Depression and Memory Loss

Memory loss when suffering with depression is a common occurrence that many have gone through, including me. There have been many times where I've been with friends discussing past experiences and have tried to remember specific details and everything is just a blur.

Having depression doesn't mean that you can't have good, happy times but sometimes when the bad days outweigh the good, its hard to remember them after recovery. I don't remember a lot of details from the four years that I suffered greatly with depression, moments some of which I'm quite happy about not remembering, but some, I wish that I did.

I realise now that there are things that I could have done regularly to help myself remember. This is what I do everyday when I wake up and before I go to sleep and some extra things that could help you not forget a positive day again.

Daily Meditation Books

One daily meditation book that has really helped me is Demi Lovato's book called Staying Strong 365 Days A Year. Every morning I turn to the page with thats days date on to find a positive quote, a passage written my Demi and a goal for the day.

Demi is speaking from a very personal place in this book, trying to reflect off of her personal experiences of bipolar disorder and addiction. The passages that she has written really make you think about how to spend your time in a positive way and change your negative mindset to a positive one.

By starting my day off on a positive foot by reading a page of this book, it gives me something to always come back to and think about. Something to ground me when my day gets tough. By trying to achieve the goal set every morning in the book, I always feel like I have achieved something and made the most of my day.

I read the same quote, passage and goal before I go to bed to reflect on my day and think about what I have accomplished.

'Year In Pixels' Grid

In theStaying Strong Journalthat you could also purchase alongside this book, I have created a "Year In Pixels" grid where every night, after re-reading the quote, passage and goal, I colour in one block with a colour that represents how I was feeling that day.

This works as a daily mood tracker and further helps me to reflect on my day and what I could have done to improve it and also helps me look back to see if there are any patterns in how I'm feeling.

Tailor Ways to Remember to Your Strengths

Find ways to remember positive moments that you will actually enjoy doing.

If you like writing, write them down. You could try writing a book or a story about all of your experiences or just write them down in a journal.

If you like photography, take pictures and create an album, or like I do, take a photo a day. This motivates me to get out of the house everyday to actively go somewhere even if Ihadn't planned to.

If you like art, paint a picture. Paint a mini canvas a day of something you have done or an object you find or even an abstract painting representing the emotions you were feeling that day.

You can always find ways to focus on the positive moments of your day even if some parts were bad. By reflecting back on good times at the end of the day will help you to remember and by having physical things that remind you of specific experiences, it will help jog your memory and bring out the good days from a blur of bad.