The Senior Moments, Should We Worry About It?

July 27, 2021

Have you ever thought about why are you getting more senior moments lately? Or, is it just me? Lol.

Seriously, I'm only in my early 30's, but I am forgetting things as if I am as old as my senile boss. She used to forget things, like where she kept a certain thing, or what thing she was supposed to get or buy. And she used to ask me, "Ajea, did you see my.... like this like that." And my philosophical mind will just gonna reply, "how do I know?" What's the right term for pilosopo again? Seriously, I know the term before but I forgot about it the moment I want to use it.

I guess I got infected by my boss's senile forgetful virus. Is this even contagious? Perhaps, there are underlying reasons behind having more senior moments.

If @tired_momma @OfficialGamboaLikeUs have their "Lutang Moments" (Floating moments), mine will be "Senior Moments."

What were your worst senior moments ever?

It is normal to forget things, but if it happens excessively, is it still normal? Lol. Here are some of my senior moments.

First Cousin's Name

• In the Philippines, I'm like a border at home as I was always away to work in the city. I usually visited home during special occasions and holidays only. And if I am at home, I'm not used to socializing with others, even with my relatives. I do know the names of my first cousins and other relatives who are living in the same village. But one day, a cousin of mine paid a visit and when he called my name, "Ate" my mind went dazed for a moment and doesn't know what to respond. I was like, "what's his name again?" Stupid me. Of course, that was embarrassing to ask his name, so I just acted as if nothing was wrong. When he left, I slacked in my room and think deeply, and contemplated about the names of all my cousins because I don't want to ask my mother either. Or maybe because we are just too many so it's normal to forget the names of some members of the family.

Building's Passcode

• Here in HK, my worst senior moment was when I suddenly forgot the passcode of the building's main door. I was with my boss that day and when we were about to approach the building's main door, my mind suddenly went blank and forgot the passcode of the door. It was embarrassing because my boss was looking at me while I was entering the wrong passcode two times. On the third time, she just called the guard and asked to open the door. I felt like she was thinking that I am getting old because I forgot the correct passcode which was true, lol. On the next day, I thought I can remember the password already, so I entered the numbers that were in my mind. Unfortunately, the passcode was still wrong. I thought they changed the passcode, so I pulled out some audacity and asked the guard about it. She wrote the passcode on the paper since she can't speak English. That's the only moment that I remembered the numbers, and I found out that I was entering the old passcode. It was really embarrassing.

Comments & Replies

• And in readcash. Have you ever experienced forgetting your comments or replies? It was when I checked the notifications and read a certain reply to my comment, but I didn't get it and I was like, "what was my comment again?" This happened multiple times.

And many more senior moments and this would be so long if I will write them all.

But why are we getting senior moments?

When we say senior moments, those are the moments when we forget things that are typical to happen to older people. This is actually normal but if it occurs differently, it may be a sign of a more serious problem (knock on wood three times, lol)

Based on my experiences, I can see some reasons that are causing my mind to forget things. Even without the help of Google, I guess you know the possible answers, just recall your Science lessons, and pull out your medical knowledge. I actually learned some of these when my instructor tackled about Dementia and Alzheimer's disease way back when I was still studying Caregiving.

Lack of sleep

We all know that having enough sleep is very essential for our brain development and stabilizing our memory. That may be the reason why our mothers want us to take our naps and sleep early when we were younger, especially during examination periods. Burning the midnight oil is worthless if our mind is blocked and sleepy during the exam. And it's not only our body that needs rest, but also our mind. Because every day, we are processing so many thoughts in our minds and we can't even handle everything, so sometimes, we tend to forget things, especially if we are lacking sleep for consecutive days.

And have you noticed that seniors don't sleep long? That may be the reason why they are having more senior moments, lol. Just kidding, of course, that's normal to them since they are already seniors. And I guess, it's not only me who's lacking sleep here but you guys as well due to making noise and writing articles at night. Correct me if I'm wrong, lol.

Stress

Have you noticed that If we are depriving ourselves of having enough sleep, we easily get stress? Our body easily gets exhausted and we easily get pissed off, or our anxiety is easily triggered by just simple things. Because it's not just physical stress, but also emotional and mental stress that compromises the stabilizing of our memories and affecting our mood.

And remember the advertisement for Myra-E 😅. Stress can cause free radicals, and free radicals can damage our cells causing illness and aging. It's not just the skin cells that are being damaged by free radicals, but also the brain cells, thus, causing temporary to serious memory loss.

It is natural in my work to get stress, especially during hectic hours. I always thought to give up and just go back to my country because of exhaustion. However, if we are stress, we should learn how to manage our temper and control our emotions to avoid serious mental and emotional stress.

Pre-occupied Mind and Lack of Concentration

Of course, this is a very common reason. As I have mentioned above our minds are always processing so many thoughts every day and we can't manage to perform or express out everything, so they are being stored up in our minds. They are like vehicles that are blocking the road, the road which is our synapses, preventing our neurons to connect to other brain cells so that our memories can flow smoothly.

We always have a lot of thoughts even until sleeping hours. That's also the reason why we can't sleep right away. And sometimes, we tend to forget the thing we are supposed to perform because our minds are being interrupted by other thoughts, our problems for example.

