Worrying can make it so…

By Suzanne Holman • May 4th, 2009

Have you had the feeling that you are not remembering things well anymore? I know I have.

And now there is a study showing that when we worry about aging and losing our memory, we actually do have memory problems.

AND those with more education showed the greatest effect on their performance on memory tests when they are worried. This is probably because those with more education place a higher value on their cognitive processes and therefore are more concerned and perform at a lower level. These were tasks in math and memorization.

For the testing, participants were told they were being tested to see how they did as compared to younger people. This created a psychological “threat” creating the worry state.

In a study at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, psychology professor Tom Hess and his team found that worrying about aging and memory loss can actually become a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

I know when I realized that Mom was having problems and was then diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I found myself not remembering things and overreacted to that, feeling as though I was right there on the path to AD myself. When there’s Alzheimer’s in the Family, it’s really important to be aware of this possibility. With the awareness, it’s easier to keep things in perspective as you support your parent in getting needed care.

Check out the article. Very interesting.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/Story?id=7453229&page=1

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