Why Do We Forget Things? The Secret to Remembering Better and Preventing Memory Loss

The inability to recover memory is one of the most common causes of forgetfulness. So why can't we often get information from memory?

There are many theories about why memories and information are forgotten over time, including trace decay, cue-dependent forgetting, and interference theory.

Let's understand why we forget things? Here's the secret to improving memory and preventing memory loss problems.

Why we forget and how to remember

Why Do We Forget Things? - Preventing Memory Loss -The Secret to Remembering Better

Memory and Forgetting

Memory is very important in retrospectively defining and determining ourselves, but we are not connected to new events in the world with a major goal to remember. We manage, appreciate, negotiate, enjoy, confront, praise, argue, love, get through - all ways to understand.

We have to think about how often we find ourselves forgetting something. We can forget the name of someone from our past, or the word we want to use, or date of the birthday of our best friend. Forgetfulness can be a natural part of aging. With the growth of people, changes occur in all parts of the body including the brain.

Consequently, some people can notice that new things take longer to learn, they do not recall some information. These are usually signs of forgetfulness, not serious memory disorders.
Many people are worried about becoming forgetful, they Believe that forgetting is the first sign of Alzheimer's disease. But not all people with memory problems suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

In fact, Forgetfulness is a common problem where minor and serious consequences can occur and It is normal to become more forgetful as we age. But how much forgetfulness is dangerous?
How can we say whether our memory lapses are normal and in the normal aging range or are symptoms of something more serious problems?

Some Normal Memory Problems

Blocking

Someone asks us a question and the answer is right on the tip of our tongue - we know that we know it, but we cannot think about it. In several cases, the hindrance is like the memory we are looking for, and we recover it incorrectly. This competitive memory is so infiltrating that we cannot think of the memory we want.

Absentmindedness

This kind of forgetfulness happens when we do not pay enough attention. We forget why we put our pen there because we did not focus on where we put it in the first place. We were thinking about something else so our brain did not encode the correct information.

Persistence

Many people are worried about forgetting things. But in some cases, they are suffering from memories, they want them to forget, but can not.
The persistence of memories of negative feelings, ongoing fears, and painful events, is another form of memory problem.
Some of these memories accurately reflect horrible incidents, whereas other realities can have negative distortions.

Transience

This is an inclination of forgetfulness. For example, sometimes we forget some events or facts and information immediately after learning. However, it has a use-it-or-lose-it quality: Memories that are often called up and frequently used in this term are least likely to be forgotten.

Bias

Even the fastest memory is not an unspotted snapshot of reality. In our memory, our perceptions are filtered by our personal prejudices or biases - beliefs, prior knowledge, experiences, and even our moods at that time.

When our brain is being encoded, our biases affect our perceptions and experiences. And when we get a memory, then at that time our mood and other biases can affect the information we actually remember.

Misattribution

Misattributions happen when we remember something accurately in some parts but make a mistake in understanding some details, such as place, time, or person involved.
Another type of misattributions occurs when we believe that our thoughts were completely original, in fact, it came from something we had read before or heard but had forgotten about. This type of situation arises due to misunderstanding.

Suggestibility

Suggestibility is the vulnerability or the penetrability of our memory for the power of suggestion -information that we learn about an occurrence after the fact becomes embedded in our memory of the incident, even if we do not experience these details.

The Psychology Behind Forgetting

Why we forget and how to remember

Why Do We Forget Things?

The biggest reasons we forget some things in our daily life are that we focus on understanding the world, do not remember it. It is true that whatever we have learned, we cannot maintain or retain it completely, and much is forgotten at the time.
But sometimes we cannot forget what we think, because due to lack of meditation, information has not been able to reach STM from the sense organs. It can also be due to insufficient encoding and rehearsal, otherwise, information cannot be transferred from STM to LTM.

Sometimes we hear something in many details but we encode the only part of the information as a gist - not the actual word or description, and it is stored incompletely in our mind. During the process of encoding, the creative process at work is stored in memory and we remember deformation.

At that time we think that we have forgotten because what we remember is not a correct representation of what has really occurred. Our memory here does not match the events as they actually happened.

Causes of Forgetting

Memory slips are frustrating, growing, and sometimes worrisome. When they are more than they should be, they can trigger the fear of reducing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
But there are some curable reasons and treatable causes for forgetting. In this article, we have mentioned 10 common causes of forgetting.

1. Lack of sleep

Once we make a memory, our brain works to store it while sleeping. In fact, the sleeping state is the best environment for our brain to do this! But if we do not get enough rest, then there will be no chance to store.
Not getting enough sleep is probably the most unappreciated cause of forgetting.
Sleep with very little ease can also cause mood changes and anxiety, which in turn contributes to problems with memory.

2. Stress and anxiety

Anything that makes it difficult to focus and lock in new information and skills can cause memory problems.
Stress and anxiety can interfere with meditation or concentration, prevent the retrieval of old ones and stop the formation of new memories.

3. Medications

Tranquilizers, antidepressants, some blood pressure medicines, and other medications can usually, affect memory by causing sedation or confusion. It can be difficult to focus on new things in this situation.
Forgetting words, appointments, and names is another possible side-effect of medication.
Sleeping pills, antidepressants, painkiller medicines, and steroids can all cause this. Cholesterol-reducing statins have also been found to lower mental function.
If you are taking any of these medicines, tell your doctor if you start forgetting things more often.

