Mental Health
Five Mental Health Conditions Causing Memory Disorders
Ten tips to slow down dementia and ten tips to improve working memory
Significance of Memory
Memories are critical for our survival. They are our precious intellectual capabilities and mental health assets. Our memories are so essential that they determine our personality and identity.
Unfortunately, in addition to aging and head injuries, some mental health conditions cause memory decline and disorders. Yet, we all need well-functioning memories to survive and enjoy our lives.
The scientific term amnesia is known as memory loss publicly.
What is Amnesia?
In scientific literature, amnesia is the term to describe memory loss. However, a specific mental health condition type related to memory loss is dissociative amnesia. Generic amnesia is different from dissociative amnesia.
In mental health literature, dissociative disorders are considered mental diseases causing the breakdown of memory and affecting awareness, perceptions, and overall consciousness. Nevertheless, we still don’t have an agreed definition of consciousness in the scientific literature.
In general, amnesia is a neurological disorder. It is associated with damage to the brain. The severity of the injury determines the recoverability. Retrieving memories can be challenging for amnesia patients.
I attempted to understand the main difference between generic amnesia and dissociative amnesia. In short, while the generic one defines the physical memory loss caused by a specific incident, the dissociative one refers to the burying of memories in the subconscious.
It is so tricky that patients cannot remember their past for a long time. Their retrieval is challenging. Hence this condition adversely affects everyday living life for patients.
Amnesia is diagnosed through general examination and review of medical history by a psychiatrist, reviewing blood sets, head ex-rays, cerebral angiography, and computed tomography scans.
Since many factors cause amnesia, the treatment may vary based on the root causes of the symptoms. For example, a head concussion may need surgery and plenty of rest.
Suppose the damage is caused by alcohol, then abstinence therapy and nutritional support are applied to address deficiencies. These patients also need emotional and social support.
If Alzheimer’s disease causes amnesia, there are new medication therapies approved by FDA or equivalent governance bodies in other countries. I mention treatment approaches under each condition below.
Several other conditions, including neurological, biological, and psychological factors, affect memory loss. However, based on research of cognitive science literature, here are the five mental health conditions causing memory loss.
1 — Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a common type of dementia. It is widespread, affecting millions of people. For example, Alzheimer’s disease impacts 6.2 million Americans.
Alzheimer’s disease causes abnormalities in the brain. There are two indicators of the disease.
The first one is abnormal clumps of a protein named beta-amyloid.
The second one is the damaged proteins known as neuro-fibrillary tangles affecting nerve cell functioning in the brain.
There are new treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease. For example, the FDA recently approved medication, as I pointed out in this article: Mixed Sentiments And Thoughts For FDA’s Approval of Aduhelm for Alzheimer’s Disease in America: Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating disorder affecting 6.2 million Americans.
2 — Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease causes degeneration of nerve cells in the brain progressively. It is a genetic disease and not as common as Alzheimer’s disease.
However, the progression of the disease causes psychiatric disorders, mainly cognitive decline and memory loss. This condition also affects the mobility of patients.
The key cognitive symptoms of Huntington’s disease are lack of awareness, lack of flexibility, lack of impulse control, speech difficulty, learning difficulty, and difficulty prioritizing and organizing daily tasks.
Even though there are FDA-approved medications, treatments usually cannot prevent mental and physical decline caused by Huntington’s disease.
3 — Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a nervous system disorder affecting the mobility of patients. There are early indicators of Parkinson’s disease.
For example, patients’ facial expressions change. They may have a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. In addition, their speech may become softer and more hesitant.
There are two physical indicators of Parkinson’s disease. The first one is called Lewy bodies which are clumps of neural toxins. The second one is a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain cells.
The causes haven’t been fully identified yet. However, researchers found specific genetic mutations which are under investigation. Some researchers also hypothesize that toxins and other environmental factors may increase the risk.
4 — Korsakoff’s Syndrome
Korsakoff’s syndrome is another type of dementia. This syndrome is associated with the studies of Sergei Sergeyevich Korsakoff, a neuropsychiatrist who intensely studied alcoholic psychosis.
Excessive and overuse of alcohol causes Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency in Korsakoff’s syndrome.
Vitamin B1 is critical for creating memories in the brain. It is crucial for the brain because it synthesizes neurotransmitters, maintains membrane potential, and enables myelination.
Diagnosis of Korsakoff syndrome is complex. Unfortunately, there are no available blood works or neuro-imaging tests. Therefore, the diagnosis is based on the judgments of trained medical professionals.
In severe cases, treatment includes Vitamin B1 supplementation such as high dose injection, either intravenous or intramuscular.
I posted an article introducing details of Korsakoff’s syndrome.
5 — Chronic and Emotional Stress
Chronic stress is prevalent, so the World Health Organization classifies it as the health epidemic of the 21st century. According to The American Institute of Stress, more than 73% of people regularly experience physical and psychological stress symptoms.
Chronic stress adversely affects both physical and mental health.
The main culprit for chronic stress is exposing toxic emotions accumulated over a long time. Emotional stress creates a neuro-chemically disadvantaged position.
These toxic neurochemicals significantly affect our memories, and their persistence can cause memory loss.
In the attached article, I shared my experience and observations on chronic stress, particularly at work. In addition, the article introduces some preventative measures and coping mechanisms.
Ten Tips to Slow Down Dementia
In an article, I introduced ten tips to slow down the effects of dementia. These tips are all lifestyle choices. They are not health advice and are for information purposes only.
If you have dementia and other mental disorder symptoms, you must seek advice from qualified healthcare professionals.
Here are the headlines of tips that you can find their details in the attached article.
1 — Consume nutrient-dense foods
2 — Perform moderate exercise consistently
3 — Create meaningful social connections
4 — Refrain from smoking and excessive alcohol
5 — Address chronic and emotional stress
6 — Reduce chronic inflammation
7 — Get high-quality and restorative sleep
8 — Eliminate toxins and pathogens
10 — Create cognitive reserves
As a bonus tip, we can increase the density of our mitochondria.
Ten Tips to Improve Working Memory
In an article, I introduced and explained ten tips to protect and enhance working memory.
Here are the takeaway points. You can read the details in the attached article.
1 — Use Multiple Senses
2 — Make Meaningful Connections
3 — Deconstruct Information
4 — Perform Active Listening and Reading
5 — Explain as a Third Person
6 — Focus on Peak Emotions
7 — Create Visual Maps of Objects and Events
8 — Play Computer Games
9 — Practice Daily Chores as Neurobic Activities
10 — Leverage Meditation and Mindfulness
As a bonus tip, we can try therapeutic activities like self-conversations.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Our memories determine our personality and identity. As we age, our mental capabilities decline. For example, head injuries cause memory loss and other mental disorders.
In addition, five mental diseases and syndromes cause memory loss, also known as amnesia. Some of these neurological conditions are a type of dementia.
We don’t have a cure for dementia and several other neurological conditions yet. Nonetheless, medical, biological, cognitive, and neuroscience researchers heavily investigate these conditions.
There are some promising preliminary medications. Time will show.
In my opinion, the optimal approach to physical and mental health is preventative. Taking full responsibility for our health holistically with support from our healthcare professionals is vital and a wise strategy.
Lifestyle choices can have significant epigenetic effects.
This means that even if we have some genetic predispositions, we may influence our genes in our favor with some healthy lifestyle changes.
Creating cognitive reserves is another viable option to cope with the effects of neurodegenerative diseases.
In my opinion, addressing chronic and emotional stress and practicing self-love and self-compassion can be preventative measures for mental health disorders to some extent.
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