Does Depression causes Memory Loss ?

Question

I am having memory loss.i cannot concentratre like i used to do before.I feel drowsy and sleepy all the time.I m having depression from the last 8 years and right now i m 21 years old.I did n't go for any check up.now i m forgetting everthing like i just cant think of what to talk with a person.in other words i have problems communicating with people.I m like a mum.i have problems understanding people sometimes.And i was having depression becoz of some physical disorder of my body part.i feel like giving up every now and then.i remain isolated from people for 7-8 years and still the same.I m totally confused abt should i live or ....i have no friends and i m very lonely.I really dont know waht to do.plz help me

Answer 1

DO NOT GIVE UP! ! !

I understand how you feel, really. I was severely abused until I was 23 and it left me with severe depression since age twelve. I'm MPD, have been a cutter, anorexic, etc.

I died twice, after two suicide attempts. There is a Spirit world and you will be in trouble for taking your life, believe me! God didn't give us life for us to take it and I was one of hte lucky one's who was allowed to come back with very specific conditions set upon me, but I'm not to share those with others, as they are specific to me.

I can just say, if you kill yourself you will be more miserable then you are now, so lets find you another option.

If you are only 21 and have been isolating yourself for 7 to 8 years, that means you've been doing this since about age 14.

I'm going to take a wild guess, either you were abused as a child and/or teen or something very traumatic happened around age 14 that has lead to your feeling you needed to isolate yourself from the rest of the world.

I'm sorry you are so lonely; I'm not just saying that.

If you have an income where you can see a Psychologist for an evaluation, please do so right away and since you sound to me like you might have a dissociative disorder caused by trauma, make sure you ask any Psychologist, not their nurse or secretary, what training they have in the following areas, if they are not well trained and have experience treating patients with these problems, do not see them or you may not get the right treatment.

Ask if they have treated Dissociative Disorders before, including DID. If they say they understand it, but have not had success treating it, hang up and move on to the next one of the list.

Then ask if they have training in PTSD and in treating people with it. If they don't known what the initials mean, they don't have the training or experience.

Last but not least, ask if they have training treating anxiety, as you clearly have symptoms of anxiety.

Depression can cause forgetting, especially when someone has it as long as you are saying you've had these problems. Dissociative disorders caused by abuse can also cause forgetting. Do you ever lose time, not know how you got some place? If yes, that is a sign of a dissociative disorder.

Before going to a Psychologist, do not see anyone who'll just drugs you without gettting to know your history well or they could mask symptoms that would aid in a proper diagnosis.

Write up your hystory in a brief outline on your computer. Such as any physical injuries to your head as a child. Were you sexually abuse and for how long adn if you know by whom, not everyone knows the name of the person who abused them, sometimes they were told a fake name or it was a rape by a stranger. Write out a brief outline of any major medical problems you've had. Then for each year of your life, write out a brief outline of if you had depression that year or not, did you have anxiety or not, what has helped if anything and what has made your problems worse. This can help a Clinical Psychologist make a proper diagnosis. Do not allow yourself to be drugged as so many do right off, you need them to know you as you are so they can make a diagnosis over several times of seeing you.

There is always hope, even when it seems like suicide is the only answer. I'm talking as someone who tried to repeatedly kill myself from the time I was about 11 years old, maybe younger. I waisted my energies on this, I also waisted them on being anorexic and on other forms of self abuse. So use your energy, however little on only positive self help things, such as getting into see a psychologist.

If you are poor like me, be careful at a County Mental Health center, demand that you will not even be evaluated until you see a social worker with experience in dissociative disorders, PTSD and anxiety. If they ask why, just say because I don't want to waist my time with someone who has no idea how to deal with such issues. Also at a county mental health center, do not say you are thinking of suicide, they'll likely commit you, just say that you are depressed, but you haven't planned on killing yourself.

I promise you can feel better then you do now, but it means turning back into what is causing all your pain, you'll never outrun it.

