I have noticed a pronounced increase in my forgetfulness. I have lost my keys five times in the last two days. I lost my phone for the whole weekend. It was in the pocket of my coat. I left my purse on an airplane. My keys have been all over the place, but once they were in the ignition. I know this is a sign of depression, and it is one of my more obvious symptoms. I am often forgetful and thinking about a billion different things, but this is different. A brief and unscientific search for information on the affects of clinical depression on memory brought me to this: "One symptom of depression is the inability to concentrate. Depression causes an increased amount of cortisol in the bloodstream, which shrinks certain areas of the brain. One of the main areas in the brain affected by cortisol is the hippocampus, which is responsible for short-term memory. Therefore, a depressed person has difficulty remembering new information. In addition, neurological studies have shown that depressed people can only remember negative memories, causing them to remain depressed even longer." taken from: "Can depression affect your short term memory?" Cognitive Neuroscience, Discovery.com So I don't think I am at the point where I am only remembering negative memories. I would be interested to see what those studies actually show. But if that is true, it just seems too cruel. Once you are depressed it is really hard to get undepressed. It's like being overweight. Or out of shape. People who are fit naturally burn more calories. People who aren't depressed can remember happy things. Figures. This does not help to challenge my Murphy's Law view of the universe. Today's Convexions:
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K. BuchananQuaker, teacher, parent, |