# Can't maintain information



## thundercats (Mar 12, 2012)

I feel like something's wrong with me.
I feel like compared to others I'm not normal. I always used to think maybe this is
simply how I am and I'm simply a person who isn't interested in most things other
people are interested in but now I think what if I have some kind of disorder?
I have a very narrow general knowledge. Things like geography, politics, history and all that simply don't interested me one bit. I couldn't even tell where a certain country is on the map. 
And at the same time I also notice that even if I for example try to look up where a certain country is or read about something historical which I feel like you should know then I still cannot memorize it! Many times I read things in a book which I think are "important" and which I should keep in mind but the problem is I don't!
If I have to learn for an exam then I have to beat the whole information in my head by repeating it loud to myself and then after a short time the entire knowledge is gone again. This means virtually everything I learned in the past is gone!
Back in school I was good in history. I knew all the crap about the world wars and so on and now it's all gone!
This is seriously affecting my self-esteem and also worrying me. It makes me feel totally dumb and useless.
I also cannot imagine that this is normal. Other people I know don't seem to have this issue. They seem totally knowledgeable and they seem to be able to cite and quote information they read somewhere long times ago. I simply cannot do this.

Do you have any idea what this could be? I have had a few brain MRIs in the past and they were all normal. The worst is feeling so dumb.

I even watch documentaries on TV even though it doesn't really interest me in order to become a bit more knowledgeable but I cannot maintain the stuff. If I am able to maintain something then it's always only small bits which are basically useless.

If you are this way it's impossible to get a broad knowledge.


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## Depraved (May 22, 2012)

i am the same, i don't know how or when it started, but my ability to retain information is trash. And i was naturally gifted academically at a young age as well.


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

Have you ever been diagnosed with ADHD/ADD? Just a thought.

My memory sucks too. The only way I got through science and government classes was mnemonic devices and endless repetition. Do I remember what I learned in college? Nope. It doesn't matter so much, since I'm not into science or politics, but when it's something you need to remember, or want to remember, then yes, I understand your frustration.

My ability to concentrate even on such formerly pleasurable activities as reading has been shot by exposure to the Internet. Before the Net, I could read 100 pages a day. Now, I drag myself through paragraphs. Maybe less exposure to the Internet could help you start to focus? (Not sure how much time you spend online, just another thought.)

Some people say B vitamins help them with memory and concentration, I tried it and saw no difference, but maybe it'd work for you. Can't hurt to try if you haven't already. :stu

Whatever you do, I know how irritating this is, and hope something can help you.


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## wootmehver (Oct 18, 2007)

*EXACTLY* my problem, I can't process and retain information like I perceive that others easily do. I will study a textbook and try to commit something in it to memory and then a few weeks later, I won't recall what it was. So I am thus very discouraged about undertaking any/all studies in any field. This also applies to watching educational TV programs and informational DVDs. Once I watched a DVD about the impressionist school of painting THREE TIMES about a year ago and now I can't remember anything about it, except for the names of some of the painters.

This applies to my past as well. My sister remembers stuff that happened in the past regarding our family of origin in detail and I don't.


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## thundercats (Mar 12, 2012)

Oh my, what can this be? 
Have you talked to your doctor about this?

I mean if you have a job and dont have to learn anything new then you're lucky but what if you have to know and learn new stuff? What if you have to qualify yourself by knowing stuff? 
What if you study something which is basically worthless and in order to get a job somewhere you have to know as much as possible?

English isn't my native tongue and I was always good at english in school and at the same time I also notice that my english also quickly gets rusty! I feel like I'm constantly fighting to keep my english fluent. It's almost like an obsession. English is the only thing I was good at and even there I feel like I am losing ground. 

But it's not that I have a bad memory. I remember incidents which happened many years ago. I remember a lot of things but not stuff which doesn't really interest me and I'm very uninterested. For me reading and learning is a torture. But what's so sad is that when I learn something that I cannot even maintain it. Why can't I at least reap the fruits of unpleasurable work? 

I also don't know if the explanation is that I am not interested in things. I mean when I for example watch a documentary in order to learn something and then still cannot really SAVE and KEEP information then I really don't understand how this is possible. I cannot just hear something or see something and then keep it once and for all. But I am sure others can do this. 

@ tehuti88

What does ADD have to do with this? I also ask myself if I could have ADD but I don't understand what does ADD have to do with the memory?
I have successfully learned stuff for tests which I took but the problem is that it's all gone. Imagine a teacher or a professor who cannot maintain what he learned a few years ago. This is absolutely unthinkable. How do they do this? How do they maintain all the stuff they need?
Or imagine a doctor who forgets what he learned in med school. This is unthinkable, too.


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

I don't think you guys and gals are that different from most people. I graduated with honors with a degree in Biology and Chemistry and I don't remember most of what I learned


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## Tangerine (Feb 16, 2010)

I think it's somewhat common. I have this problem too. Maybe because I consider myself a "jack of all trades," type, which makes it harder for me to excel and remember certain things.
I was just searching about this the other week, here's an article about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/b...agewanted=1&_r=2&nl=books&emc=booksupdateemb3


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

tea111red said:


> Sometimes relating seemingly boring information back to your personal life (whether it's you, someone you care for, or who is of interest) in a practical way can make learning it easier. Think about how whatever subject bores you benefits your life in some way. Maybe learning about a subject will help you to understand yourself or someone else easier, and in turn, help further the growth of yourself or the friendships/relationships in your life. When you grow as a person, you feel accomplished and more secure in yourself. Feeling secure will enable you to get what you want out of life more easily. The explanation I just gave you would be an example of how something that is seemingly uninteresting at first can actually be of use to you.
> 
> Like I mentioned earlier, something that I have found to be helpful is when you make associations between new material you've learned and your personal life and interests. Things related to your life and interests give the new material something to latch onto and increases the chances of remembering it since it's connected to something deemed to be important enough by a person to remember.


tea111red is exactly right. What she has described is a phenomenon know as "Schemeta." Schemata is a theory that we learn by associating new information with what we already know.

