Feeling More Forgetful?

4 minute read

Once, it might have been sporadic - leaving something down and losing it. A missed appointment. Lost car keys (again). But, who else is meandering through a haze of foggy memories almost every day since lockdown began? A bout of forgetfulness is, unfortunately, normal and can worsen during menopause; it’s when this starts to increase that we feel a cause for alarm. And there are different levels of forgetfulness; forgetting what you intended to buy is different from utterly blanking on someone’s name when you see them, or not remembering a single thing you did last Wednesday (every week).

But if your mind feels especially clouded during the pandemic, in particular, there’s a reason for it – and you’re not alone. And generally, it can be grouped into two categories: ‘Covid forgetfulness’ and ‘Covid brain fog.’

Pandemic-related memory loss

Covid brain fog is a cognitive impairment experienced by some but not all people who have had Covid-19. Covid forgetfulness, on the other hand, isn’t caused by having Covid-19 but rather by pandemic-related circumstances, including heightened stress and social distancing and isolation. Early research suggests months of ongoing stress in this way is having a measurable effect on our brains and, pointedly, our ability to remember.

The reason why is because the repetition of stories helps us to consolidate our memories of what happened to us – so-called episodic memories. If we can’t socialise as much, it’s not surprising that those memories don’t feel as crystal clear as they usually do. We’re not having the usual banter with colleagues; those so-called ‘water-cooler chats’ about our days or what we watched the night before. We aren’t using our memory muscle as much because we can’t create the memories we normally do and talk about them with others, so that muscle has become weaker.

Funnily enough, researchers also found that ‘moderate stress’ is actually good for our ability to remember, but as with most things in life, too much of one thing – in this case, stress – is not great for the mind. Studies carried out pre-Covid found that social isolation increases memory decline and that chronic stress can have a negative effect on our ability to remember.

Anxiety also plays a part. A study from University College London found that, although levels of anxiety peaked when lockdown started and have gradually reduced, average levels have remained higher than in usual times, especially in people who are young, living alone, living with children, living on a low income or in urban areas. And one of the effects of anxiety can be memory loss, which in turn causes anxiety - creating circular stress.

periMenopause and memory loss

And of course, as if we didn’t have enough to contend with, memory loss is a major symptom of perimenopause.

“That soft swirling mist that clouds your brain, worsened now for many, is the indisputable brain fog that comes with menopause,” explains menopausal health expert Catherine O’Keeffe of wellnesswarrior.ie. It’s two-fold in this case: forgetfulness which is hormonal and due to the pandemic. “Many women are feeling the compounded effects of brain fog layered with social isolation amidst Covid,” Catherine agrees.

It’s a fine balance she says, as we also need downtime to help the haze lift; we need to rest our brains to help clear our minds – and that only happens when we slow things down. “Our brains need rest from the constant rumination and rush of thoughts that flood our brains,” she adds.

What can we do to help?

It is about taking practical and simple steps to exercise your brain and find your way out of the forgetfulness fog.

“Social activities always provide a distraction but now we are bereft of them. Pausing, taking a moment, letting your brain breathe and recover is one simple step you can take and after that, it’s about getting practical.”

“Write things down, jobs you have to do, a to-do list (that is achievable!), the things you need to remember. Then, try slowly over time, to remember them in your head. If you forget something, try hard to remember it, before you go back to your list or to any triggers you have to help you to remember – that will exercise your brain.”

“So, say you lose your keys. Stop, sit, pause. Retrace your steps visually in your head – really slowly – and work your way back to your keys.”

“Be gentle and understanding with yourself,” Catherine continues, “in today's world there are many stressors which add to our brain fog, such as homeschooling, work, family – and that’s before we even get to menopause or the stress of the pandemic, so know you are already navigating through rough terrain in a courageous way.”