20 Years old and Memory Issue .. !

[php]

Hi all ..
I would like to share my problem here , which I've been keeping to my self for a long time . I'm not sure if this is the right section for such issues , because almost all threads i see here are about beauty and loosing weight
so please move it to the correct section if it is NOT ...
sorry for the long thread and thank you for being patient .
---
My problem :

I'm 20 years old male ...
about 3 years ago i started to believe that i really have some thing wrong . and through these years I've been self analyzing my self and now this is what i think :

I think there is one main thing causes every thing .. and I believe it is some thing in my mind or memory .The thing is that I forget things very quickly .. actually i dont know if the right word is "forget" OR "recall" ?!

I would describe it like the "RAM" memory in the computers , it losses the data very quickly !

I will give examples of what happens to in daily life , instead of writing to much words to describe .

- I forget the talking and the stories i hear while I'm with people .
It's like when i go home and think and try to remember what they said , i'll hardly remember maybe 20 % ! if not less .

- If i'm reading a book , i find it to hard to remember what was in the pages i've just finished reading . It's like my memory keeps forgetting what I've done so quickly , and i have to go back to read again many time to make a complete picture of what i'm reading .and if you ask me about what i red in the book , it would be very hard to me to give you main points , because i dont remember it clearly ..

- If i'm reading a news paper , and started with the last page which has the Caricature .. many times i forget it when i read 2 or 3 pages of the newspaper ! I ask my self : what was it ! but it wont come to me :S:S
and i really get angry when i get back and see it again :S


- I cant keep my mind in more than 1 thing .. if i'm in 1 thing and another thing came to my mind .. i'll forget what i was thinking on the 1st place :S
and i'll remember it very hardly .

- One of the IMPOSSIBLE thing to me is to remember a new person name .
for example , if you told me to call the office tomorrow and ask for "any name" , than i'll forget the name in an hour ! maybe two !
so i have to write every thing down !

- Names Names Names !
I often forget some off me class mates names who i don't see often . But i think it's strange to forget their names ! Yes maybe i'll remember it after a while , but when i rally need to remember it .. i wont ! (Can't remember in the moment i should to ) .

Another example with my extended family names .
It's hard to me to remember some of my father cousins names ! or my cousins wives names some time .

- If i'm listening to songs .. I find to hard to follow the lyrics .
I mean , while the song is going on , my mind forgets the past lines .

- When i was editing this thread , i was checking if there are mistakes . I found 1 , than i completed reading , i found another one ! at this point i really stopped to remember what was the 1st one !

- I Dont forget main things , like where i was 2 hours ago or month ago !

This problem effects me in many ways . I think i'm intelligent , but it's like if you were a Fighter without your Sword .
It effects my studying life ,i hardly remember what the lecturer was saying in the class , the information's and the details .

It effects my social life , because when i hang out with any one , i dont know what to say ! it's like i have never heard or know any thing ! yes , i cant remember things to say . I read magazines , listen to discussing but as i said , it always gone from my mind and i cant remember them in term to talk about them .

I like to be social and have many friends .. i have no problem with that , but this thing keeps me alone many time . because when i meet people , i just stay quit or laugh :S i cant remember things to say ! and i cant make comments ! it's really like there is some thing blocks my mind !

I Really love to do many things , but i cant be good in any of them ... and i think it is related to the memory thing .. because any thing i learn , just goes so quickly , and than it's hard to improve my self .

I'm really sorry for taking a long time from you .. but i hope some one will understand and help or at least guide me . Should i see a doctor ? what kind of doctors ?

I will be very happy to explain my problem more if you need more explanation .

Thanks ...

[Timebandit]

Welcome to ENA.

It sounds a bit strange, and it does sound a bit like you have a very shifting attention also? Are there in any areas where your life where you don't have this problem?

Anyway, I really think you should see a doctor. Could be a medical reason for your problems. Also, some conditions such as depression can affect memory adversely.

