How severe has anxiety affected YOUR memory?

[Meriland30]

Today i had 3 instances. Fire engine, safety belt, and dressing robe. All 3 of those I stopped and went...what is a fire 'engine' or a safety belt? Like in my head i saw a fire truck, seatbelt (or a safety harness men wear in construction) and nightgown...but the term fire engine, dressing robe, and safety belt looked odd to me...or unusual so I wasn't sure if I was losing my mind or if it was. Otherwise today went fine lol.

[Scass]

Yes, suppose so. When I’m in high anxiety I often don’t have much room in my head for other stuff, so I forget things or ignore things. The best thing to do is to get a hold on the anxiety really x


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[RadioGaGa]

Yes. Had this a few times (all during high anxiety periods)

I suppose its similar to how we all occasionally forget how to spell a simple word

Good luck

[bin tenn]

Doesn't even have to be anxiety. This can and does happen to anyone at any time

[Meriland30]

Yes, but it still looks foreign to me...and it shouldn't. My husband says that it is probably cause no one uses to the term 'safety belt' when talking about a car...rather a seatbelt and he didn't even know what a dressing robe was...he was like "bathrobe? I don't know". Fire engine though...first i saw it and was like..."a fire what? Hydrant? Maybe they mean truck?" And i still dont get it...and it really should be apparent to me...like fire station or police car....usually people don't mentally put the two words together to figure what it means...'police car' is interpreted as its own whole thing and makes sense...well that is how I think 'fire engine' is supposed to be. Like people don't see two seperate words, they see one term and know what it means.


Am i losing my mind? I am afraid of sCJD...

[Carys]

At periods of high anxiety your focus is lost on some of the mundane and simple things in life. Your brain and body are saturated with adrenaline, and can't cope with everything all at once, so it 'shuts off' from certain things. Anxiety causes forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating and other focus-related tasks. Thats all it is.

[GiantMogwai]

Don't worry about this. I do this a lot. You're breaking the words down into separate parts and probing their meaning too much. The more you dissect words the less they might mean. Just remember words are tools to describe the world around you. Not the things themselves. Don't treat them as things that inherently have meaning. Treat them as tools and when they disassemble, stop breaking them down, treat them like art. Know when to disengage the analytical brain and engage the artistic brain.

[Meriland30]

Long story short, I had a severe panic attack around 5 days ago which was the result of a spontaneous sense of derealization/depersonalization. It was, by far...one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. It lasted around a day and a half, but there is this profound, lingering sense of heightened awareness or...everything seems almost too clear, so much so that strangers look different to me.

Last night, I ended up freaking myself out when reading an article that used the term 'fire engine'. I thought it was some obscure term for 'fire truck'. I knew what it meant, but it didnt compute in my head like it should. I kept literally thinking of a car engine. It still looks weird to me. Also, 'safety belt' or 'dressing robe' fall into the same category. Surely I have heard these terms before, so why does it not click? Seatbelt clicks, fire truck clicks, night gown clicks...why not the proper terms? That bothers me, is that a form of aphasia???

As you can see, my grammar is well intact and I can also understand general language (besides those 3 duo words) so I don't know.

Today I noticed (in the midst of my high anxiety) that manual basic math is...a little off. I would write basic formulas and sometimes catch myself mixing the way you do multiplication with addition (or vise versa). I tested my actual math skills with an online test and aced it (I did it all in my head too, not calc or writing).

I also find i occasionally say the wrong word (which isnt new) like...saying inches instead of feet, or vegetable instead of fruit.

This has me extremely worried. I feel confused, I even question if I know how many cents are in a dollar (I do, but worry I might confuse that with minutes in an hour or something) ...I feel like I am on the verge of making that sort of mistake.

TBH, my #1 worry is sCJD. It doesnt help that I cant stop Googling and that articles in relation are ...not helpful. Most say it is rare, but then some say it isn't rare...partly due to being (likely) extremely underestimated since it isn't a requirement to report it post mortem ..oh well THAT is so reassuring. The known rate is somewhere around 1/1,000,000 but apparently it could be much...much higher so I don't even have a cushion to fall back on knowing that at least it is rare.

I am worrying about it so much that I am about to have a melt down. I am worried this is the start of it. I just turned 31 this month.

I want to know, need to know...has anyone here had my sort of symptoms? Specifically coming across a simple word you seriously thought you never heard before? Or mixing math like that?

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Elen

[Carys]

Sarah, why not re-read your old threads and the replies already there? The issues you are referring to, loss of x, y, z and so on, all apply to anxiety where there is 'loss of focus, concentration, memory issues, not being able to apply yourself cognitively to tasks'. I tried to explain it further on another of your threads, and the reasons for it.