Absent-mindedness and forgetfulness

Good concentration and memory are integral factors in any effective activity and full communication with others. That is why loss of concentration can cause a lot of difficulties for a person and reduce his quality of life. Unfortunately, in modern society there are more and more people with problems such as the inability to concentrate on a task and difficulty remembering new information.

The main causes of loss of concentration and memory

Conventionally, they can be divided into 2 categories. The first includes those that are voluntarily or unwittingly “provoked” by the person himself and those that are caused by a number of diseases.

Causes associated with poor lifestyle

Mental fatigue due to a large amount of information. Daily, long hours of “surfing” on the Internet is one of the main causes of mental stress.

This is interesting! If you are told that multitasking is very effective and you should strive for it, don’t believe it! It is a myth. It has already been scientifically proven that a person cannot do several things at the same time, because his brain begins to “program malfunctions”, like a regular computer with a processor overloaded with tasks.

Chronic stress and emotional burnout. One of the main reasons for decreased concentration, both in children and adults.

Abuse of coffee. In small quantities, coffee stimulates the brain, but its excess, on the contrary, leads to increased fatigue, inability to concentrate and memory impairment.

Long-term, uncontrolled use of medications that correct the activity of the nervous system: antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives, barbiturates, etc.

Alcohol, nicotine, drugs. Such substances have the most negative effect on the functioning of the brain, even to the point of destroying its cells.

Violation of the regime. During sleep, nerve cells not only regenerate, but also form new neural connections. Without enough sleep day after day, you force your brain to work “to wear out”, which has the most negative effect on concentration.

Poor nutrition. Convenience foods, cheap food of synthetic origin, “chemical” drinks and sweets - all of this contains substances harmful to health, many of which tend to accumulate in the body. Gradually, they begin to negatively affect memory and the ability to concentrate on a specific task.

Causes of absent-mindedness and inattention

To understand how to get rid of absent-mindedness, you need to know where it comes from. It comes in two types: imaginary and genuine. The real one may be associated with health problems such as neurasthenia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or very severe fatigue. A person simply cannot concentrate on one thing, but at the same time he is very easily distracted by extraneous events.

No matter how strange it may sound, imaginary absent-mindedness appears due to concentration, but excessive concentration. A person’s attention is focused on one thing, but he does not notice everything that happens around him. This is precisely the trait that great people have.

Modern technologies are very developed and help make our lives much easier. It is precisely because of the “ease” of life that inattention appears. Because of this, many suffer from insomnia: they seem to be mentally exhausted, but their physiological processes are disrupted, and they don’t want to sleep.

It happens that you are so exhausted at work that by the evening you completely stop thinking, you even lose your orientation in time. How to become more attentive? Move more, play sports, surf the Internet less.

Here's what Wikipedia writes on this topic:

Distraction of attention is acquired during a person's life, and is not congenital. This symptom is not nosospecific and can occur due to various reasons.

It is believed that absent-mindedness may be a reflection of an unconscious reluctance to do what it should be focused on. Distraction of attention can arise from fatigue, insomnia, headache, monotonous and monotonous activity (this occurs more often with the first type of absent-mindedness).

Distraction of attention also appears due to organic brain damage. It occurs in various mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety disorder, when a person has difficulty concentrating on something.

Reasons of a physiological nature

1. Lack of vitamins. A lack of vital substances in the body (especially vitamin D) leads to a deterioration in the synthesis of neurotransmitters and disruption of the nervous system. As a result, a person becomes inattentive and absent-minded.
2. Some cerebrovascular diseases (for example, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease).
3. Hormonal disorders associated with the thyroid gland, adrenal glands or diabetes.
4. Metabolic disease.
5. Anemia.
6. Brain injuries.
7. Cervical osteochondrosis (blood circulation in the vessels of the brain worsens).

It is very important to find out the root cause of the problem, because this is the only way to effectively solve it or at least improve the situation.

Symptoms of loss of concentration and memory loss

The most obvious sign is that a person is very bad at remembering information that is not directly related to his personal experiences or problems. He may forget entire episodes from the past, or confuse the past with the present, and “get lost” in the days of the week and even months.

In a conversation, he often forgets some words, and it is difficult for him to clearly formulate a specific thought. When leaving home, such people often worry because they cannot remember whether the water, electricity, gas, household appliances, etc. are turned off.

In addition, loss of concentration and memory is often accompanied by:

• a feeling of absent-mindedness, lack of understanding of what and how to do, even if the task at hand is not very difficult;
• increased suspiciousness;
• feeling of confusion;
• slowness;
• constant feeling of fatigue;
• headaches;
• problems with vision and hearing;
• cardiac arrhythmia.

During work, it is difficult for such a person to concentrate on the task, as a result of which he begins to do many secondary things in parallel. The same thing is observed in everyday life. He is greatly distracted by extraneous conversations, music, and background noise. Everything is done slowly.

How to fight?

If the case is not neglected, then inattention can be overcome using various means. If you have been suffering from absent-mindedness for quite some time and feel that the problem is serious, then you can cope with it with the help of medication.

