> Also, I do have difficulty concentrating, even when I am just having a
> conversation with a friend, I totally lose all thoughts and am just quiet
> and have to really think about what I was doing or talking about. I do
> laugh at myself, what else can I do? If I try to mention that my short
term
> memory is shot to someone else, they usually say, 'yeah, same as me. I
can't
> remember anything anymore'. BUT, I think that if it is happening many
> times a day, more than than the average person of 'forgetting the shopping
> list' or something, then it is a definite problem. I just signed up for a
> 'Positive Thinking' class to help with personal identitiy and self esteem
> and had my first class last night. We had to talk to another person, then
> introduce them to the class etc. For the first time ever, I was
consiously
> aware that I was scared of not being able to remember what I had JUST
> heard, only a moment ago. I did talk to a friend, via TM club and she now
> has MS and she has short term memory loss. I don't remember anyone
> mentioning this problem in connection to TM. Questions for anyone: Does
> anyone else have this problem? Will it get better over time? Will it
> get worse? Is is caused my TM? Is there any way to help it get better?
I
> suppose memory games will help, right? Like my son's game: flip the cards
> over and try to remember where the matching card is...Maybe it IS all in
my
> head and I am just growing old?? ( I am 30 years old, so it seems a bit
> early for that!! :)
>
> I wrote a lot, I know, I just had a lot to say! Thanks!
>
> Sandy K.
>
I may be way off base, here, but sometimes when there is a major problem,
stressful event, etc., in one's life, your mind is so occupied with what is
going on that you sometimes have problems with concentration and memory
because your mind is consciously and subconsciously occupied with other
things. I first became aware of that when I was pregnant and came across an
article (in a magazine from my dr.'s office for pregnant ladies) called,
"You're not Crazy: You're Just Pregnant." It talked about pregnant women
experiencing some of these same kinds of things with concentration, memory,
driving and forgetting where they're going, and even weird dreams in which
something happens to them, the baby, or their spouse (supposedly due to
feelings of vulnerability). That article was very helpful to me because I had
been experiencing some of those things. (I had one clear dream of my husband
being run over by an 18-wheeler in the church parking lot.) That was the
explanation given -- that a pregnant lady is experiencing a major change in
her life and her mind is preoccupied with all of the results of those changes
and how to cope. TM is also certainly a major change, so I would guess some
of these same things might apply.
That's not to say there might not be neurological reasons for memory problems
and concentration loss -- I'd like to hear from anyone else who has
experienced this.
I feel I've had a little trouble with concentration, but I thought, for me,
it was due to getting older and "lazy brain" :-) I can concentrate fine on a
good book, but following the line of thought in a long conversation or
"instructional" book is harder.
Barbara