Lekha N.’s kitchen walls are festooned with sticky notes that feature dates, tasks and people. “I spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen in the morning. So these notes help me remember things. But of late, I forget to keep notes itself,” says the bank employee and a mother of two. For someone who believed she had a great memory, Lekha, 28, is worried about her absent-mindedness. “Even at work, I tend to forget things,” she says.
While juggling careers, raising children, running households, negotiating serpentine traffic lines, socialising, keeping up-to-date on social media, being focussed has become extremely challenging.
Senior consultant neurologist Dr. Mathew Abraham says he has been receiving a number of youngsters complaining of forgetfulness. Anxiety, stress or depression can cause apparent loss of memory, termed as apparent dementia. He says: “They insist they cannot remember. But it is not dementia. They may forget where they kept the keys or make minor mistakes at work. But they would not forget their way to office, when to eat or whether they have eaten. People are worried because health awareness is high,” he says.
High-pressure jobs don’t afford the luxury of forgetfulness. Though blessed with a razor-sharp memory, Arun K., management consultant, says he takes conscious efforts to remain “mentally agile”. He plays at least seven to eight word games a day. Sudoku, puzzles and riddles, too. “Because the brain is constantly urged to from new words, find out number patterns and it is like a proper workout for the brain,” he says. He follows a memory routine. If there are ten things he needs to remember, he builds a story around them with characters he knows. Even when he is reading something, Arun tries to correlate it to something he has encountered in the past. “That way, I can be sure I would never forget what I have read.”
Thanks to technology, one need not always have to remember niggling little things. Afshan, assistant professor of mathematics at Toc-H Engineering College, says she could remember most of her friends’ phone numbers by heart until she acquired a mobile phone. “Now, I guess I have forgotten my own land line number,” she says. Arun adds: “Technology is just an enabler. When you are required to think on your feet, you have to rely on your memory.”
Chartered accountant Vijay Narayan Govind suggests a four-step method to sharpen memory. “Pay close attention to things that matter—for instance, my wife was wearing blue when we first met. Commit it to memory by using a little teaser tip—associate her with a peacock. Constant practice comes next—whenever you see something blue, the sky or the sea, tell yourself that is the colour she wore. And finally, work really hard on forgetting everything else, because none of that really matters,” he says.
The problem really is because of information overload, caused by our lifestyle, says wellness expert Nuthan Manohar. “There are just too much happening in the mind that the person is not living in the present.” Nuthan has specific modules for her clients, which helps them live in the moment. “Learn to do one thing at a time. Focus on the task. Deep breathing helps a great deal,” she says.
It has been scientifically proven that using the brain can reduce the chances of dementia. “Solving puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, interacting with people, or even learning new skills or languages can help keep the brain sharp,” Dr. Abraham says. As President of the Alzheimer’s society, Kochi, he says there is no need to panic at minor memory lapses. “The first step is to differentiate between apparent dementia and treatable dementia. There is a battery of tests to find out if the memory loss is genuine or false. Dementia is a reduction of multiple islands of cognitive function.”
To-do list
- Learn to breathe deeply. It brings down stress levels and helps in concentration
- Create a little ritual (while you are in the car waiting at the signal, or any free time) to feel what you are going through. It helps you absorb the moment
- Prioritise and concentrate on one thing at a time
- Start using all the sense organs. Use your sense of touch and smell, too, in addition to visual and auditory more often. It will encourage the brain to function more harmoniously
- Breathe deeply and simultaneously move your right arm forward and the left arm backward. This exercise brings you back to the present and helps you see things clearly
- Hold your ears. They have acupressure points, which stimulate the brain
- Practising suryanamaskar is a great way to remain mentally healthy, as it is based on vinayasa (moving with one’s breath)
