Where did I leave those pesky glasses? Forgetting can be an age associated cognitive change, common in older adults.
Dear Michelle,
Lately, I can’t stop thinking about the hereafter. Whether I’m in the kitchen, the living room or the bedroom, I keep thinking, “What am I here after?” Do I have dementia? Old in El Dorado
Dear Old Timer,
The memory problem you are describing happens to everybody. Older adults experience it more frequently than younger people do. Working memory, our “mental desktop” gradually weakens in the second half of life.
Working memory allows us to hold information for a few seconds after we first attend to
it. If we don’t capture the memory, that information fades. At forty you could remember, “My glasses are on the kitchen table” all the way from the bedroom to the kitchen. Now, the information fades away faster than it used to. By the time you get to the kitchen, a new thought is “on your mind.” This is an age associated cognitive change, not dementia.
Some suggestions:
- EXERCISE:
Aerobic exercise and weight training help improve memory. - EAT
well, SLEEP well. Poor nutrition and lack of sleep affect memory negatively. - Check
your MEDICATIONS for memory affecting side effects, interactions and dosages. - HYDRATE.
Dehydration affects all cognitive functions negatively.
How about accepting your current abilities? “That was then; this is now.” Using
repetition? Thoughts move from working memory to stored memory via repetition.
Repeat things three times, write them down, sing them.
Visualize your glasses; repeat where they are. How about humor and lightheartedness?
Getting angry, scared or sad about a gimpy short-term memory only makes it
harder to remember things.
Michelle
Crandell, LCSW, Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, provides counseling services
in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She has 41 years’ experience as
a therapist and educator.
