One of the things I hear frequently when I meet a new patient is, “All of a sudden I have to write everything down. I used to just remember things and now I’m totally overwhelmed. It’s SO frustrating!”
Let’s take a minute to analyze the situation and put things in perspective. Normally, you have a routine which may involve work, typical household chores, family obligations, etc. But now you’ve been hurt - maybe due to a fall, a sports injury, or a car crash. You’re not feeling like yourself, you’re tired and scared, and all of a sudden tasks are piling up. In addition to your usual responsibilities, you may be dealing with any or all of the following:
Physical symptoms: headaches, dizziness, nausea, sleep disturbance, etc.
Emotional symptoms: sadness, fear, anxiety, trauma, etc.
Medical appointments happening at different times on different days
Insurance companies
Work issues
Not having a car
Being unable to perform household chores
When we think of it that way, it’s a lot! You’ve had several things added to your plate, and it’s hard to juggle and remember everything that needs to be done.
It’s wonderful to be able to rely on your spontaneous memory - to not have to use a calendar, to not have to take notes every time you talk to someone, or to not have to check your notes 5 times a day to make sure you aren’t missing something. Truthfully, though, this is what you have to do following a concussion. My goal is to help you be at peace with this...to understand that writing things down is actually good. It means that on some level you are recognizing that something isn’t working and you are problem solving that issue. None of us need to be perfect. What we need to be able to do is identify problems and solve them.
Also, you need some free space in that precious brain to process the information that is coming at you throughout the day. Putting appointments, reminders, and other information in your calendar is the perfect way to free up valuable brain space.
Some of you may wonder, “Will I always have to do this?” The answer is, probably not to the same degree. Once you are feeling better, the appointments slow down, and you get back to your normal routine, your spontaneous memory will likely work much better. Still, is it the worst thing in the world to use a calendar or to take notes during an appointment? Life is busy, and as we get older we tend to have more on our minds. For example, even though I pick my child up from school at the same time every day, I still set an alarm because I’m human and sometimes I can get caught up in what I’m doing...writing a blog post for instance. Setting the alarm puts my mind at ease and allows me to focus on the task at hand without constantly checking the time.
Writing information down allows us to focus, think better, and sometimes even process the information we are hearing. At CCC, we encourage this sort of thing!
- Ramya Shyam, MS CCC-SLP