/maintain this unique ride.

My therapist recently made it clear that in addition to my general anxiety, I also struggle a bit with health anxiety. As it's been brought to my attention, I'm noticing the onslaught of constantly trying to "catch" something before it happens or being confident I'm "okay".

Today I popped into work for a few hours in the afternoon. Upon getting home and grabbing dinner, I forgot I had also order out earlier today... or more so it seemed like so long ago. In addition, I started to become more and more anxious because it also seemed like it was an entirely different day or "so long ago" that my son came home from his grandparents house and I chatted on the phone with a friend. Now I'm scared that I have some kind of memory loss, I'm schizophrenic, or the new medication I'm taking is "making me feel this way". I'm trying desperately NOT to Google and worry... but obviously thats not so easy. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Thanks in advance!

[sheslostcontrol]

Hi.

You're definitely not alone in this - I too worry about losing my memory (ironically, my memory is even better now that I'm anxious as I'm trying hard to remember every little thing), schizophrenia (my new HA worry) and even the medication thing (I took some SSRI two weeks ago and it made me feel horrible). None of this is actually true, though.

Maybe you were just too busy with work? Anyway, people forget things all the time, we aren't meant to remember everything. And even when I was not suffering from anxiety, I often felt like certain events took place ages ago. That's completely normal.

Hope you will feel better soon. Don't worry about it too much (easier said than done, for sure).

Have a nice day.

[EhBien]

Thank you so much for that and putting it all in perspective for me. Its easy for me to rush to the catastrophic conclusion. In a way giving my symptoms a grave "self diagnosis" is almost calming allowing me to brace myself for the worst case scenarios. I want to be able to sit with whatever symptoms I feel until it actually is something to worry about. Its tough! But day by day (and with the support of everyone here) I'll keep trying!