Memory can be improved, but it requires a lot of effort we simply don't have the energy for. We're trapped in the vicious cycle of depression, we need to put the effort we lack in order to get out of this tiring state, that's why a support network is important.
If you still are interested into knowing how to improve your memory, you have to know about the things that affect neuroplasticity:
- Diet. It is necessary to lower the intake of "bad" fats, carbohydrates and sugars (junk food, bread, sweets), which contribute only "cheap" energy, and increase the intake of "good" fat and fiber (nuts, fish, whole grains) which improve your digesting process (leaving more energy for the brain) and provide materials for the proper functioning of your brain.
- Good sleep. Here's where memory consolidation occurs, so it's pretty important. Besides having your body cells and tissues repaired, during sleep your brain takes a moment to clear out what considers waste information. So get you a healthy schedule, empty your energy tanks during the day, and don't use your bed for any purposes other than sleeping, some exceptions may apply (!).
- Physical exercise. The brain needs oxygenated blood in order to function properly, so having a healthy blood circulation by means of exercise will lead to improvement in cognitive functions. The opposite is also true, having a very sedentary lifestyle deteriorates neutral activity.
- Mental exercise. Neurons need to maintain activity in order to strengthen synaptic bonds between each other, which leads to better experience recalling. This can be done by straight out trying to memorizing things, like numbers or names, and having activities involving mentally demanding activities, like playing chess or similars, learning new skills, or studying and analyzing things out.
- Sensorial stimuli. Smells, sounds and flavors can evoke old memories, even in situations when pure memory could not. If we want this to play to our advantage, we have to sharpen our senses by being more in the present and less with our head in the clouds, seeking out experiencies over thoughts. It's cold or hot right now? It's humid or dry? What sounds can you perceive? What does the room in which you are smells like? Automatic breathing is now turned off (got you, haha!).
- Emotional stimuli. Intense emotions make long lasting memories, which is why we still remember childhood fears and humilliations, as well as the adrenaline rush when opening the presents on christmas. The best option here is to bond and be socially open, but this has proven to be fairly hard. However, you can learn to be more honest with yourself and be more sensitive rather than rational; we can say whatever we want about being objective and loyal to the truth, but the matter of the fact is that all that bullshit is just a defence mechanism called intellectualization. There's a reason we have feeling and is that it gives us motivation (motion) for better or worse. A computer will never land on the moon by itself.
Just to add a note. Neurogenesis (the process in which new neurons are born), once believed by the scientific commmunity to be non-existent, turns out that it is indeed a thing and, go figure, the habits that promote it are very similar to the ones mentioned above. So yeah, you have to be healthy in order to... be healthy...
The system is rigged big time.
My memory is bad too, I even forget what I was saying while speaking, so I send you an empathetic hug, letting you know you are not alone.