Fer example, ATP is the energy molecule of metabolism. It works like a spring. When two electrons are added to ADP it compresses the spring and the molecule becomes ATP. So ATP is like a compressed spring that has potential energy to do work

So in that example I created an analogy that ATP is like a spring. In other words, I associated something I didn't know, ATP with something I did know a spring

Analogies are a good way of constructing Schemata. 

Good Luck!


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

thundercats said:


> @ tehuti88
> 
> What does ADD have to do with this? I also ask myself if I could have ADD but I don't understand what does ADD have to do with the memory?


I understand your frustration, but your tone sounds a little confrontational. I was only trying to help. 

ADD/ADHD can have a LOT to do with retaining information. The "AD" stands for "attention deficit." If you have an attention deficit, you can't concentrate. If you can't concentrate, you can't retain information. Your post mentioned this being your problem...hence my suggestion. That's all it was, was a suggestion, I can't say whether you have it but like I said it's a thought. :stu

If I said something offensive, I have no clue what it was, but I apologize.

(For the record, I don't remember most of what I learned in college, either!)


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## thundercats (Mar 12, 2012)

Hi,

the problem for me is that most of the stuff I have to learn (I study social sciences) does not interest me and also doesn't seem to be relevant for my life. Most of the articles I have to read are so damn complicated and written in such an unnecessarily complicated way that I hardly understand anything. Even if I wanted to I couldn't really get a glimpse of what the author actually wants to say. I always strive to get a basic understanding of things and then get more into detail but often times this isn't possible. When you have to read something which doesn't even interest you and then it's also written in a way that you don't even understand it then your motivation goes against zero. I also don't have the patience to read stuff which then struggle with every sentence and try to figure out what this means. 
I also notice I have a really hard time with trying to figure out stuff on my own. I am used to simply listening to a teacher and then being explained what I have to know. I don't have the patience to read stuff on my own especially when it doesn't interest me. I just want to be told the crap I have to know and then beat it into my head. Unfortunately it doesn't work this way at the university. 

But I think my real problem is this gluelike thinking. I don't think that it's normal when a person has to constantly go through scenarios in traffic in order to know what to do at a certain situation where it's right before left. I really had a hard time getting the right before left stuff into my head. I know this sounds dumb but for a long time I had to think about this every time when I drove by a side street. Usually this kind of stuff should become a part of you and you don't have to think about it every single time anew. 

I have no problem memorizing other things like for example names of drugs or herbs even if they are complicated. I do not have to go over such names again and again I can easily memorize them. But I cannot do the same thing with other things. It's like my thinking is like glue. For example I was never good at math and sometimes I would sit there for half an hour trying to figure something out and even if I finally had it figured out then I could lose it just as easily. Often times I have to think about things which I thought I had already understood again and again cause next time they're gone again. I think this is really weird. I also have to think about traffic rules again and again and go through certain scenarios in my mind cause otherwise I'd forget them.
Imagine a football player who has to take some minutes before every game to think about the rules and to bring them back to his conscience cause otherwise he won't know what to do in the middle of the game. This is totally annoying and limiting.
When I learn something new then I can't simply keep it and then build on the new knowledge but instead it's always a fight to maintain the new knowledge and also to not forget the old stuff. 


@ tehuti88

No I wasn't being confrontational at all. I just wonder if ADD could really cause something like this cause I don't really know if this is typical for ADD. If it was a classic symptoms of ADD then it would be easier for me to believe that it's ADD.


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## AlexHall95 (May 24, 2016)

I know exactly how u feel and wat u mean. Im about to graduate from HS and I am very scared and worried because i do not know what i can/will study that i can be successful at with this tedious problem. I barely got by in school simply by cheating..and just strictly memorizing vocabulary words right before a test. After i took an exam the information i strictly studied was gone. When it came to math class n learning new material it wasnt too bad but by the time i went to my next class i had forgotten everything i was taught. Ive been playing guitar for almost 8 years and im hoping to further my knowledge but it seems almost impossible to do that when the information just goes into one ear n out the other. This is very embarrassing and exhausting and i too would really appreciate some advice.


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

Forgetting information is pretty common. Most information, if not constantly used, will be forgotten. You should only worry if it gets in the way of your everyday life. 

I spent 4 years in high school and I guarantee you that if you gave me a senior level high school exam in any subject I would probably get a C or D.

I can't even recall my high class schedule.


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## OpalOcean (May 26, 2016)

There are several things that can cause poor memory and concentration like you have described.

Anxiety, ADHD, Vitamin deficiency, food allergies/intolerance.

That being said being said it's quite common to forgot things as someone else mentioned. I soon forgot most things I learnt at school once I stopped studying those subjects.

Also if you trying to learn something your not really interested in it is always going to be more difficult than the things that interest you.

Also people learn in different methods. For example if I want to remember something well I have physical write it down, pen to paper. Other people work better from pictures or audio.

University can be a big leap from high school and college and it can be tough. I would suggest seeing if your university has anything in place to help with study skills. You may also be able to get an assessment first to see if you have any learning difficulties that are making things harder for you.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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