There was one time when my boss asked for a favor to buy something for her. I was busy writing an article and making noise while walking on the street way back home. At the same time, I was thinking about the problem that arose at home. And when our building appeared at sight, that was the only moment that I recalled about my boss' favor.

For sure, you have experienced this as well. Due to tons of thoughts preoccupying in our minds, along with our exhausted body, we can not focus on a certain task and can not perform it well. And sometimes, we even tend to forget the time and ourselves, disoriented of other stuff.

Pressure

This is another reason why we are forgetting things and the reason why I forgot our passcode. I felt pressured because my boss was looking at my finger while pressing the numbers randomly. I was like, "Oh common boss, stop looking at my finger."

It's the same pressure way back in school during examination periods. And this happened not only to me but to anyone else for sure. I'm a person who doesn't want to go to war without enough bullets in my pocket, so I was always confident that I will pass the exam. But due to excitement and the thought that I can perfect the exam, I was unaware that I was already putting pressure on my mind. And every time my mind is under pressure, my heart beats so fast as well, causing nervousness and lack of concentration. So instead of achieving a perfect score, I was forgetting the correct answer. So even if how many times I flipped the book in my mind (that's how I recall my lessons when I was a student because I memorize lessons page by page), the time was running so I ended up writing the wrong answer due to pressure. I never failed in any exam though, that's what matters the most.

So the aforementioned are the common causes of why we are forgetting things or having more senior moments. We might see it as normal, but don't just ignore the excessive forgetfulness. I guess we all know that forgetfulness is the main symptom of more serious illnesses like dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

But I am just a Caregiver and not a Physician and the reasons above are just based on my experiences and common sense, lol. So I DYOR to learn the more serious reasons about why we are forgetting things.

I stumbled upon an article of health.harvard.edu about 7 Common Causes Of Forgetfulness, and the two reasons that I have tackled above, lack of sleep and stress, are included in this article.

So other reasons include:

Medications

I guess I have heard about this too especially when I was working at the hospital. There are some types of medications that can affect our memory, and these medications are usually administered to people with high blood pressure, depression, and other health conditions that need tranquilizers. Because these kinds of medication are causing sedation, thus, giving confusion or temporary memory loss to someone taking the medication.

The site above has mentioned the examples of medications that can affect our memories, that includes:

1. Paroxetine (Paxil) is an antidepressant medicine.

2. Cimetidine (Tagamet), a heartburn medicine.

3. Even medicines for cold and allergy, like medicines containing brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine, or diphenhydramin

If you are taking these medicines, try to look for alternatives with lower sedation effects and the site above has mentioned some alternative medicines. You can visit the link to find out about the alternative medicines.

Underactive Thyroid

Have you heard about this matter? If you don't know Underactive Thyroid, perhaps you know hypothyroidism. It happens when our body does not produce enough hormones. And hormonal imbalance can affect our memory, as well as our sleep, and can jeopardize our minds, which later can lead to depression, thus, causing more forgetfulness.

Alcohol

Hey there isopropyl alcohol lovers. Just kidding, I am referring to liquors and other kinds of alcoholic drinks. The effect actually varies from person to person. If you are an alcohol drinker, be cautious, as excessive intake of alcohol can impede short-term memory. But I am not an alcohol lover, but still forgetting things, lol. Have you noticed those who are too drunk can even forget certain things and the current situation, and can not familiar the people around them? Because the effect of alcohol is flooding their minds and overtaking their body.

Depression

I have mentioned stress above, and we all know that too much stress can cause depression. If stress can cause forgetfulness, how much more the depression? Just imagine the huge impact of it in our mind, even destroying our body or our life if not resolve immediately. Depression is inevitable, and a silent killer. I do have depression and it keeps on coming and going. But at least, I know now how to divert my mind when that moment happens.

You can visit the link above to know more about the 7 common causes of forgetfulness.

But if you will ask about the reasons why we are forgetting things that seem like a block of memory has been removed from our brain. That is a more serious discussion and only professionals in this field can answer the question. But I have read an article about it in which you can find in this link https://www.verywellmind.com/explanations-for-forgetting-2795045

But why do we fail to retrieve and say something and lose our words on tip of our tongue?

I am certain that we all experience this episode. That feeling that we want to say something but we can't spit it out because it gets stocked on the tip-of-the-tongue.

I found an answer in this article and I just screenshot the information because I don't want my content to be flagged plagiarized, lol.

You can read the whole information here https://www.verywellmind.com/lethologica-tip-of-the-tongue-phenomenon-4154947 and how to prevent this phenomenon to happen.

But How to Minimize Forgetfulness?

The answer is very evident. Just do the contrary of the aforementioned causes.

• Get more sleep

• Don't overwork your body and get some rest if needed

• Avoid getting too much stress

• Avoid drinking too much alcohol

• Consult your Physician to switch your medication in case they are affecting your memories

But most importantly, include a healthy lifestyle as well, like a healthy diet and regular exercise. I am talking as if these things are possible, lol. Maybe soon.

And if you think your forgetfulness isn't usual, then maybe it's time for you to consult a Physician before it gets worst.

So are you having more senior moments lately? Then evaluate yourself if you are doing things that are causing you to have more senior moments.

Money matters, but health is wealth. So always take care of it. (A message to myself, lol)

Thanks for your time. You can share your senior moments below 😉

Lead image from https://www.gransnet.com/health/signs-of-dementia