However, this issue should only be dealt with by a specialist who has certain knowledge and a license.

In other, less severe cases, you can use the advice.

• Try to get enough sleep and rest on time so that your physical and psychological capabilities do not suffer.
• You can get rid of inattention by playing sports. Restoring general tone will significantly affect the restoration of concentration.
• To restore your brain activity, you need to make some efforts on yourself and overcome laziness and drowsiness.
• Setting priorities will help overcome this factor. It is necessary not to put off problems for later, but to solve them as they arise.
• To prevent absent-mindedness from bothering you, you need to stop being distracted by little things. Don’t think about non-existent problems, and especially don’t “spin” them in your head.
• You need to put things in order around you: wash the floors and put all things in their places.
• Also put things in order in your head. To do this, you need to plan your activities so that you can act according to a specific plan.

Ways to solve the problem

The best option is to visit a good neurologist. Such a specialist will help you find out the real reasons for loss of concentration and suggest ways to eliminate them. It is also possible to correct the situation on your own, but only on the condition that we are not talking about any disease - here you cannot do without a specialist.

To strengthen your memory and increase concentration you need to:

1. Adhere to the correct daily routine.
2. Eat well.
3. Drink enough water.
4. Spend as little time as possible at the computer, with gadgets or in front of the TV.
5. Take medications that improve concentration and memory. For example, Esprico vitamins are considered one of the best, containing 2 types of Omega-3, Omega-6, magnesium and zinc (by the way, they are available in our online pharmacy).
6. If possible, avoid alcohol, smoking or using drugs.
7. Be sure to play sports!
8. Be in the fresh air for at least 1.5-2 hours a day.
9. Every day, learn poetry or a foreign language by heart, play logic games.

At the same time, certain “exercises” should be performed. So, you should try to do ordinary things in an unusual way. For example, walking backwards for a while (you can do it at home, when no one sees you), brushing your teeth and combing your hair with your left hand if you are right-handed (and vice versa), going to work on a different route, etc. All this will give a powerful an impetus for the formation of new neural connections.

And remember that it is much easier to prevent the problem with the same lifestyle adjustments and regular intake of vitamins than to get rid of its consequences.

How to get rid of absent-mindedness and forgetfulness

Be prepared that you will have to make an effort of will, but believe me: it will only be beneficial! So, first it is important to establish a rest and sleep schedule: sleep at least 8 hours a day and allow yourself to relax when your body requires it. Give up bad habits, balance your diet, quit smoking, and drink less alcohol.

It is also advisable to reduce stressful situations to a minimum, although this is quite difficult.

Sometimes, to get rid of absent-mindedness, the listed measures are not enough: this means that the problem is aggravated by a lack of specific substances in the body: vitamin B12 and folic acid. Introduce foods rich in folic acid into your diet: spinach and lettuce, seeds and nuts, cereals, eggs, tomatoes, liver and citrus fruits. Vitamin B12 is found in fish, seafood, sour cream, cheese and rabbit meat. In practice, it has been verified that with regular use of the listed products, the manifestation of inattention is significantly reduced, and sometimes even completely disappears.

To minimize missed business meetings and broken promises, you will have to become more organized. The fight against absent-mindedness involves following some rules:

Forgetfulness is a result of lack of concentration, so it is important to focus on a specific task without being distracted by others at the same time. During the work process, it is necessary to take breaks, which will allow you to understand how much has been done and how much remains to be done. To avoid mistakes, before starting work, you can make an oral or written plan and try to stick to it. A great way to not forget something important is to use visual reminders.

Quite often people put off small things until later.

The fact that we delay the decision of any matter increases inattention. Make it a rule: if something does not require lengthy preparation, it is better to do it immediately. Otherwise, you will end up accumulating a lot of small tasks, among which you will definitely forget something. An artificially created condition for distraction is a cluttered desktop with a heap of unnecessary papers, stationery, photographs and outdated labels. To prevent all this from distracting you from your work, put things in order and arrange items on the table in such a way that it is convenient for you to work and it does not distract your attention.

Put things in their places: this will not only eliminate inattention, but also add order. Write down important tasks in a notebook and cross off completed ones. Turn off your phone, TV and radio while working, and close the window. If possible, sit in a comfortable chair. Motivate and reward yourself for the work you do.

Understand: automatism is a consequence of constant moral overload and overwork. Let your brain rest: go out for a breath of fresh air, just drink a cup of tea away from work or the monitor. If you work at home, take a break from household chores and just paint your nails (you can find out how to do it correctly).

The use of meditation techniques and special memory training also helps to get rid of scattered attention.

Regular examination of the well-known “Find 10 differences” puzzles will teach you to concentrate on the little things

If this does not help, you may have to visit a doctor, because forgetfulness and absent-mindedness are considered frequent symptoms of certain diseases of the central nervous system or blood vessels. Experienced doctors will help you get rid of multiple sclerosis, which is manifested by problems with coordination of movement, decreased muscle strength and joint sensitivity, as well as deterioration of vision and intellectual abilities (including attention, memory loss). However, this is a very serious and, fortunately, quite rare diagnosis.