It depends upon a lot of things- yes stress can play a part, cortisol can affect cognition I believe.

We just went through memory/cognitive assessment with my elderly parent. Obviously in older age group dementia is a concern. They did scans, comprehensive questions (each area different aspect of cognition/memory), then psychiatrist conversational assessment. So you can see how thorough diagnosis is - certainly not something you can or should do yourself. As you say, you wouldn’t be objective enough to assess yourself.

How are you doing now Dee?