You can send me a response with your E-mail address in it and I'll chat with you through E-mails. Others have asked to speak with me, but one I could not do the reply function through Yahoo and the others I'm not sure she got my reply as she wished to speak further, but I've not heard back via E-mail. So if you send me an E-mail as a reply, where that option is offered, realize it will only show your Yahoo Answer I.D., not your actually E-mail address, so please include your full E-mail address.

I'm so sad that you have no friends, it's hard to make friends when you feel so horrible and for so long.

For now, please take my word, you can feel better then you feel right now and you can resolve your emotional issues, though it will take work and walking back to where they began and dealing with whatever the cause of the problems are.

Answer 2

Yes, depression can affect the memory. And Yes, there is quite a lot of this going around. It's a crazy world out there and lots of depressing things happening. No wonder so many many people are feeling like this. Being sick and run down only makes it so much worse. You may start to feel better if you can get over all the infections and get your health back. If you haven't had a good physical checkup lately including blood pressure, sugar, vitamin defiencies, etc., try that first to make sure that part or most of it isn't physical. After you feel better physically, force yourself to go to the gym and exercise daily. If that's not possible, the best treatment would be to run or jog or even walking. It is the natural way to treatment depression, without using drugs. Exercise releases chemicals into the body that work much the same way anti-depressants are supposed to work, to make you feel better and improve your mood. As you exercise you will start to feel happier and will get a great body as well. The memory will also improve. Please try this. You will enjoy life so very much more.

Answer 3

Well if you have been isolated from people for the last 7-8 years, yea, you would have a hard time coming up with something to say to people, cause you are so use to not being around them , that to try to talk to them is like trying to fly, without a plane. So i would agree with you that it is more of a communication problem, then a memory loss. It has been so long since you have been around people that you have more less forgot how to talk, an commuicate with them. Depression will make you feel tired all the time, I know it does me, and i really don't think anyone can always concerntrate on things the way they use to be able to, and you are loney and feeling you have no friends, well i would be depressed too, if i felt that way. Actually when i was isolated i liked it, not having friends and that, but then i got therapy, and some how they got through to me, and then i found out what lonely felt like again, and i don't care for it much myself. If you are having some physical disorder of your body part then you need to go and see a doctor, if you like getting out or not. Now for not having friends, well maybe you should get into therapy, and get so you do not isolate your self from people, that would be a good begining, plus they can help you learn to communicate with people again too. Then you will find that you can work on that depression you have, and keep those bad thoughts out of your mind about giving up, cause look you are only 21 years old , you have a lot of life ahead of you, and it can be a good and happy life. So give up that kind of thinking , and go get into therapy, and work really hard, cause it is going to take hard work, i will kid you not on that. But in the long run it will be well worth it, even though at times you will not think so, it is well worth it, and then you can start talking to people and get to know them, and go out and enjoy life. So please forget about giving up on yourself casue that is not the answer, and go get the help you need, and you will find that you will not be lonely any longer, and that life is well worth living......

Answer 4

Depression does effect your memory. It can also cause the other symptoms you have. I know you are feeling hopeless, but don't give up. I have experienced a lot of what you are going through, so I will tell you how I deal with it. If you don't feel like you have any friends, turn to your family. Talk to relatives you feel comfortable with or just spend time with them. You should also see a doctor. Depression can be caused by many things. If its something physical, a doctor can help. If its mental, a doctor can refer you to a psychologist who can help. Your life can be much better with a little help! If you are feeling suicidal, call a suicide hotline. Here are a couple you can try : 1-800-784-2433 & 1-800-273-8255. They are free and they can give you helpful information. Another thing I would highly recommend is to pray. Talk to God about what you're going through...He knows all about it. Ask Him to give you courage & strength. If you have a Bible, try reading some in the New Testament. There are a lot of encouraging words in there. Whatever you do, do not give up. Things will not always be this bad.

