Anxiety And Memory Loss: How Stress Affects Your Brain And What You Can Do

When someone suffers from severe stress or anxiety, then it can cause strong, chronic feelings of fear and worry commonly related to situations and things which is out of one’s control and cannot be changed.

Anxiety can cause a vicious cycle of worry and nervousness where the person is not able to stop mentally thinking about dreaded potential situations and its outcomes and this ongoing loop of anxiety consumes a lot of mental energy ⁽¹⁾.

This state of constant stress and hypervigilance takes a toll on a person’s memory ^{(2, 3)}.

Memory loss related to anxiety can cause more anxiety because:

• The person suffering from constant anxiety cannot recall or recollect the important details at school or work.
• When suffering from constant anxiety, one tends to forget things, like birthdays and other special events, which can cause conflict in personal relationships
• It is difficult to remember important things comprising the daily tasks, such as driving, cooking, parenting etc.

Understanding the Connection between Anxiety, Stress and Memory Loss

Anxiety and stress tends to affect the working memory and this is why a person need not necessarily forget the important events from life and rather has difficulty in remembering day to day things like:

• Directions to someone’s house.
• Instructions for performing tasks.
• A play date.
• Conversations with others.
• Information from a chapter which one has just studied.

What are the Factors That Play a Role in Anxiety-Related Memory Loss?

There are various contributing factors to memory loss occurring as a result of excessive stress and anxiety and these are:

Increased Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is known as the stress hormone as it puts the body into fight-flight-freeze mode when there is increased stress ⁽⁴⁾. Cortisol has many important functions and having the right amount of this hormone helps in forming memories. This also can help to explain why some anxiety helps in improving the memory.

Excessive cortisol, on the other hand, will have the opposite effect. Individuals having severe or chronic anxiety tend to have increased cortisol levels, as anxiety involves frequent and extreme worry about potential problems. This constant state of stress one feels will keep the body stuck in a fight-flight-freeze response, which is ever ready to react to danger.

Lack of Sleep

Anxiety and stress causes it difficult to get enough sleep. One tends to constantly replay a loop of anxious thoughts or if fallen asleep there can be frequent awakening or disturbing dreams. When having poor sleep, one feels distracted, foggy and not able to focus on anything.  If this continues then regular sleep deprivation is known to cause serious health problems, such as memory loss. Sleep is extremely important for memory and as well as overall brain function ^{(5, 6)}. 

Anxiety Itself

For someone who lives with anxiety he/she is always perpetually distracted.  All the worries will occupy an anxious person’s thoughts to the point where it seems impossible to escape them. Distress and worry will eventually become the repeating tracks in the background for your day while doing anything, they are there claiming your attention and making your daily tasks more difficult as you are also trying to manage and cope with anxious thoughts all the time.

All this divides the brainpower and makes it harder to focus on anything as anxiety keeps overpowering you. As one continues to focus on the worries and its causes, the brain starts to prioritize these potential threats for the person to remain safe. This causes other information to fade into the background.

After realizing that you have forgotten vital things, you will start to wonder if something more serious is happening and this is when you will start to become fixated on these concentration and memory issues. This result in small moments of forgetfulness, which can happen to anyone, more so when under stress, become more prominent. The forgetfulness, which is normal, starts the cycle by becoming a trigger for anxious thoughts.

Locking Up the Unwanted Memories

Many people bury the unhappy, traumatic or distressing memories or push them away and lock them inside as a response to stress. If you get overwhelmed by the worries or if they exhaust you to the point where you cannot function like a normal person, then you might try to suppress or block them as a method for coping.

A person need not completely forget the whole event, but refusing to think about it leads to distortion of the details and helps it to recede from the forefront of your memory. Suppressing these unwanted memories is not good for health, as it is not helping you in tackling the problem or in dealing with the source of the problem. Anxiety, which is not treated or addressed, will worsen with time and cause an even greater negative impact on memory and concentration over a period of time.

Memory Loss and Panic attacks

Individuals having panic attacks will have difficulty in recalling what occurred just before or during the anxiety attack. Memory loss linked with panic attacks occur for the same reasons, which causes memory loss from general anxiety.

Panic attacks are a type of anxiety and are brief episodes of extreme fear. They can start abruptly without warning and will trigger symptoms that can feel terrifying and overwhelming. Some of the symptoms of panic attacks are ⁽⁷⁾:

• Racing heart.
• Trembling, sweating or shaking.
• Feelings of choking or difficulty breathing.
• Feeling of losing control.
• Tingling, numbness or blurred vision.
• Feeling of impending doom.

People who are suffering from panic attack will think that they are having a heart attack or they are dying. During the attack, one can feel completely preoccupied by these unpleasant thoughts and feelings and lose the track of time, and think only about getting through the attack.

Afterwards when the panic attack has subsided, one can recall the acute panic clearly, but not able to understand how one has made it through.