4. Depression

The usual symptoms of depression include lack of drive, a drastic sadness, and reduction of pleasure in things that normally enjoy.
Forgetfulness can also, be a sign of depression - or as a result of it.
If the lack of memory is bothering you if any inverted cause is at the root of the problem, it is worth negotiating with your doctor to see.
Something like switching a medication, getting more sleep, or a stress reduction program can bring your memory back on track.

5. Alcohol

Drinking products containing alcohol in a very large quantity can interfere with short-term memory. Alcohol is worn even after-effects. Long-term alcohol drinking reduces antioxidant levels.
Neurogenesis can also slow down by drinking long-term alcohol. This reduces antioxidant levels, slows down neurogenesis, leaving space for mental disease and decline and revealing brain cells for oxidative stress.
Alcohol also weakens the hippocampus, making it difficult for the brain to get new memories.

6. Smoking

Smoking cigarettes poison the body. This also causes the cortical thickness of the brain that is the main marker of cognitive decline.
Unknowingly, the more you smoke, the more you are likely to forget about things.
It does not stop cigarettes. Marijuana exaggerates some brain receptors, because its main chemical, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) looks like other chemicals that help in normal brain work.
This connection is one of the main reasons for short-term memory loss from marijuana. However, long-term use can cause permanent memory issues.

7. Dementia and Alzheimer's

Differences between Alzheimers and dementia

If you are older and keep forgetting places and names, the syndrome possibility is dementia. Nearly 1 percent of the 16 million elderly people with age-related memory impairment will get dementia. This is an umbrella term for brain disease where you forget about things due to mental decline.
The most common type is Alzheimer's, which is responsible for 60 to 80 percent of dementia problems.

8. Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid gland, means that your body does not have sufficient thyroid hormone (TH). This hormone controls many processes including clear thinking and meditation. Memory can also hit so that you can start forgetting the names of things and what people say.
A faltering thyroid can affect the memory process (as well as can cause lack of sleep and can cause depression, both of which can be due to forgetting). A simple blood test can tell if your thyroid is doing its job properly or not.

9. Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Healthy red blood cells require vitamin B12. But if you do not get enough, neurological and psychological problems can increase.
Memory loss, forgetting, irritation, and depression can develop. The risk of dementia also increases. Eat nuts, cottage cheese, eat fish, poultry, eggs, and milk products to get enough Vitamin B12.

10. Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking can make you feel productive, but it is a good way to forget things. Continuous flip-flops will never focus on one task.
If you are talking to someone, then you are always doing something so that you can start forgetting names and words.
When you do something, your brain tries on zero, but when you interrupt that work, your brain goes into a “task-switching domain”.
Here, it is difficult to use working memory and active focus. So you are not completely involved in whatever you were doing.

How to Prevent Forgetting

If you keep forgetting things, then try these tips to prevent forgetting.

1. If you cannot remember specific words and phrases, then listen more carefully.

2. Design your keys to a place at home. Make it a habit - and it's easy to find. Items should also be assigned to the spot. You can also write places.

3. Buy a daily journal for information that can document the most memorable parts of a day.

4. Enough sleep will also ensure that your brain stores the most memorable parts properly.

5. When you meet someone, focus on that person. Repeat your name loudly and see the different facial features.

6. Take food properly, especially dinner should be more suitable and vitamin should be efficient.

7. Do not do multitask at a time.

8. If you have stress, depression, and anxiety, try stress reduction tricks.

9. Do not drink products containing alcohol and don't smoke, Both are poisonous and very harmful to brain health.

10. Don't take any medicines without a doctor's advice.

How can We Improve Our Memory?

All people in this world have the same brain structure and cells, so there are no people who can save more than others.
But there are people who use appropriate methods of study and the conservation are more successful, and the following are some ways to improve memory.

In order to gain understanding during the study, students often lose information when using the method of conservation first and without understanding. Deep understanding leads to the transfer of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, thus obtaining information when needed.

Do exercise regularly for at least 15 minutes before starting school the sport is very important and restores mental and physical activity and before the start, the difference in the results of the practice can be seen.

Duplicate information and keep away from reading it only once, it is impossible to save the information by reading it once, but repeating the text three or four times will improve the chance of memorizing and remembering.

Use memory activation games and puzzles, this type of games improves the activity of brain cells and expands its perception.

The use of certain foods and beverages that improve memory and preservation, such as hot tea, coffee, chewing gum and chocolate, also medically proved the benefits of these drinks and their impact on the study and development mechanism of the brain.

Focus on information during study and non-distraction, and things that can distract attention, electronic devices in general and television should be avoided as much as possible.

Take enough water a day for the health of the body, get enough sleep, and at least eight hours a day to concentrate and store information in the brain.

Recruit yourself to read, and make it a daily habit, because it is important in expanding the perception and activation of brain cells, and increase culture and information.

As a mental and human development specialist, social counselor or psychiatrist, in the case of a lack of ability to save permanently, loss of focus during the study and an attempt to understand, there may be health or psychological problems.

Conclusion

Many different factors affect the actual process of forgetfulness. An example of one of these factors may be the amount of memory to store new information.
Incorporating incidents can happen before or after the actual memory process. Depending on the minutes or even days, the amount of information stored in the memory may increase or decrease based on the encoding.
An emotional state is one of many factors that have been found to influence this process of forgetting.

Studies show that retention improves with increasing practice. This improvement occurs because the rehearsal helps in transferring information in long-term memory- the practice makes right. It is subject to an extremely balanced adaptation, which ensures that relevant memories will be remembered. Forgetting repetition and/or information can be reduced by more detailed cognitive processing.