It comes as no surprise that depression and anxiety make you feel sad, bad, and stressed. But many people are unaware that these mental health issues are also associated with forgetfulness, poor concentration, trouble making decisions, and confusion. It all adds up to
memory problems, and that’s bad news. How do
anxiety and
depression interfere with memory? Before diving into the details, let’s take a look at how memories are made and the different types of memories.
3 STAGES OF MEMORY FORMATION
The biology of memory is complex, but it basically involves 3 main steps: encoding, storage, and recall.
Step 1: Encoding
Encoding occurs when the brain attaches meaning to input from our 5 senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Research shows that we recall things more easily and have better retention when we associate a purpose to them.
Step 2: Storage
Research on the brain suggests that memories are stashed away in small chunks throughout different regions of the brain rather than being stored in a complete whole in one place. The hippocampus, located within the temporal lobes, plays a vital role in processing memories for long-term storage elsewhere in the brain.
Step 3: Recall
In this step, your brain retrieves a memory. To recall a memory, your brain pulls together those small chunks that have been stored all over the brain and reassembles it. Rather than an exact “replay” of the experience, it’s more like a creative reconstruction. During memory retrieval, your brain also activates nerve pathways that were created when the memory was initially formed.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEMORY
On a daily basis, we rely on a variety of types of memory. Here are brief descriptions of the different types of memory, how long they last, and the brain regions involved.
- Sensory memory: This lasts less than 1 second and is usually lost since it is not encoded. It is associated with the visual-sensory cortex in the parietal/occipital lobes of the brain.
- Short-term memory: This lasts less than 60 seconds, such as remembering a phone number, and involves the prefrontal cortex.
- Working memory: This lasts seconds to hours, such as cramming for an exam and is associated with the prefrontal cortex.
- Long-term memory: This lasts hours to months and involves the hippocampus. Long-term memories pass through the hippocampus then are stored in various regions throughout the brain. For example, visual cues are stored in the occipital lobes, sensory cues are stored in the parietal lobes, sounds are stored in the temporal lobes, and so on.
- Long-lasting memory: These memories last months to a lifetime and are processed in the hippocampus before being stored all over the brain.
HOW DEPRESSION IMPACTS THE RISK OF MEMORY LOSS
People with depression often struggle with short-term memory loss, but they are also at risk of long-term memory problems. A wealth of research, including a study in the
British Journal of Psychiatry, has shown that untreated depression significantly increases the risk of dementia. Depressive disorder doubles the risk of developing cognitive impairment in women and quadruples it in men.
In a fascinating study in the
Archives of General Psychiatry, a team of researchers evaluated mood and memory in 5,781 women ages 65 and older. At the study’s outset, 3.6% of the women had 6 or more symptoms of depression. Of these depressed women, however, nearly 93% of them were untreated. At a follow-up 4 years later, the more depressive symptoms had increased, the worse the women performed on cognitive tests. Women with 3-5 symptoms of depression had a 60% higher chance of cognitive impairment, while those with 6 or more depressive symptoms were 230% more likely to have cognitive decline. According to other researchers, having depression later in life may be a possible
precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.
Depression’s effect on memory can also impact younger people. A
2013 study on young adults found that those with higher levels of depression scored worse on a cognitive test called pattern separation, which is a mechanism involved in encoding memories. This may be one of the ways major depressive disorder interferes with the memory-making process.
In order to preserve your memory, it is imperative that you seek treatment for depression. Be aware, however, that some treatments for depression have been associated with memory loss. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a type of antidepressant that has been linked to cognitive decline, according to a
2016 study in
Psychiatry Journal. There are many
alternatives to antidepressants that can be effective in the treatment of depression.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is another depression treatment associated with memory problems. ECT involves pulsing electric currents into the brain to trigger small, controlled seizures.
Research in
JAMA Psychiatry shows that ECT has been associated with retrograde amnesia, which means patients experience gaps in memory related to the time close to the procedure. In some people, memory gaps can extend weeks, months, or even years prior to the ECT procedure. In addition, ECT is typically performed under general anesthesia, which has also been linked to memory problems.
THE TOLL OF ANXIETY AND STRESS ON MEMORY
Similarly, anxiety and chronic
stress have been associated with memory problems, according to research in
Neurology and
BMJ Open. Brain circuits involved in chronic
anxiety and fear overlap those seen in Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, chronic stress shrinks volume in the hippocampus. One study in the
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that “anxiety is inter-related and inseparable with loss of memory.” The researchers suggested that anxiety is an early predictor of cognitive decline. What’s behind this strong link?
In general, anxiety requires a lot of mental horsepower and steals mental energy from the memory formation process. Spending so much time stressing about things means you may not have the brainpower to effectively process incoming information for storage as memories. For example, a
2008 study found that short-term, acute stress interferes with cell communication in the brain’s memory centers.
Because of this, it is critical that you learn to control anxiety and stress. Take note that
brain SPECT imaging studies show that some
anti-anxiety medications, such as benzodiazepines, are actually harmful to the brain. In fact, a
2019 review in the
Journal of Clinical Neurology found that long-term use of these prescription drugs increases the risk of dementia by more than 50%. For better brain health, look for
natural alternatives to anti-anxiety pills to calm anxiety and stress.
To understand if your memory problems are related to depression, anxiety, or stress, or if they are an indication of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, consider brain imaging.
SPECT is a functional brain imaging technology that can differentiate underlying brain patterns associated with these conditions. SPECT has recently been
unanimously endorsed by the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine for the evaluation of neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression, suspected dementia, and other issues.
Memory problems, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, clinical evaluations, and therapy for adults, teens, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
