Everyone forgets. It’s part of life—you forget where you put your car keys when you’re about to run out the door for an important meeting, or you leave the grocery store with a cart full of food but forget the bread. Occasional memory lapses are common, no matter how old you are. But sometimes, you will find that the seriousness may be increasing—especially when it starts to affect your health and personal relationships.
There are a few different kinds of memory loss instances that would require medical attention. Whether it’s short-term memory loss or long-term memory loss, any kind of change in mental state should definitely be brought to your doctor’s attention. If you have a complete loss of memory of different events or a large part of your life, you may be experiencing amnesia. Or, if you are noticing a progressive kind of memory loss that continues to get worse, you may be looking at something more along the lines of Alzheimer’s disease. Also take note if you experience memory lapses that leave you forgetting how to get home from a frequented location, forgetting close family members’ names, or forgetting to perform daily hygienic tasks like taking a shower, eating, or dressing.
If you or someone else has been experiencing severe memory loss, enough to concern you of their physical and mental well-being, you may want to talk to them and encourage them to see a doctor for their increasing forgetfulness. It’s always better to err on the side of caution. If memory loss is affecting your daily life and functionality, it might be time to consider medical assistance.