Forget forgetfulness

Happy Thursday,

How are you all doing on this amazingly beautiful Thursday afternoon? OM-Goodness, it is absolutely gorgeous outside. It’s funny, John keeps looking out the window saying how as the day goes on the mood of the water changes. Right now the sun is shining bright and there’s this ever so slight ripple across the lake. It’s beautiful. I am blessed to have this home and I’m grateful to my creator for letting me have such a wonderful place to live. It’s even more special when John is home here with me.

So much has been going on lately, especially for John. Last night he said he feels so forgetful these days. I told him not to worry, we all forget things, heck, I sometimes get my kids mixed up. He was upset with himself because he couldn’t remember our pup Molly’s name.

With the crazy of life going on for him, it’s totally understandable to be forgetful. In fact, he is so busy at work and with life, his stress level is a bit elevated. With that being said, I’m sure a lot, if not most of you have different levels of stress throughout our days, weeks, months and years? I think we all can relate to stress, especially in our world right now.

People are concerned about jobs, money, the market, the high price of groceries, to mention only a few stressors.

Did you know that stress can cause you to become forgetful? Along with stress, anxiety and depression, these too can cause forgetfulness.

I was reading an article from the Mayo-Clinic and it was saying that stress, anxiety and depression can cause someone to become forgetful. These things also cause or can cause confusion for individuals, but that’s not all the affects of stress, anxiety and depression. These can also cause us to have difficulty concentrating, which can affect or disrupt our daily activities.

CNET says that our memory is connected to our levels of anxiety and this is due to our cortisol levels and state of hypersensitivity being affected when anxiety symptoms are present. Surprisingly though, it’s not the large portions of our memory that we can’t access, it’s our short-term and working memory that are reduced.

This makes sense. I mean, when we are stressed, some of us, if not most of us spiral or spin. I know spinning for me causes me to become forgetful. Even when I don’t realize I’m stressed, John can recognize it in me because I’m unable to focus. Sometimes with me, it’s not stress, it’s the writer in me that causes my brain to be scattered. “The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffein-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feeling of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a good day.”-Robert DeNiro.

It is scary trying to write things of interest for others and for myself. Whenever I sit down to blog, I am constantly wondering and hoping, will this blog be of interest to my readers and will my blogs make sense. Will someone be able to benefit from the things I write and publish. I do find myself in a state of panic from time to time, especially when I fail to produce content and now, I’m embarking on not just having this blog up and running, but also on having two more blogs I want to create, along with a newsletter/blog. Eventually I want to create reels and have my podcast up and running. You see, I feel this path is my calling or gift from God.

Writing is a passion within me, and it does make me crazy when all these ideas run through my head, but I forget what I want to say or which path I want to take the blog down. Stress absolutely gets in my way and it causes me to forget. My calendar and journal have become my best friends. I think I’ll be purchasing some sticky note pads too. This way when something pops in my mind, I can write it down quicker. Sticky notes decorating my walls, it’s worth it to help the memory process.

A few years back I was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and I know what most of my triggers are, and that helps with my coping of stress related to the PTSD. One thing that I’ve learned about chronic stress though, I think can help with the PTSD, is that like chronic stress, chronic PTSD too causes the brain to become overstimulated. Brainline.com says that those that suffer with PTSD tend to have an overactive response, so something as harmless as a car backfiring could instantly trigger panic. The amygdala part of the brain is the primitive and animalistic part, wired to ensure survival. When this is triggered, it makes it very difficult for a person to think in a rational way.

Being overstressed works much like PTSD in that the brain is overstimulated. Overstimulation of the brain causes a person to forget things.

So, is there anything we can do to help our situations of being stressed? According to the Mayo-Clinic, it is suggested to engage in more physical activities, eat a healthier diet, avoid unhealthy habits, meditate, laugh more, connect with others, assert yourself and of course, try yoga.

John is always telling me to try yoga, not only for my stress, but for the constant pain I’m in. He feels strongly that yoga will help me in so many ways and I agree, I think anything is worth trying.

But what about the PTSD? Is there anything that can help with that? HelpGuide.org shares in an article from Dec. 21, 2023, that doing relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, massage and yoga can activate the body’s relaxation response and ease the symptoms of PTSD.

If we can relax the mind, perhaps we’ll be less stressed and we’ll be able to have our memories more in tact. Just a thought.

I know for me, something that really helps me relax and shut down my racing mind, especially at night when I want to sleep, is, listening to meditation/relaxation music. When I lay quietly in the dark and listen to this type of music, my mind begins to relax, it doesn’t race nearly as much as it does during the day and my ideas and stories come to life. I just need to utilize my dream journal I keep next to my bed so I can write those amazing dreams and thoughts down to share with the world.

My dear readers, we all suffer from forgetfulness and we probably almost always forget something in the course of our day. A lot of this is due to the stress in our lives, however, it can be a symptom of another medical condition, so I encourage you to seek medical advice if this is a concern for you or if you are worried about someone in your life, please encourage them to seek medical attention as I am not a medical expert nor am I someone that can give you medical advice. I can share only the things I learn and that I have personally experienced or have experience in my life.

I am here to remind you to go get that check up with your healthcare provider and keep yourselves healthy. Keep those minds sharp and those bodies active, that is, if you are able to. Check with your healthcare provider before incorporating anything new into your lifestyle and please don’t forget, Love Life++ hugs.