Can Stress Mess With Memory?

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I have given it some thought. A lot of thought, actually. When we are stressed out for any reason, we can sometimes forget things. It is a common phenomenon. For example: You hear a car collision outside your home, in the street, and you are startled by the sound of heavy metal crashing. You might become stressed and call 911, only to be asked, "What is the color or make of the vehicle or vehicles involved in the accident?" You might be unable to fully address the issue over the phone to police because you are so stressed out by being startled that you may have forgotten some major details. No problem, we all forget things from time to time. But imagine having a stressful career. If you for instance were a police officer, sworn to enforce the law, living on the edge of possible personal injury or death 24/7, you might have some degree of memory loss if you were not cut out to be an officer of the law. Fast food workers often get the orders wrong. It's not because they do it deliberately, but rather, it is a direct consequence of job related stress and anxiety. If you had an appointment with the doctor's office to run tests and so forth, you might forget things like, paying the bills on time or setting your timer on your DVR to record your favorite shows because all you can think about is that stressful visit to the doctor's office the next day. If you are in a hurry to try to make yourself remember something, you probably only end up thinking about it later when you have calmed down and the thought of what it was you forgot moments or hours earlier, floated to the top like the words in a magic 8 ball. The thing we see often on game shows is the simple mistake a person makes on a show like Wheel of Fortune. You are in your living room, on a couch, enjoying guessing what sentences are hidden in the blanks on the game board of that show and wonder "Why do some of the contestants fail to see what is staring them right in the face?" It is because simply that, they are under a great deal of stress. Their answers to the puzzle that seems rather simple to you at home on your lazy boy lounge chair, are the difference between winning thousands of dollars cold hard cash and losing it all on national television. It becomes obvious then that the contestants on a game show are under a lot of pressure, time limits and high stakes so all that stress can mess with their thinking. So, if you are cramming for exams and it's late and you are already tired from a full day of school, if you are a student who prides him or herself on making good grades, you might stress out over things and end up forgetting half of what you read in the text book and by the next day, tired from lack of sleep, fail the test horribly. Stress really can mess with memory.