Why Do I Keep Forgetting Things? 6 Reasons Everyday Memory Slips Happen and What Can Help
You look for your glasses and discover they are on the kitchen counter. You walk into a room and suddenly cannot remember why you went there. A familiar name takes longer than usual to come to mind. After several experiences like these, it is easy to wonder: “Why do I keep forgetting things?” The answer is not always simply “my memory is getting worse.” Everyday remembering depends on several processes. You first have to pay attention to information. That information has to be encoded and stored. Later, you have to retrieve it when you need it. Sleep, stress, distraction, aging, medications, health conditions, and emotional state can all influence different parts of this process. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) notes that occasional forgetfulness can be part of normal aging, while memory problems that interfere with everyday activities deserve more attention. The most useful question is often not “ How many things did I forget today? ” but “ What kind of forgetting is happe...