I can relate so well. I've talked to two different psychiatrists about this because I was afraid I was developing dementia, and they both told me the same thing: it's probably due to a combination of repeated bipolar episodes (especially mania) and the medications used to treat the disorder. Well, I'm still screwed because I can't undo past episodes nor can I stop meds, but for some reason it reassures me that my memory issues aren't likely to be associated with Alzheimer's or some other type of dementia.

It's my short-term memory that really drives me nuts. I can quote you a song from 40+ years ago, tell you the name of the band, the lyrics, and the year it came out, but I can't tell you what I ate for lunch, or even IF I ate lunch. I have trouble recognizing people out of context, which REALLY scares me because it's super embarrassing when they go "Oh, you know me!"

A lady came to the door the other day asking to use our bathroom; I didn't recognize her because she was in shorts and her hair was up, and she had no makeup on. She turned out to be the nice receptionist at my son-in-law's hair salon, who I know well in that environment but could not place her when she wanted to come in to use the toilet. I was, of course, mortified, and it's little slips like this that really make me question my cognitive abilities. No one else seems to be all that concerned, even though dementia isn't unheard of at my age (I'm 60). If it gets worse I'm going to demand a neurology consult...I don't like this at all.