[Fleury29]

I know I did certain things but my memory is basically non existent. Is this normal? For instance I didn’t remember visiting the Tower of London until I was there again not long ago. My memory is generally excellent and I can recall details well enough. I wanted to watch an anime I watched a few years ago but only remember the first two or three episodes, the rest I may as well be watching for the first time. Is this normal? I just seen to have odd gaps that I should remember like the towe of London visit.

up until my mental health diagnoses, my memory was awesome- I could remember tv skedules, phone numbers, details of songs, as soon as I was diagnosed the memory just started to go
now it's at a place I struggle to remember what I did 5 minits ago (at times), and at times I can listen to music/ watch tv, and don't even remember what I am listening/ watching (even if it's something I really enjoy)

at times though, I do have brilliant memory flashes

a couple of weeks ago I was talking to someone about movies, and movies I used to watch as a kid years ago

well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was describing a movie that i'd watched only once as a kid, and asking what it was called (I'd only watched this once, so it would have been virtually impossible to remember it), and they are like oh, yes, that movie is called such and such

then it stays in my memory for like a second, just enough time for me to write it down- if I don't in say a second, it just goes and all that was for nothing

[Fresia]

The neurologist once described to us that brain holds memories like they are in a tea cup... once you fill it up and you try to keep filling it, some things stay in the cup but other things spill out making room for what's being added. Basic functions and long term always stay in the cup, working and short term memories tend to spill over. There is no way to hold it all, we are constantly learning. It picks what is most needed but it ends up being a mix of old and new; however it eventually overflows and continues to flow over time.

For some things that get caught in the saucer of the tea cup, they're not gone but harder to access and recall, but not lost completely. There's just not enough room for everything and there are things that interefere with it too keeping the cup from filling: stress, medications, lifestyle, genetics, etc.

However, there are exercises to improve all the different kinds of memory. The brain is a muscle just like the ones we use to do things. If exercised, it can help make our recall better, or to put things into to longer term memory, or tips to help with our working and short term memories but only to a point. It is because our cups get smaller as we get older, the brain literally shrinks and can only do so much.

Given how much I can remember these days, I suspect I am pea-brained at this point.