Being forgetful can cause us to experience stress, especially if to make work is hampered. However, do not forget that sometimes we become forgetful precisely because of stress.
An old mother before the elderly, very pretty, is present in a psychological consulting room. Although the dress is very neat and harmonious, facial expressions and gestures show an extraordinary tension.
The first problem raised is the problem of memory (memory), which he said was severe. He very often forget where put the books commonly in use for teaching, forgot to put the wallet had just held, and so forth.
At first glance, the problem seems to forget that ordinary matter is also faced by other people when the more advanced age. In women it seems there is another issue that is not simple. Tension at that time is an indication that he suffered severe stress.
Elegant appearance and said words are not coherent enough to cover the stress. In addition to the strained facial expressions and gestures restless, unstable sound waves, suggesting he has a respiratory problem. He asked the psychologist was, "Do you think I look stressed out or not?"
Starting with the question psychologist regarding when he began experiencing memory problems, the mother explained that this happened since he was young, that is before graduate degree. It was a close friend commented that she suffered a setback, not as smart as before, and he himself confirmed it. We know that intelligence is a cognitive function, including memory.
Traumatic Experiences
With further question, "Is there any important events that occurred before? The mother told a series of events that began to change his life became bleak enough. He previously often become a star class (as beautiful and intelligent), becomes chairman at one of the student dormitory , was busy in various committees, is blind in terms of sexuality, then must accept the fact she was pregnant (as a boyfriend), had to get out of the dorm, put off college, married, living with a fierce in-law, busy raising a baby (at a young age), trauma in sexual relations, domestic economic problems, and so on.
Although later to settle down independently (apart from law) and the economic situation is much better, growing children, married children, even blessed with grandchildren, along the way that issue by issue still happened.
Starting from the difficulty in sexual relations (which is considered taboo to talk about), finally developed into a ravine in a relationship with her husband. Happened thirst for love, to the extent that develop into neurotic state: often experience unwarranted anxiety and compulsions in makeup. Mother is also often suffer from chronic shortness of breath, have a less harmonious relationships with colleagues, and a series of other problems.
It is not difficult to understand why the mother is known intelligent and cheerful in this youth finally have a pretty severe memory problems. This also occurs in some people who have experienced severe stress, like those who experience post-traumatic stress (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / PTSD).
However, this does not mean that everyone who is experiencing stress (stressors) are always at risk of memory problems. There are other things that also determines the decline in memory or memory functions.
Age Factors
In the case of the mother before, factors of age, of course, also affected memory decline. Naturally when people are entering the age of middle-aged have difficulty in paying attention, learning, and recall.
In those days most people experience degenerative processes in brain nerve cells that receive duty-channel-store information or knowledge. Communication between cells of nerve (neuron) that occur when we make the process of remembering or perform other cognitive functions have been reduced or disrupted after a person has entered the age further.
Regarding the influence of the age factor, we can say that brain nerve cells are partially damaged after a person becomes older. However, we need to know that new neurons are also growing (the process of neurogenesis) throughout our lives, though not as much as the growth in childhood and adolescence. Thus, we can find any elderly people who remain effective cognitive function.
Emotion and Cognition Disorders
In addition to age factor which gives the possibility of impairment of memory function, the events of life that are very pressing that continues met with negative emotions is a trigger of cognitive decline in women over the case. In circumstances of severe stress and depression a person is likely to experience cognitive impairment (inability to understand something well, think well, including recall information well).
How did this happen? Aaron P. Nelson of Harvard Medical School who is active as practitioners who deal with issues of memory, affirms that psychological disorders such as depression, PTSD, and severe stress, can interfere with achieving optimal memory. However, when psychological problems were overcome, memory function will recover.
Depression can cause difficulty concentrating, focusing on detail, and absorb new information. Sleep disturbances that often accompany depression obvious cause cognitive problems. The results showed that in the long-term depression can cause loss of neurons in the hippocampus which is part of the brain essential for memory.
A study by Nelson accessed indicates that women who have a history of depression who constantly have a smaller hippocampus (occurring shrinkage of neurons) than women who are not depressed. She had a poor performance in verbal memory tests.
In Nelson's experience of clinical practice, a combination of psychotherapy and medication for depression and sleep disorders can resolve the issue properly and restore cognitive functions thoroughly. This is possible when the state of depression did not develop into Alzheimer's disease (a disease that has forgotten the basic neurological) that require more specialized treatment.
In the case of PTSD, memory will continually traumatic events that happened to disturb the process of acquisition of new information and recall information that had nothing to do with the trauma experienced. At issue is the occurrence of serious stress that this constant push produced hormone cortisol, which in turn damage the brain structures important for memory, namely the hippocampus and limbic system.
In the case of the general stress resulting in impaired memory, can be affirmed that the reaction of stress against the destructive. Each of us deal with stress differently. There are people who work in high pressure in the long term, but can stay awake the memory function, while others have been overwhelmed in these situations. So the question is how do we respond to stress, not the source of stress (stressors).
In this case the same effect as described above, intense stress trigger the release of the hormone cortisol which can impair memory. So the important thing is to find ways to modify the response to stress.
Some people can cope with stress with physical activity such as exercise.Some people can cope with stress by doing relaxation or meditation.Others do an introduction to stress the limits that can not be tolerated, and then assertively (firmly but politely) rejected tasks that can not bear anymore.
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