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Long-term stress erodes memory

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Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#31

Post by okreallywtf »

I would be interested to know whether or not there is a relationship between stress and lack of sleep as well that could account for some of the memory issues related to stress.

I was in a very stressful relationship in college that resulted also in a lot of sleep loss (although oddly I rarely had problems falling asleep probably because of exhaustion, just got way too little of it), strangely it didn't seem to affect me that much negatively at the time. I managed to get basically straight A's but I had to lose more sleep to do it and finally graduate and then go on to a masters sans relationship, but in the past 3 years I've still had a different and tenuous relationship with sleep and lately I feel like its started to affect me. Despite having a fairly low-stress life (current relationship is low stress, job is low stress, high-maintenance family is kind of taking care of itself), I'm noticing some of the symptoms referenced in the study, but it would have to be either a delayed reaction or more sleep-related than stress-related.

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#32

Post by okreallywtf »

I'm not trying to make a serious point here and I don't know enough about the study to say that it was unethical, but this sounds terrifying and kind of like a bad prison experience.

> This is the first study of its kind to establish the relationship between short-term memory and prolonged stress. In the case of the mice, that meant repeat visits from a larger, nasty intruder mouse.

> Mice that were repeatedly exposed to the aggressive intruder had a hard time recalling where the escape hole was in a maze they’d mastered prior to the stressful period.

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#33

Post by user837387 »

thro3212 wrote: post #12

Sadly I can confirm this from personal experience. I was under a lot of stress for the past three years. Before stress started I had almost photographic memory. I was not very smart software developer. But ability to recall patterns and documentation fast, made me very productive. I worked at CS semi-research position and spoke at conference every other month. Now it takes mental effort to recall what I did 4 hours a…

You have to at least tell us the cause.

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#34

Post by tomohawk »

Great. Something else to be stressed about.

Kidding aside, stress is a deadly serious thing. I never took it seriously until it nearly did me in. I can also attest to the memory and other cognitive issues. It can take quite a while to recover.

The most stressful situations are where you are expected to perform, but have little or no control. This could be a job situation or some other situation. Find a new situation or a way to establish more control. Better to lose that job than your ability to work at any job.

The last thing you want to do if you're constantly stressed is to just suck it up. It's one thing to do that for a limited duration to achieve something specific, it's another thing to do that indefinitely with no end in sight.

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#35

Post by throwaway_374 »

thro3212 wrote: post #12

Sadly I can confirm this from personal experience. I was under a lot of stress for the past three years. Before stress started I had almost photographic memory. I was not very smart software developer. But ability to recall patterns and documentation fast, made me very productive. I worked at CS semi-research position and spoke at conference every other month. Now it takes mental effort to recall what I did 4 hours a…

YMMV but if you're willing to experiment I'd recommend looking into nootropics, specifically Noopept and Pramiracetam helped me.

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#36

Post by [deleted] »

kingmanaz wrote: post #20
thro3212 wrote: post #12

Sadly I can confirm this from personal experience. I was under a lot of stress for the past three years. Before stress started I had almost photographic memory. I was not very smart software developer. But ability to recall patterns and documentation fast, made me very productive. I worked at CS semi-research position and spoke at conference every other month. Now it takes mental effort to recall what I did 4 hours a…

Same here. Photographic memory; could draw lifelike depictions of people I'd met a single time hours or even days later, could recall what position on a page a paragraph was on months or years after reading something, etc. However, after a coworker killed himself and dumped a RPG/AS400 job on my lap several months before a major calc/billing, I couldn't even recall the beginnings of sentences by the time I'd complete…

[deleted]

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#39

Post by treehau5 »

kingmanaz wrote: post #23
stevanl wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind elaborating a bit on the "took every advantage I could to compensate for the damage caused by stress." In a similar position and would be good to learn what worked for you.

Suggestions: Epictetus' Enchiridion. A cheap, used Dover Editions copy off Ebay is all one needs. Also, if a Christian, morning and evening prayers by candlelight using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

hesychasm -- the most underrated aspect of christian spirituality, sadly expelled by most reformation and counter-reformation traditions.

A good exercise is to just sit quietly in a dark room, and completely empty your mind. Think no thoughts -- whether you believe them to be good or bad. This simple thing turns out to be so incredibly difficult, that many monks on the Holy Mountain have mastered. I myself can barely go a minute before a stress or a worry about my day or job or family comes into my head, but cool thing is you do eventually get better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm

Re: Long-term stress erodes memory

#40

Post by dutchbrit »

user837387 wrote: post #33
thro3212 wrote: post #12

Sadly I can confirm this from personal experience. I was under a lot of stress for the past three years. Before stress started I had almost photographic memory. I was not very smart software developer. But ability to recall patterns and documentation fast, made me very productive. I worked at CS semi-research position and spoke at conference every other month. Now it takes mental effort to recall what I did 4 hours a…

You have to at least tell us the cause.

He already did, new child
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