Short Term Memory Loss

[depressedjenn]

I sometimes say a word twice and forget daily things like taking my medicines. Also when someone talks to me face to face or even on the phone I can't comprehend what they are saying to me, I have to ask them to repeat it once or twice. Also...sometimes when driving I forget where I'm going. Anyone experience this with ptsd? Is this part of ptsd?

 

[Anna]

It happens to me as well sometimes. I go into a room to do something then forget what it was. I drive people crazy by asking them a question, then asking again a few moments later because I forgot the answer they gave me.

Best thing is to get a calender to write down important things or a diary. I also sometimes when at home repeat out loud to myself what I need to do so I don't forget it.

What is weird though is, that instructions I can remember really well. Like if someone tells me to do something. I forget somethings and not other things.

I think it is normal with PTSD to have problems with some short term memory.

 

[depressedjenn]

Anna, if I write it down on calenders I forget to look at the calender lol. I have missed a lot of appointments lol. I had no idea this was part of ptsd. My last job I was fired from it because I couldn't remember what I was suppose to do. I had been working there for almost a year and still had to ask questions about the same thing over and over. I got wrote up twice because manager said I was making the employees around me stressed and it was hard to do their job because they had to keep explaining to me how to do mine.

<Edited by KP the nut>

 

[Panama Pete]

This drives me, and my wife, crazy sometimes. She tells me to go to the store for bread, eggs and cheese and I come back with bread, eggs and ?????. We now use the memo pad feature in our blackberry for me to make a list so I don't forget something, or get something we didn't need. That is just one example of the many ways in which my short term memory has been affected. My psychiatrist says it isn't really a memory problem but a concentration problem. My hyper-vigilance is probably one of the main reasons I have this aspect of PTSD as bad as I do. I am constantly on alert and trying to maintain situational awareness for threats (27+ years in the Army will do that to a person sometimes). The driving thing can be stressful too, especially since I now live in Panama and EVERYONE has to be hyper-vigilant on the roads here because of the traffic and road conditions. One thing to keep in mind is that you have started on the path to overcome this because you have identified the problem.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

(((Hugs)))
You sound normal for what you are dealing with. I used to clear the table right after I set it. And many other little things like that I found that by focusing on the one thing I was doinghelped. I heard it explained to me that it is mind overload and the mind can only deal with so much. Good luck with it. It comes and goes and sometimes it goes away for awhile.

 

[AngelaMarie]

This happens to me a lot. Sometimes I can be in the middle of a sentence and forget what I was saying. I have lost big periods of time in my life. I was trying to read something yesterday that was hurtful and I read it 5 times and still only got part of it. Wonderful PTSD...NOT!

 

[windwoman]

Today when I checked in at the clinic for my T appt, I looked at the container where they keep the pens - there were none - so I asked the receptionist,"where are all the spoons?"

She looked at me as if I'd grown a second head. I started laughing and said,"well, now we know why I'm in therapy."

 

[AngelaMarie]

windwoman.....so funny!! Something I would do.:)