Outrageous memory issues

How to make a moral inventory if you can barely remember anything? I’m 30 and my memory is so bad I forget everything even as I’m doing or saying them and getting worse. Is there anything that helps reverse this? It’s causing problems in my relationship and making me not trust myself because I don’t know if I actually did do or say something

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Hello and welcome to the TS community @KarmaKat

This is very typical for those who deal with addictive behaviours.

The pain that created the need to want to numb and escape also causes those memories to be blacked out and forgotten. As the need to continue to numb and escape continues blacking those moments out becomes a bit easier each time. It becomes difficult for the brains ability or desire to recall those moments.

Journalling will be a good beginning. Each time something comes up, write it down.

If you’re working with a therapist or psychiatrist those memories may begin to slowly come back up there as well. Best to write those down too.

As you work through your story/journey these memories should begin to come back up and fill the pages.

I would definitely recommend working with a skilled mental health professional while doing this though, as trauma can cause the pain to resurface and then so does the desire to numb them.

To leave you on a positive note: You are just like every other person on this planet. You are presented with a decision, and you make it… Good or bad. The poor decisions were never chosen with the intent to do anything more than keep us safe from harm. And fear is a natural instinct that kept us alive in the days where survival was a key to our success as a being. Give yourself some empathy and compassion and just continue to do the work. The answers will come.

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Obviously ask a doctor, but the brain can bounce back if clean a while. My memory is notoriously bad but it’s more like an attention issue. Also was really depressed a long time and that messes with how you remember things.

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When i made my moral inventory i asked my sponsor for help to guide me through it and i to couldnt remember all my miss givings but the longer i got sober the memories came back ,maybe seek out a therapist , i take it your doc is drink , i wish you well

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With time a lot came back to me about the things I did. I knew most, but my addicted mind liked to chance the context of things and did put it into the back ground, like it was nothing. It is kind of defense mechanism, and of course the addiction wanted me to stay addicted. A therapist once asked me, ‘do you really don’t know it anymore or don’t you wanna know it anymore’. The latter is more true I geus, it can be hard to have a honest look at ourselves. I have the steps now to guide me.

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I don’t have a sponsor. I’m a stay at home mother and don’t normally get out. My doc is fentanyl

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I understand about those things but this is with every day things as well and seem to have gotten worse in the past month or so

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I’m not a doctor, so this is just what I believe to be true.

Stress, depression, anxiety, horoemonal changes can cause memory recall issues. If you have experienced one or more of these recently, that could be the cause.

I’ve recently, in the past month or two, have been having recall issues. I’ll be in mid sentence and forget a word (usually related to a person or place). I can see it in my mind, but I lose the word. It frustrating and scary. I’ve been under a lot of stress and am suffering from depression, so I attribute the issue to that, but I could be wrong.

Yoy will probably find some memory sharpening exercises online. I don’t know if it’ll help; never know until you try.

It’s also worth a conversation with your doc. It’s rare to have a neurological disease, like dementia, at your age, but it can happen and ruling it out will be in your best interest. :ok_hand:

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I recommend staying clean, I’ve had a lot of memory issues when I smoked pot daily for at least 5 years. After this 100 days clean and I saw all positives before my eyes. Memory got back, sharpness of mind returns.

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