After suffering from a panic attack, one always is worried about experiencing one more again; especially when you find yourself in a situation that triggers feelings of worry or fear. With this increase in anxiety occupying the entire focus, one also notices memory problems.

Could There Be Another Reason For These Problems?

There are many other causes for memory loss, such as injuries or trauma to the head; depression, emotional distress; dementia; brain tumors; chemotherapy; regular alcohol or substance use and a side effect of some prescription medications ⁽⁸⁾.

Other than anxiety, other concerns are there contributing to memory loss, so one should always monitor how difficult it is to remember things.

Forgetting something occasionally, especially when it is associated with poor sleep and anxiety need not be necessarily serious; however, it can worsen with time.

When Should You Consult Your Doctor 

You need to consult a healthcare professional if you find yourself regularly:

• Losing things on a regular basis.
• Having difficulty in completing daily tasks, like traveling from place to place or work responsibilities.
• If you are forgetting important safety precautions, such as locking your doors, turning off the stove etc.
• If you are asking the same questions or repeating the same things over and over again.
• If you notice problems at school or work or in your personal relationships.
• If you forget words or have trouble remembering scheduled events or appointments.

Always reach out for professional help when the memory problems are causing distress. Getting timely help goes a long way in fixing the problem and feeling so much better. Just simply being stuck in the loop of worrying causes more anxiety and worsens the problem.

How to Cope With Stress/Anxiety Related Memory Loss?

The symptoms of anxiety often improve with treatment; however, it is not going to happen overnight. Some of the tips or coping mechanisms, which are beneficial in increasing concentration, focus and remembering are ⁽⁹⁾:

Writing down Important Things

Jotting down important information helps in more than one way. First of all, writing it down helps in remembering things better and even if you were to forget, then you will always have a physical reminder to check on.

Keeping a daily planner or journal helps a lot in remembering important dates, events etc. Another way is scheduling smartphone notifications or apps which offer reminders to you.

Journaling also greatly helps in relieving anxiety. Writing down about things which worry you and their potential causes helps in taking the edge off which in turn will not consume so much of mental energy.

When there is less to worry about, then the memory can also improve.

Spending Time with People Who Love You

Staying in touch and visiting friends and family helps in improving memory by relieving the stress and anxiety.

Social interactions which you enjoy help in distracting you from the unnecessary worry and anxiety, making it easier to focus on (and remember) other things.

Talking about what bothers or worries you to your loved ones greatly helps in relieving the stress. The knowledge that there are people who love you and support you, act as a great stress buster and reduce the cortisol levels and helps with good sleep.

Train That Brain of Yours

Brain and Memory games, such as crosswords, Sudoku, word puzzles, chess or Scrabble helps in boosting the memory brain function ⁽¹⁰⁾.

Playing these games helps in exercising your brain and keeping it sharp.  These games are also a great way to distract yourself from unnecessary anxious thoughts.

Other than games, other ways to strengthen your brain and enhance memory are: Learning a new language; leaning something new such as a musical instrument; learning a new skill, such as watercolor painting, knitting etc. 

Exercise; move your body as much as you can

Exercising helps not only your body, but your brain too. The simple act of moving your body from one place to another helps in improving the mood, relieving the symptoms of depression, anxiety and increase overall brain function.

You can start with something simple, such as 15-minute walk after meals or just strolling in the park or beach whenever you feel riled up.

Exercise also tires you out, which makes you sleep faster, better and for longer time. With good quality sleep, you can notice the symptoms of anxiety, such as memory loss will also lessen.

Follow a Bedtime Ritual

Follow a bedtime ritual daily where you are taking time out to relax and wind down before getting ready for bed. Doing this every night helps in improving the quality of the sleep. 

Do not Hesitate to Seek Support

Mild symptoms of anxiety can ease on their own, however, in case of chronic or persistent anxiety which will not go without seeking treatment or support from a professional. Consult your doctor or a therapist and tell them about your symptoms including memory loss. If the treatment is not helping, then make sure to let them know that.

Talk to your doctor regarding different treatment approaches. Not every treatment works the same for everyone and it can take some trial and error to find the most effective approach for your anxiety and its symptoms

Some people can find great relief from only therapy; whereas others need a combination of medication and therapy to feel better.

Conclusion

Memory loss is not something, which can be brushed aside, as it can cause lot of disruption in daily life and also increases the distress caused by anxiety; however, seeking treatment is important as it goes a long way to help.

A therapist helps in exploring and addressing the underlying causes of anxiety and also teaches you effective coping skills, such as meditation techniques and breathing exercises.

With the improvement in anxiety and its symptoms, the memory will also start to improve and one can lead a normal and happy life.

References:

Also Read:

• Home Remedies For Memory Improvement: Diet, Exercise, Tips For Better Memory
• Green Tea: Can It Help Boost Your Memory?
• How to Increase Your Memory?
• 7 Causes of Problem in Retrieving Recent Memory
• What are the Causes of Memory Loss & How is it Treated?
• 7 Things That Affect Your Memory Positively