I have had two different psychiatrists tell me this same thing. I get SO upset with myself for my short-term memory deficits, when it's not my fault at all. It got so bad at one point that I asked my pdoc if I was developing dementia. I'm not, it's just brain damage from the combination of repeated bipolar episodes and the meds I'm taking to treat it. For some reason that made me feel a little better; I've seen so much dementia that I fear it more than almost any other illness.