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Memory Loss

Brief loss of memory is not uncommon after drinking alcohol, or after a high Fever, an operation, an Epileptic Fit, or a diabetic coma (see Diabetes). Depression and Anxiety can also cause temporary memory loss. In these circumstances, inability to remember is not something to worry about; nor is everyday forgetfulness, which tends to increase as we get older; most of us cope by using mnemonic aids such as lists and diaries. We also tend to forget unpleasant things, a mechanism which psychoanalysts call repression; hysterical amnesia is partial or total repression of memories that are too threatening to live with. Memory loss can also follow an accident or injury, temporarily wiping out the events which led up to it. Brain injury, especially after a blow to the head or a Stroke, can cause irreversible memory loss, affecting intelligence, personality, speech, and movement. Alzheimer’s Disease and Senile Dementia involve progressive loss of short term memory until, eventually, the person is quite unable to remember what he or she did or said or heard or saw a moment before; the first signs maybe a decline in personal appearance and cleanliness, or difficulty following conversations or instructions. Memory difficulties can also be a side effect of some prescription drugs.

If memory loss occurs after a head injury, consult your doctor if there is no improvement in 2 hours; if after taking a new drug, consult your doctor if there is no improvement in 48 hours.

Memory difficulties are often associated with symptoms which benefit from constitutional homeopathic treatment, and are therefore best treated constitutionally.

Specific remedies to be given 4 times daily for up to 14 days

  • Person elderly, behaviour childish attention wandering, finds words most difficult to remember Calcarea 6c
  • Words cause most difficulty, person anaemic, colicky, or suffering from a nervous complaint Plumbum 6c
  • Person absent-minded because of inner conflict between two seemingly different personalities, memory for names most affected Anacardium 6c
  • Difficulty remembering words and names Sulphur 6c

Specific remedies after head injury

  • Person forgets what he or she had just heard, read, or said, or is about to say, also slow in answering questions Arnica 30c every 2 hours for up to 10 doses
  • If memory difficulties persist after taking Arnica, Helleborus 6c every 8 hours for up to 14 days

Self-help: Remember that not all memory loss is due to Alzheimer's Disease. Try making connections between things. Take a mental picture as you do things; for example, as you put down your keys. Talk to yourself about where things are, make lists categorising things, and invent silly stories to remind you about connections between objects. Find a connection between a face and a name. Remember that certain drugs, for instance hypertensives and antihistamines, may affect your memory, so talk to your medical doctor. Take extra Vitamin B3, B6 and B12.

Go Back Back to Ailments & Diseases

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Ailment & Diseases

  Alzheimer`s Disease
  Anxiety
  Depression
  Diabetes
  Epileptic Fits
  Fever
  Senile Dementia
  Stroke
  Stroke - First Aid
View Related

Remedies

  Anacardium
  Arnica
  Calcarea
  Helleborus
  Plumbum
  Sulphur
View Related

Nutrition

  Vitamin B12
  Vitamin B3
  Vitamin B6
View Related

Organisations


Related to Mind & Emotion
  DrugScope
  Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
  Institute of Psychoanalysis & British Psychoanalytical Society
  Gamblers Anonymous
  British Association of Psychotherapists
  Alcohol Concern
  Counsel and Care
  International Autistic Research Organisation, The
  Al-Anon Family Groups
  Albany Trust Counselling
  National Autistic Society, The
  Cruse, Bereavement Care
  Families Anonymous
  British Association for Counselling and Pyschotherapy (BACP)
  Alcoholics Anonymous (Great Britain) Limited
  British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis
  Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
  Narcotics Anonymous
  Scripps Alcohol Treatment Center


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