Knackered Sorts Memory with Benzos

   Hey there, Knackered here.  Memory is defined as the encoding, storage and retrieval in the human mind of past experiences.  Our memories influence our future behavior and imprint our perceptions, attention and learning.  There are numerous aspects of memory that deal with reasoning and recalling.  These all fall into three basic groups:  encoding, storage, and retrieval.

   Memory is a topic of great concern here on BB. We all fear, to some degree, that our experiences with Benzodiazepines has fried our neurons to the extent that we’ll all experience dementia way before our biological timeline should allow it.  We’re also frustrated right now by the confusion, mental fog, headaches and interior skull pressure that feels painful and causes us to further worry about what we have done to ourselves.  Of course, many would most likely feel that medications, doctors, etc. were, at least, partly to blame

  A great many of us are plagued by anxiety, depression, and ruminating thoughts that keep us up far into the night.  And the experts will tell us that there are 27 different emotions tied into memory.  Joy, irritation, and shame are among just a few.

   To further complicate things, memory seems to be a very personal experience.  Two of us can witness the same event and recall it later in completely different ways.

   Memory is also selective.  We tend to focus our attention on the ‘good things’ we can recall often at the expense of the way things really occurred. All of this is dependent on how we feel at any given point, the circumstances in which we find ourselves and the mood we’re in.

   Rumination is one of the most common memory issues discussed in the posts we read.  The American Psychological Association defines this as “obsessional thinking involving excessive, receptive thoughts, or themes. ” Left alone, this process can sideline us at the best and serve us to commit irrational acts at the worst.

   Distraction serves a rightful place in dealing with all of this:  reading, watching a movie, calling a friend, etc. are ways to break our obsessional mindset. But, by and far, the best idea I’ve found has to do with writing down each of these distracting thoughts and ‘sorting’ some kind of plan for dealing with each of them.  You’ll need to  be specific with each and focus on just one at a time.  The idea of this will distract you from this endless mind cycle, while allowing you to feel a sense of control over the situation.

  Jean-Paul Sartre had something to say about all this:  “It would be much better if I could only stop thinking.  Thoughts are the dullest things. They stretch out and there’s no end to them and they leave a funny taste in the mouth.”  Try meditating on that.