Forgetfulness

 Forgetfulness

Causes of forgetfulness

Memory slips are aggravating, frustrating, and sometimes worrisome. When they happen more than they should, they can trigger fears of looming dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Lack of sleep. Not getting enough sleep is perhaps the greatest unappreciated cause of forgetfulness. Too little restful sleep can also lead to mood changes and anxiety, which in turn contribute to problems with memory.

Medications. Tranquillizers, antidepressants, some blood pressure drugs, and other medications can affect memory. That can make it difficult to pay close attention to new things.

Stress and anxiety. Anything that makes it harder to concentrate and lock in new information and skills can lead to memory problems. Stress and anxiety fill the bill. Both can interfere with attention and block the formation of new memories or the retrieval of old ones. Depression. Forgetfulness can also be a sign of depression or a consequence of it. Something like getting more sleep, switching a medication, or a stress reduction program could get your memory back on track.

It’s common to forget things now and then, but here’s how to know when to call your doctor. It’s always good to keep an eye on your health and ask questions, and while certain things are normal to forget, other signs should prompt you to call your doctor.

Memory issues are normal. We’ve all had moments when we couldn’t remember something simple, like someone’s name, only to have it come to us later.  “Memory slips are common,” “The key is that it comes back to you eventually, and that you didn’t completely forget. If it’s harder to remember or think things through than it used to be, even when you give yourself all the time you need with no distractions, you may need to see your doctor.”

Forgetting facts over time. For example, if it’s been a while since you’ve done complex math, it might be hard to remember how to do it. This is called “transience.”  “Researchers speculate it may be the brain’s way of making room for new information or memories.”

Absent-minded V/S Forgetfulness

 Forgetting for a moment because you went into a room or misplacing items (like your car keys) in a common area. It happens to us all, especially if we’re particularly tired, busy or stressed. Try retracing your steps to jog your memory when this happens to you.

Not being able to retrieve a memory in the moment. This happens when a memory is on the tip of your tongue. Also called “blocking”. It might happen if a stronger memory gets in the way.   “When this happens, try to relax. Then, usually, the memory will come back to you.”

Forgetting minor details or having inaccurate memories

Find yourself remembering part of a memory but not all of it? Or maybe you get some of the minor details wrong. 

This is called “misattribution.” It can be frustrating, but be open to someone else’s recollection of a particular event and try not to get frustrated with yourself for forgetting.

Memories are subject to suggestibility, meaning that something you learn after creating a memory can change how you recall it. If this happens only once in a while, it’s not a cause for concern.

Memory issues that may require treatment.

People who have memory loss symptoms that affect their day-to-day function may have dementia.

“Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in people over age 65,” “More than 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and the biggest risk for developing the disease is getting older.”

If you or a loved one has the following symptoms frequently, it might be time to talk with your doctor:

Memory problems that impair daily living

Forgetting you just learned, needing to have things repeated frequently, repeating yourself frequently, or needing memory aides and notes to remember simple tasks when you never had to before… it can be frustrating.

When your memory impacts your daily life, working with your doctor to find a diagnosis may lead to treatment that can help.

Getting lost in familiar places

This can include not being able to find your way through your favourite park, getting lost on your way to work or forgetting how you got somewhere.

“Though some people can be embarrassed to admit when they get lost in a familiar place, coming to your doctor about a problem like this can help you stay safe in the future”.

Misplacing objects in unusual places

Frequently being unable to find an object even after retracing your steps, or finding something in an unusual spot (such as your car keys in the refrigerator), may indicate a memory problem that requires working with your doctor.

When to talk to your doctor about forgetfulness

“While it can be hard to talk about, diagnosing dementia early can allow you to make plans for your future care with your loved ones,” says Dr. Finney. “It allows you and the people close to you to have a framework for making decisions.”

Some causes of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, are progressive, meaning memory loss symptoms get worse over time. But others can be fixed or stopped if caught early enough. So, if you or someone you know has noticed changes in your memory, especially if accompanied by other signs like challenges with planning and problem solving, difficulty with words and visual relationships, poor judgment, or mood changes, talk to your doctor. 

Absent-mindedness

In the field of psychology, absent-mindedness is a mental state wherein a person is forgetfully inattentive. It is the opposite mental state of mindfulness.

Absentmindedness is often caused by things such as boredom, sleepiness, rumination, distraction, or preoccupation with one's internal monologue. When experiencing absent-mindedness, people exhibit signs of memory lapses and weak recollection of recent events.

Absent-mindedness can usually be a result of a variety of other conditions, often diagnosed by clinicians, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression. In addition to absent-mindedness leading to an array of consequences affecting daily life, it can have more severe, long-term problems.

Conceptualization

Absent-mindedness seemingly consists of lapses of concentration or "zoning out". This can result in lapses of short or long-term memory, depending on when the person in question was in a state of absent-mindedness. Absent-mindedness also relates directly to lapses in attention. In the context of memory, "absent-mindedness entails inattentive or shallow processing that contributes to weak memories of ongoing events or forgetting to do things in the future".

Causes

Though absent-mindedness is a frequent occurrence, there has been little progress made on what the direct causes of absent-mindedness are. However, it tends to co-occur with ill health, preoccupation, and distraction.

The condition has three potential causes:

a low level of attention ("blanking" or "zoning out");

intense attention to a single object of focus (hyperfocus) that makes a person oblivious to events around them; or

Unwarranted distraction of attention from the object of focus by irrelevant thoughts or environmental events.

Absent-mindedness is also noticed as a common characteristic of personalities with schizoid personality disorder.

Consequences

Lapses of attention are a part of everyone's life. Some are merely inconvenient, such as missing a familiar turn-off on the highway, while some are extremely serious, such as failures of attention that cause accidents, injury, or loss of life. Sometimes, lapses of attention can lead to a significant impact on personal behaviour, which can influence an individual's pursuit of goals. Beyond the obvious costs of accidents arising from lapses in attention, there are lost time, efficiency, personal productivity, and quality of life. These can also occur in the lapse and recapture of awareness and attention to everyday tasks. Individuals for whom intervals between lapses are very short are typically viewed as impaired. Given the prevalence of attentional failures in everyday life and the ubiquitous and sometimes disastrous consequences of such failures, it is rather surprising that relatively little work has been done to directly measure individual differences in everyday errors arising from propensities for failures of attention. Absent-mindedness can also lead to bad grades at school, boredom, and depression.

Absent-mindedness in popular culture

The absent-minded professor is a stock character often depicted in fictional works, usually as a talented academic whose focus on academic matters leads them to ignore or forget their surroundings. This stereotypical view can be traced back as far as the philosopher Thales, who, it is said, "walked at night with his eyes focused on the heavens and, as a result, fell into a well". 

Measurement and treatment

Absent-mindedness can be avoided or fixed in several ways. Although it cannot be accomplished through medical procedures, it can be accomplished through psychological treatments. Some examples include: altering work schedules to make them shorter, having frequent rest periods, and utilising a drowsy-operator warning device.

Mistakes and related phenomena

Absent-mindedness can lead to automatic behaviours or automatisms. Additionally, absent-minded actions can involve behavioural mistakes. A phenomenon called Attention-Lapse Induced Alienation occurs when a person makes a mistake while absent-minded. The person then attributes the mistake to their hand rather than their self, because they were not paying attention.

Another related topic to absent-mindedness is daydreaming. It may be beneficial to differentiate between these two topics. Daydreaming can be viewed as a coping or defence mechanism. As opposed to inattentiveness, daydreaming is a way for emotions to be explored and even expressed through fantasy. It may even bring attention to previously experienced problems or circumstances. It is also a way to bring about creativity.