retaining names was never my strong suit … but I am slowly moving into “embarrasing” territory
I was always really good in “ballpark mental math” (e.g. getting pretty close to the actual result of 72% of 450 … I am still better than most, but by no means as sharp as 15 years ago
my english is sliding, too (not my 1st language) … sometimes a need to pause a second for a “there or their” check, etc… party amplified by a certain change in “not giving many fuggs” about my spelling
did I put the entry in my agenda or did I just think about putting the entry into the agenda? … that kind of thing
It irks me, and being something of a selfcritical and introspective personality that I can really see myself “sliding” somewhat … mind you, its not rapid and day-and-night … but it saddens me to a certain degree.
I feel it.
I have a head thang and it causes me much anxiety. I’m goofy as crap some days.
Most days I can hold my own. Now they got my implant calibrated it’s better.
I find myself reaching for words. I can visualize the word, I just can’t vocalize it. So I spit out a similar word, or a description of the word, hoping someone will throw me bone.
Gonna be 59 in less than a month. I think in general my brain is holding up fairly well; I’m in a technology field and holding my own (so far).
But I noticed a few years ago when watching Jeopardy, I knew that I knew the answer, but I couldn’t bring it to the front of my brain and say it out loud fast enough. That ‘it’s on the tip of my tongue’ sensation is maddening.
I’m 75. Occasionally, if I’m concentrating on something else as I leave home, I forget to pick up my keys, even though I hang them on hooks beside the door. Yesterday I managed to leave my bank card on the reader machine in a shop (but I was distracted by getting my purchases into a bag and joking with the assistant about not leaving my wallet on the desk - and to be fair, she can’t have noticed the card either, because she managed to ring up the next person’s shopping on my card before realising, and had to do me a refund when I came rushing back).
One thing I’ve noticed is that I’ve enough of a musical memory to recognise a piece I hear on the radio, and know how it develops, but can I remember the title?
And don’t get me started on the twingey joints and crepey skin…
When I visualize myself at 105, I figure I’m going to have a clear handle on what I believe, and I will be kind to the people I interact with. But not only will I not remember the names of anyone new (and let’s face it, most people will be new), I won’t recall whether I’ve specifically spoken with them before.
The people who knew me when I was 30 (all seven of them surviving) will say “Yeah, he was kind of like that when he was 30, he’s just gotten a little worse, that’s all”.
I’ve always said my baseline for such things is so low that I’ve got to deteriorate pretty damn severely before anybody notices any changes.
And I’ll still be one of those people who can describe to you a sequence of events that took place when I was four.
I noticed the first signs in early 2020, at the beginning of my relationship with my ex. She was 10 years younger than me, more educated (PhD to my Msters), and, then in her mid-30s, hitting the top of her game. I kept dropping things. Blanking on easy questions. Forgetting to do things I’d talked about 5 minutes earlier. Leaving cupboards open. The most painful thing for me was watch the look of polite despair on her face when I asked her something that she’d just explained at length.
I’m now 48, and it’s not getting any better. The most worrying sign is that my speech is also affected. I mispronounce words, mumble inaudibly, get lost in the middle of what I’m saying. And my job is actually based the ability to give clear, articulate presentations.
When I was in Palermo 2 weeks ago, I had to go through a security portal to enter the Norman Palace. After the tray containing my stuff came out of the machine, I picked it up, turned around and froze. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. The guards started laughing, then one of them said “Go !”, with a big grin on her face. Humiliating.
I’m coming up on 65. I frequently find myself in a distracted state, where my mind is not on what I’m doing. That’s when I forget something obvious like car keys or coffee cups, can’t remember whether I did something or not, etc.
I’m not sure how much that’s getting older, versus how much of it is the habit inculcated over the last 20 years of always thinking about stuff other than what I’m doing. Whether it’s due to the internet, mobile devices, the SDMB, or just the mid-21st Century zeitgeist, it is much harder to be “in the moment” as the zen folks say, than it used to be.
This very morning while setting up my coffeemaker I was thinking about a Dope post. And duly did everything for the coffee except push the [On] button. I noticed a few seconds later, after doing a couple more steps of the process. But it would have been real easy to have come back in 5 minutes expecting a full pot and found an empty one.
Creeping senility, creeping distraction, or increasingly distractible because of creeping senility? I know I don’t know.
My brother. I’m 76 and the Curse-of-the-Mummy skin on my arms is really creeping me out. A lot of years working outside in the sun really takes a toll. I’ve detailed my arthritis surgery here, but other joints have lesser problems, as well. I no longer hear the question: can you open this jar for me? It’s coming from my mouth instead, or I’m searching for my edition of this thing. Hell, I can’t even pick up a full glass of water without the arthritic thumb saying “don’t do anything stupid”. This, for someone who worked with his hands all his life and whose hobbies include guitar noodling and woodworking (or did).
Stupid spelling and grammar mistakes are becoming a bane. At least my memory is still good. A good thing, because my wife’s short-term memory has gone to shit. A bit worrisome, as she does our taxes and the like. I’ve now taken over monitoring the bank accounts so we don’t get into a mess of some sort. I’ve always sucked at remembering names, so that doesn’t bother me much. I do notice that my speech is more hesitant because of locating the right word I want and I have some difficultly expressing an idea.
All in all, not too far off normal for someone this age. At least I’m not a gibbering fool obsessed with the “old days”.
My mental “sharpness” has been declining, I think, ever since my mid-teens. But since then, I’ve also learned a lot (both academically and practically). The trick is to keep learning enough that the increased knowledge and experience more than offsets the decreased sharpness.
I’m 56. I know my short-term memory is not what it used to be. I have to keep my wallet and phone in exactly one place - in the front pouch of my backpack - else I will forget where I placed them.
I do this too, but I’ve occasionally done this all my life, literally since I was a small child. And I don’t think I do it more often than I used to.
Similarly, Mrs. solost often uses wrong words for things. For example, we might be getting in the car to go somewhere, and she’ll ask “did you remember to lock the refrigerator door?” But she’s done that since I first met her 23 years ago. My Grandma used to do the same thing as long as I can remember, but otherwise her mind was sharp as a tack until the day she died.
So let’s not get too down on ourselves when we have the occasional brain fart! It might not be a sign of aging; and even if it is… hey, even the most advanced supercomputers glitch out once in awhile. And another thing…
75 now and for the past 10 years I have been struggling with vocabulary. My math skills have held up pretty well but not nearly as good as they were 30 years ago. The one big thing I notice is that I have always had an exceptional memory for conversations, I could remember word for word nearly every conversation I ever had as long as it wasn’t work related. At about age 70 events from my early childhood started slipping away. My short-term memory seems to be fine and that is the one I am most concerned with. About a year ago I got so frustrated with vocabulary issues that I deleted all notes on a book I had been working on for years. I have more of a tendency now to become pre occupied with thoughts that don’t allow me to take in new information. Frustrating at times.
I’m 65 and I’m just happy to be retired and not having to keep up with the latest changes to the practice of medicine.
I’m not talking about new techniques or drugs or treatments, though. I’m talking about the electronic medical record requirements, all designed to enhance revenue more than improve medical care.
But yeah, I’m not as sharp as I once was. Oh well. I had a good run.
