I came upon this community quite by chance and maybe there is help for me here. I am a 63 year old woman and I have long-struggled with major depression.
About 10 years ago, I opted to have bilateral electroconvulsive therapy ( shock therapy) for treatment resistant major depression and suicidal thoughts. It was a treatment that I asked for and I was not coerced in any way.
I had 10 sessions of bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with good resolution of symptoms. I think it kept me alive.
There is some “cognitive impairment.” My most frequent problem is remembering the names of people I am introduced to. It is a complete no-go.
Also, there is some "facial blindness."Someone can tell me something quite compelling and consequential and, while I remember the compelling story, I can’t recognise the person who told me the tale.
Lastly, I can’t remember who I have shared important information with. It can be that I failed to share it with the person who needed to know. It can be that I have already shared that information 3 times with the same person and not recall doing so.
My psychiatrist says I am lacking a “Table of Contents” to be able to retrieve information.
So, after this long, awkward introduction, are there any memorization methods that could help me to memorize names and faces. Thank you!
Hi, I think you can use 2 things to help you:
1 - Always stay with a little notebook in your pocket, with a pencil.
2 - Then, you can try to memorize this information of your notebook in your own time. Don’t put much pression in yourself, and, if you can, I recommend a clinical observation with a doctor to understand where you can improve your mind, and see your progress.
Could you learn to notice and memorize facial features? Like I had an interesting conversation about tennis with this person, and she has a big nose, so I imagine a tennis ball hitting him in the nose and making it even bigger…
Also if you search “prosopagnosia” on this forum, maybe you’ll find other ideas that could help.
And I think Glauber made a really good point: don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
Try to have fun experimenting with memory techniques. I’m not a doctor and I’m not healing from brain injuries (that I’m aware of), but it a normal part of memory techniques for me: I try things, some works, some don’t. Sometimes I can tweak it to work for me, sometimes I give it up, and try again later, and it works (or not). It’s ok. Just take what you can, take what helps and what you enjoy.
Although not entirely what you’re asking for, you might want to look into Tim Dalgleish’s research with his team on using Memory Palaces for depression:
They use the term “Method of Loci,” which is essentially the same thing.
You may also wish to apply yourself to language learning. There’s plenty of evidence that this helps build cognitive reserve.
Whether or not it will help you in your situation would need to be explored, but there’s plenty of other good that comes from learning other languages.
In many cases, the experience is downright ineffable.
Music study could potentially produce similar cognitive reserve, and also many wonderful results beyond description.