[BeStrongBeHappy]

This could be a biochemical or organic problem. You really do need to go to a doctor to get properly diagnosed. There are tests they can administer to determine the source of your memory loss.

Start with your family doctor, and they will refer you to the proper doctor for diagnosis.

[karvala]

You should be tested, certainly, but I'm not 100% convinced that this is really an abnormal memory problem. Many people, even young people, report similar things; it just depends how much you notice them, and how extreme they are.

Go to your doctor, and get a referral to a psychologist, where you can be properly tested. Don't let your doctor fob you off (as some will undoubtedly try to do); although I'm not completely convinced, you certainly should be tested, and shouldn't take no for an answer in that regard.

[Victoria66]

My son has problems with his short term memory, that I do not know the root cause of, but for him it manifests itself as a learning disability. I would agree to see a dr and find out how you can get help with it.

[tiredofvampires]

I agree you should get tested -- the proper specialist for this would be a neuropsychologist. They are trained to evaluate your cognitive abilities across a wide spectrum of tasks, including memory, doing a battery of tests.

I can relate to your entire post, as I have much of the same difficulties, particularly memory retention in reading, name-recall, and various things that affect socializing like remembering the titles and details in movies, and song lyrics. This is a truly frustrating problem that you try to keep to yourself! I try to compensate by responding in the moment to people's dialogue about important things, not having to focus of being a walking encyclopedia of trivia facts.

I do know that some of this is a medically-based problem, as it developed after I was exposed to toxic neurochemicals for a period of years. I had a lot of nervous system problems after that, and was ill in other ways. And I still have a disorder that disrupts my sleep, which has been compounded by depression and anxiety. So if you have any of those problems -- sleep, depression or anxiety, that can affect memory. Some scientists believe that the primary role of sleep is to be able to lay down memories, and to be able to form them.

After I became ill, I was tested by a neuropsychologist for this very reason -- and the results were not as bad as I thought. In fact, it didn't turn out that memory was my weakest cognitive ability, it was somewhere in the average range (in fact, my long term memory is quite good). Lately, I've been bothered by this a lot, and I am considering getting a repeat test soon, if some things don't improve with addressing my sleep, depressive and anxiety elements -- but I suspect that might go a long way to some change for the better.

If you are given a good bill of health from the neuropsychologist, discuss with them seeing a neurologist just to rule out any organic problem in the brain.

If there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, there are nutritional approaches that can help brain and memory function.

[bijoux27]

Try repeating things as you read/hear them.

But since it's a big enough problem for you to create a post on here for, I seriously think you should ask a doctor about it.

[chiefoptimizer]

heh, I've the same problem, but for me it's not my main problem (got bigger fish to worry about).

i find i don't have too much problem in class tho - i read thru the notes and end up remembering the main points - it got me thru high school (with flying colours to boot), and i'm 3/4 way thru uni...

as someone said, repeating things tends to help...

as for being unable to recall names after a long time, all my friends know i have the problem, so they don't care, and i can just ask them their names when i need to

i've taken to writing down a lot of things, something i find no shame in, eg shopping list or "playbooks" for specific days or specific "operations".

the reading and forgetting main points thing, i just jot down main points when i read now...otherwise reading is fun, but i can't share with people because i forget key points - taking notes helps, and i just whip out my notes (i've got a manilla folder system arranged alphabetically) and hold my conversation as usual.

for school, i've always made small summaries of key things, and then make sure i know the summary by heart - my aim is to make the summary detailed enough to rebuild the whole piece of knowledge, but small enough to remember (for a limited time - i need constant revision to keep anything in memory). i usually forget everything about a week after the appropriate exams...

i also make summaries of the summaries, and make new summaries and destroy old ones as the copy in my mind changes...so, gradually i am able to store a lot of things, provided i work everyday and take small pieces in at a time...

hope this helps, if you want to talk about it more, feel free, here or in PM...