I keep forgetting what I was supposed to do?

Question

I've noticed that I keep forgetting to bring things along with me. I'll give examples: One day I was driving to the mall and I completely forgot to turn to the mall and I kept driving my car until I realized 5 minutes later that I am going nowhere; that same day I am going to another store and I'm driving, look at a street name and think to myself "oh its the next street" so Im driving and well I pass that street without even realizing until a minute later. When I'm telling a story, I sometimes forget what I was talking about or what I supposed to say. Sometimes I think of tasks I have to do, but I dont remember what I have to do later, so I started writing them down because they slip my mind and I forget to bring these with me. Am I going crazy or maybe I have alot on my mind (although I dont think I do) but I dont know why I keep forgetting everything (honest help plz)

Answer 1

I understand this perfectly!  You are not going crazy: your short term memory is overloaded and is shutting down temporarily.  I have been suffering from memory problems for 5 years since a traumatic event.  My poor memory has improved a lot but still affects my daily functioning.

You are right to write down things you have to do: I write all appointments on both a calendar and a diary, and I also write notes to myself.  I get people to give me reminder calls if possible too.

My son has got used to me forgetting what I was going to say, or what I was going to fetch from the kitchen!  I often find myself in a room, completely blank, with no idea of what I had intended to do there.  I also forget the next step when I'm cooking.

You can also cut down the factors that make it harder to concentrate and to remember, such as noise (I wear ear plugs in the supermarket!)

People talking over each other, or over music or the TV, is another thing I can't cope with.  I can only process one sound track at a time, and then only slowly!

You also need to take action on whatever is causing this loss of concentration and memory: it may take some time but you definitely can improve the situation.

Best of luck!