Answer 5

go for therapy and let loved ones family friends know what is going on and maybe u may need to be on medication and get a check up and also get out do things keep busy and dont sleep all day and times cause u may sleep alot or alittle and plz talk to a professionally meaning a physical doctor also im me and email me let me know how things go and keep in touch

Answer 6

Have you thought of going to a psych doc? or considered meds? I can say from experience that it does cause memory loss and loss of mental function... selegiline (EMSAM) helped me out a lot

Answer 7

I agree with Mountain Bear's response. Yes, I understand how you feel. I was severely depressed myself for over 10 years, and it can be quite challenging to overcome. But I did it without medicine, and this surprised my family because doctors say depression is hereditary in the family; but I chose to believe that it's epigenetic - that is, not genetically related, but caused by factors that were beyond my control at the time. My mom and sister keep telling me that they had to use anti-depressent medication, they had no choice; but my belief is that drugs mask the pain; and numb you from feeling the pain in order to heal it. They just didn't see it that way. I believe it is this attitude that set them back a long way and they're now still stuck while I have completely healed myself.

Before I had ever heard of it, I was already using my own version of cognitive behavioral therapy http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm to overcome my depression. I slowly changed one negative thought (pessimum) into a positive thought (optimum) and kept telling myself over and over that I was an important human being who deserved the best in life, and eventually my brain reprogrammed itself to believe just exactly that. Cognitive behavioral therapy is something you should try out, since it's something you can do as a form of self-therapy.

Depression did cause temporary memory loss for me. It even caused me strabismus (cross-eyes) for one week. I've never experienced anything like it before. The mind exerts an amazing influence over the body, and it is important to recognize the power of the mind over the body. That is why cognitive behavioral therapy worked for me; if the mind can cause strabismus, I don't see why the mind cannot be reprogrammed to think differently. I don't buy into the whole chemical imbalance thing, irregardless of if it's true or not, because this belief is only going to be a stumbling block. The chemical imbalance belief is strictly a mechanist's (physical) view on things, it fails to address the holistic side of things, such as the mind's power over the body.

One good book you should buy that is related to everything I've just talked about is called What To Say When You Talk To Yourself, by Shad Helmstetter. It can be bought online at this Amazon.com website: http://www.amazon.com/What-When-Talk-Your-Self/dp/0671708821/sr=8-1/qid=1169458272/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4338884-0541701?ie=UTF8&s=books but I believe your local bookstore should have it in stock also.

I experienced all the things you experienced, such as problems communicating and understanding people; but if you can gradually start believing in yourself, you'll unleash your own ability to heal yourself as I did. One suggestion... never consider suicide...never... remember you're just as important as any other person out there, even if they don't say so... it will be a painful process but you can learn to grow strong in yourself as I did. Bear with the pain but try to read books to increase your knowledge, for it is the appliance of knowledge that is true power. I believe you are an important person, and I'm sure there are others out there who think the same; it's just they are what I'd call communicatively challenged even though they may seem good at it. The truth is, they often aren't as good at communicating as we'd like, but there is nothing we can do about that. We can only change ourselves to make the world a better place, and perhaps help others one day like I am helping you now.

To let you know, I am 100% deaf. Complete silence has been found in studies to cause depression of the brain. So I have a physical disability... I don't know what your physical disorder is, but no matter what the physical disorder is, remember that what's important is your individuality, and in the future you can turn anything that hinders yourself into a cause for good. Myself, I now use my understanding of deafness to help others who experience neglect and rejection from hearing people; in other words, I am a deaf advocate - but I also look on the side of hearing people to ensure I'm being evenhanded and fair to them as well. When you start believing in yourself and knowing yourself better, you will need to find a mission for yourself, a destiny, and it will give you new meaning to your life like my disability has done for me. Good luck, I know you can do it. The key is to never give up on yourself.

If you see a need, you can print out any comments you like here and refer to them often for support and encouragement. It's great that Mountain Bear wants to help you out and you should e-mail her, to see how she can help you, while at the same time keeping in mind the things I've said. Good luck, I know you can do it. :)

P.S. One way to start is to not call yourself dummie. Please don't do that. Maybe you were abused, but you must fight off such thinking and think of yourself better than you do right now. I am sorry that you feel this way, and honestly, using degradatory labels on yourself will only make you feel it's true. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Answer 8

yes it does i know from experience..