Does trying to remember something drive you crazy?

Sassycakes

Sassycakes

SF VIP
Location
Pennsylvania
If I can't remember something even if it isn't important it drives me crazy. For the last few weeks, I have been trying to remember an actor's name. I knew his first name was Jack. Finally today I was watching a show on youtube about David Cassidy. Then I saw the actor and here he was David Cassidy's father. So now I can finally I can forget wondering who he was and start worrying about another stupid thing.
 

Jack Cassidy was a good looking man. Loved his deep dimples. He came to such a tragic end. :confused: I've come to realize that if I can't remember something right then, I'll remember it later on, so no I don't stress about it. I was having a conversation with my BFF today. She had to briefly end the conversation, then called me back and asked "Now what were we talking about?" I told her I didn't remember since I had been multi-tasking while on the phone. She also has memory problems sometimes despite being a bit younger than me, so she understood. By the time we were ready to end the conversation, I remembered what we were talking about when she had to hang up. In fact, I think the harder I try to remember something, the more it escapes me.
 
I'll forget what I was looking for and will have to walk around retracing my steps to see if that jogs my memory.

I get worried sometimes when I can't remember a name or a place that I should be able to shout out right away. I fear alzheimers.

Years ago, I looked after my brother-in-law's mother who was failing mentally. She was losing vocabulary at an alarming rate.

She'd say, "I need to go to that place." "What place?" " You know....that place that has food." "The grocery store?" "Yes, the place."

"Can you call that man?" "What man?" "The man who fixes the water." "The plumber?" "Yes, the man."

It got worse.

Every time I forget something, I think of her and worry about me.
 
jujube said:
I get worried sometimes when I can't remember a name or a place that I should be able to shout out right away
Click to expand...
Yeah.
What's bad is when you and yer mate can't remember a name.

We 'were puzzling over the name of an Andy Griffith show.

All day, we couldn't hook it up.

Then, in the afternoon, I was upstairs, on the can.
It hit me


Yelled out.......MATLOCK!!!!

.....not knowing she had a friend over
 
I mostly have trouble remembering people's names...people that I meet. Sometimes it helps to repeat it back to them, but not always.

I also have a lot of trouble remembering appointments even when they're on the calendar, or that I have something I want to give to someone next time I see them.

Oddly, I will remember both those kind of things if I put something somewhere it doesn't belong. Like, when Michelle reminds me I have an appointment the next day, I know I'll still forget unless I go put my shoe on a kitchen counter or something such as that. Next day, soon as I see that shoe, I remember the appointment. I've stuck a paperclip in my toothbrush, set a carrot on top of the toaster, put a can of corn in the fridge....just random stuff like that. It's kind of like a string on your finger, I guess, but for me it works a lot better.
 
Every year I have an insurance required medical. At one of these annual checkups the doctor asked if there was anything I should tell her. She meant worrying symptoms that patients often omit, but as I had none, I mentioned the mild amnesia this thread is the subject of. The doctor reassured me by using a good analogy. She said that your home computer gets slower the longer that you have it, and the more information that it stores the longer it takes to retrieve. So too, does that magnificent computer that you have in your head, have the same retrieval problem. Finally she told me that if you put aside that which is annoying you in trying to remember, you will find that it will just pop into your head. She was right, as Prince Andrew might say: Don't sweat the small stuff.
 
iu
 
This happens to me quite often and the family hates when I drag them into it as well.

I constantly ask them if they remember and I can tell they aren't helping because they say they can't remember way to quickly, then I tell them they aren't trying and they say they aren't the ones who want to know,
Then I get all grouchy until I finally remember .
Finally I remember and want to share this new found information so bad but I don't because they don't care.
Now I'm bursting at the seams with all this information and I finally blurt it out.
They say they don't care and I get all grouchy again.
 
Not really, there are those who might say i'm barely steps from crazy, not even a short drive. But over the years I've developed strategies that help me, and i usually either recall or find the info in question within a half hour at most.

Search engines helpful for some things, for Movie,TV things i find IMDb a great help, because i can usually remember what a performer has been in or who was in a show title i want to remember.. As with most folks 'recognition' more reliable than recall so if when i look i look up someone who was in a movie title and look at their film credits i recognise the one i was thinking of when i see it. The site gives you multiple ways to jog your memory.
 
Yes it does bother me, I used to have a great memory, but
I am afraid that it slips now and again, it gets worse if the
Google can't help, I couldn't remember the word to describe
when somebody talks about a product in order to promote it
and to encourage you to buy it, after maybe 15 minutes with
Google I moved on, before I did anything else, I remembered
that I was looking for "Testimonials", very embarrassing.

Mike
 
Last edited:
Sassycakes said:
If I can't remember something even if it isn't important it drives me crazy. For the last few weeks, I have been trying to remember an actor's name. I knew his first name was Jack. Finally today I was watching a show on youtube about David Cassidy. Then I saw the actor and here he was David Cassidy's father. So now I can finally I can forget wondering who he was and start worrying about another stupid thing.
Click to expand...
It drives me crazy too. 😁
 
Bretrick said:
I usually do not stress about being unable to remember something.
I will attempt to remember for a short while then stop trying
Many times when I stop trying to remember, after a time, it will come to me.
Click to expand...
That's the #1 best strategy-- not stressing. Stress is often a strong factor in forgetting in the first place, so fretting about is counter productive. Often relaxing and thinking of things associated with what you want to recall will trigger a cascade effect causing our minds to spit out the desired info along with all the other stuff related to it.
 
I've got notepads in my computer room, the garage, and my workshop. If I think of something that might be of importance, I stop for a few seconds and jot it down....then get back to what I was doing. That way, if I think about it later, I review my notes, then research the item further when I have some spare time. I find as I get older, I'm not good at "multitasking", so I just try to concentrate on one thing at a time.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top