Memory and Aging: share your experience here!
Forgetfulness is a common complaint among many of us as we get older.
For most people, occasional lapses in memory are a normal part of the aging process, not a warning sign of serious mental deterioration or the onset of dementia. The following types of memory lapses are normal among older adults and generally are not considered warning signs of dementia:
- Occasionally forgetting where you left things you use regularly, such as glasses or keys.
-Forgetting names of acquaintances or blocking one memory with a similar one, such as calling a grandson by your sons name.
-Occasionally forgetting an appointment or walking into a room and forgetting why you entered.
-Becoming easily distracted or having trouble remembering what youve just read, or the details of a conversation.
-Not quite being able to retrieve information you have on the tip of your tongue.
QUESTIONS :
Do you feel like to share your experience with forgetfulness?
How do you cope with it and how people around you react to your forgetfulness?
Does it make you feel upset or do you tend to be self-ironic?
Do you have personal ways to deal with forgetfulness, like writing posts here and there to remember something?
Any funny forgetfulness happened to you?
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What I have been trying to do is put everything on my calender and also write important things down so I don't forget things. Sometimes my son or husband distract me and I do forget things like checking this morning to see if we have any milk or not or if I need to go to the store before I go home.
@DanaMH
Hey Dana!
Good organization! Well..family can be demanding, so great job to try to remember everything they need!
... pssst.. what about to try to assign some easy tasks to them, like the one about milk? 
Take care Dana!
@BeyondTheInvisible
If you could please explain the male mind how it works and how it thinks that would be awesome since my therapist just smiles to that question when I ask that to him. LOL I have been married now 29 years and not sure if I can retrain someone.
@DanaMH
LOL Dana!!
Well, you can try some things...what about a pretty blackboard on the wall where to assign tasks to them?
So it may be SON = Milk and HUBBY = Take out the trash ... could that work? 
@DanaMH
Loved that one! LOL 😂 😂 😂 😂 !
Retrain a Human!! Well you can retrain a dog! LOL 😂 😂 😂 !
@BeyondTheInvisible
Yes definitely. LOL
@GuardianAngel77
yup! Then if it does not work we will think about something else!
@BeyondTheInvisible
Yeah! 😆😆😆!
@DanaMH
That's great to write things down on you're calendar.😊😊😊😊!
my memory is just getting better and better~! i have been playing games that enhance memory, like Hidden Objects (MS Games) and Bejewelled. even Solitairre is good for focus and attention. i had terrible memory damage 25 yrs ago, so this is the first time i have had substantial memory improvement (that is: recall). i have relearned other things, but i think that is a different part /function of the brain.
@GusteeMoon123
WOW! That's simply amazing!
Sure, these things are great to help the focus and keep the brain "working", so to speak!
Thanks for sharing, it is useful!
@GusteeMoon123
Yes game's can help you tremendously!
Way to go! 😊😊😊😊😊! Glad that you're memory is improving! 😊😊😊! Keep up the great work! 😊😊!
@GuardianAngel77
Hllo Angel, how are you?
Happy to know that those games help you as well!
@BeyondTheInvisible
I'm doing good! 😊😊!
How are you doing tonight! 😊😊!
@BeyondTheInvisible
Thank you everyone who shared! 😊😊😊!
@BeyondTheInvisible this is such a vital issue. Thanks for sharing it.
Do you feel like to share your experience with forgetfulness? Names are not easy for me. I remember faces and places. I go somewhere once and will always remember how to get back there.
How do you cope with it and how people around you react to your forgetfulness? I try to keep a sense of humor about it. I make associations with people's names like Irene I associate with Goodnight Irene the song.
Does it make you feel upset or do you tend to be self-ironic? Often if I stop struggling the name I am looking for will arrive.
Do you have personal ways to deal with forgetfulness, like writing posts here and there to remember something? Associations or notes or calendar reminders on my phone.
Any funny forgetfulness happened to you? None that I remember lol!
@soulsings
Glad you have found your ways to remember things you sometimes forget.
Do you think that you would tend to remember better things that give you a sensorial feedback (like a place you can see) rather than more abstract ones, like names and dates?
@soulsings
That's great that you associate the person name with a song. To remember there names. 😊😊😊!
@GuardianAngel77 thanks or maybe some other thing. But if I do not practice their name or "song" then I forget it.
@soulsings
Thank you for sharing!
@BeyondTheInvisible
Hi Beyond, well this can be a real problem when aging because we might not use our brains as much anymore as before (not everyone).
UESTIONS :
Do you feel like to share your experience with forgetfulness? My particular problem is simply the heat, our house temperature is generally around 30 to 32 degree C, sometimes that makes my brain tired (not always). It happens that my memory will stay with me for a time but then it's getting weaker. When younger, it was not like this.
How do you cope with it and how people around you react to your forgetfulness? I know it happens, my husband has worse problems and I try to counteract by writing things down (to-do-list) and do memory training
Does it make you feel upset or do you tend to be self-ironic? I am more concerned that it increases with time, hence the memory training (forgetting to switch off the gas stove eg. can be a real problem) and reminder notes.
@amiablePeace77
To do list are great for reminding you. And memory training is great also.
what i have found to be most helpful is to simply (~! HA~!) BE AWARE.... of where i am, what i'm doing, who i'm talking to (with or without name), and to simplify my life to the point that i can 'figure out' most things as they happen, and i don't have to rely on a memory that isn't there~! you might laugh if this hasn't happened to you, but: every morning i have to 'figure out' how to make coffee (after my empty cup reminds me that i like coffee. this has been going on for 25 yrs~! talk about being forced to 'Live in the Now'~!! i do it~
@GusteeMoon123 that is a great place to live in!
@GusteeMoon123
Hi Gustee, that sounds very challenging but it also sounds like you are very strong and doing your best to face those challenges 
I am a fan of simplifying living conditions
when i talk to someone 'official' on the phone, i make notes of it,,, i rarely refer to those notes, but just knowing they are there, IF i need to find the name and date and referenced information, can be comforting~
i keep a notepad beside my computer just for those things (and the names of movies i might want to watch that someone suggests, etc). having notepads handy really increases the chance that they will be used~
@GusteeMoon123
That's good Gus!
You've found a perfect way to cope with it!
@GusteeMoon123
That's good! 😊