Short Term Memory Problems

Short term memory holds information for around ten to twenty seconds, and is very important for conscious thought. When we store words, numbers, or images in our short term memory, they are discarded quite rapidly. We are able to hold up to seven pieces of information at once in our short term memory, until something else takes its place. Everybody, at some point or another, has had short term memory problems; this is no grave matter and is quite normal. Nowadays, everything is manically fast-paced and frenetic, juggling calls on the cell phone, work, emails, the telly, the internet and all of it bombarding a lot of information, resulting in us seeing, hearing, and reading a lot at once. The more things we see and do, the more likely we are to forget things.

Some things that can add to being causes of short term memory loss are:

• Tiredness
• Lack of sleep
• Having a hangover
• Poor diet
• Too much stress and worry
• Having a lot going on at once in your life
• Grief

We tend to complain often about forgetting things in our pursuit of perfection and want predictable memory. But memory is not always predictable. If our brain didn't forget things, we'd be constantly recalling useless information, and that would certainly be mighty irksome, as there would be a whole load of clutter and a heap of junk, we wouldn't know what to do with. A lot of autistic people have this, where they cannot forget. There have been cases of some autistic people remembering an entire thick Yellow Pages directory with all the people and their numbers listed.

Normal Short Term Memory Loss

This happens with everyone as our short term memory is easily distracted and, sometimes, information may be cast aside by your brain as trivial, until it is trying to decide whether it is essential, causing your to forget. These types of memory problems in children are common too. Here are some of the normal problems that you may have faced at one point or another, that aren't necessarily signs and symptoms of dementia:

• Forgetting what you went upstairs for
• Taking some time to recall where you car is parked
• Forgetting to call a friend back
• Putting something down and being unable to find it soon after
• Forgetting the name of someone you've just met
• Forgetting the word for something

Some Warning Signs

If you're under stress the signs listed below are probably only a temporary result of depression, anxiety, or may even arise due to lack of concentration. If you're aware of your memory problems, you're certainly not having dementia. Here are some of these signs:

• Multitasking becomes difficult - a good cook suddenly finds preparing a Sunday roast overwhelming
• Problems locating familiar places
• Forgetting names of relatives and friends
• Problems with recognizing faces, colors, shapes and words
• Repeating the same question only after half an hour of asking it
• Change of personality
• Leaving objects in odd places and having no memory of doing so

Time to See Your Doctor

People with Alzheimer's are unable to convert short term memory into long term memory. Here are some signs that should be taken quite seriously:

• Asking for a cup of tea, without realizing you've just had one
• Forgetting your grandchild's name, without forgetting your own childhood memories
• Forgetting most entirely how to perform simple daily tasks
• Finding your family relationship structure quite confusing
• Impaired judgment, like wearing gum-boots when it isn't raining
• Unable to explain the purpose of a daily object
• Not being able to recognize friends and family
• Leaving your things in strange places, for instance, a book in the fridge
• Feeling disoriented with time and place, especially places you've always frequented

People all across the world are terrified that something so meager can turn into a ghastly degenerative disease like Alzheimer's or dementia. But forgetfulness is quite normal. A lot of academic students and other reasonably healthy people take pills that claim to treat forgetfulness and pose as memory-boosters or mind-boosters. A lot of students take drugs intended for Attention deficit Disorder like Adderall XR and Ritalin. But these drugs can have serious side-effects. They can cause dizziness, insomnia and lead to further confusion and short-term memory problems in young adults.

Staying awake for long periods affects our brain's ability to focus and pay attention to details, or pay attention at all. We remember less because we notice less. Adequate amount of sleep is essential for the brain to restore order on an otherwise chaotic day, as it files and places things in different required compartments, keeping what it needs and discarding the unessential excess. In the time of deep sleep, the brain transforms all the impressions we've had during the course of that day into memories and memory associations. In REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is when we dream, the cortex area of the brain, responsible for consciousness, sends impulses to the hippocampus, which is one of the main parts for storing memory. This is a very important process for forming memory, as insufficient sleep or broken rest can lead to its disruption.

If you keep telling yourself, your memory is bad, that can further your short term memory problems and make matters worse. The best is to watch what you're telling your brain. It's like self-hypnosis. You tell your brain something, and it starts functioning that particular way. Simply by believing that you have good memory will help you keep it that way. It is a popular belief that it is normal to have memory problems as you get older. But that is not quite true. Older people's way of storing memory may change, but not necessarily deteriorate. They're fantastic at retaining their long term memory and actually may even get better at it. Just like the body needs exercise, so does the mind. And, an active and healthy mind cannot possibly have much of memory problems even if it gets older. If you're living a healthy lifestyle, eating well, getting enough sleep, laughing lots, reading and seeing newer things to keep your mind alive, you can't go too wrong. And, then, if you do end up having a lot of memory problems, I'll eat my hat!