Is anyone else just useless at retaining information?

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

I think I’m a relatively bright person. I did well in all my GCSEs and went to college as a mature student a few years ago to do a uni access course which whilst hard, I did extremely well in. (Didn’t get to uni for other reasons) I remember random facts out of nowhere in quizzes or whilst watching the chase but when my son asks me to help with his literacy homework I have to remind myself what an adverb is or doing the “bus stop” division method I completely forget how to do it. Formulas and equations that I knew off by heart (and understood!) for my access course have completely disappeared from my brain. It seems that I can perform well for exams but as soon as I don’t “need” the information it goes and I’ve lost it. I’ve found myself having conversations with people about things I know and I go blank. I can’t recall any information. I can read an article and then try and recall it when telling my son or a friend and I’ve forgotten all the facts. I basically end up saying some waffley shite like “you know the man, with the thing, and he talks about the place”. It makes me feel so stupid. I know I’m not. I do know this stuff. But why can I not recall it?

How old are you?

Could you be Peri-Menopausal?

I hope not! I’m 32!

Exactly the same here, dh hates that I regularly describe myself as a bit slow. I have a diploma and degree and read a lot but genuinely don't have many facts aside from music and tv (helps in trivial pursuit sometimes but embarrassing more often!) OP (and sorry, not implying you're slow!)

Yep, get this all the time! Especially when I'm tired. I used to remember everything I read and now I couldn't even tell you what I did yesterday. I've looked like a dick on more than one occasion for my memory failures. I'm 37

thanks for the cake! Glad it’s not just me. Have you always been like this or is it something that’s happened as an adult? I think I’ve always been like this.

Tired! I feel like I’ve been permanently tired for 10 years since pregnant with DS2. Maybe that’s it!

This has definitely got worse for me. Even the DCs know that if I don’t write it down I’ll forget.

Yes! This is me! Ive always wondered why this is. I have a degree and other qualifications of similar or near similar levels but do you think I can tell you about them? Can i give you facts about a specific subject I studied to a high level a cpuple of years ago? Nope. Can i explain to you what brexit is all about right now? Nope. Even though i watched question time about it last night. Can I tell tou hpw to bake a basic sponge cake? Yes because I do it fairly often. I can read a book and not have a clue what just happened. With academic text i will often have to read the same thing over and over and really think about it, try to imagine it in a real life situation before i feel i really get it. I wonder if im just a bit dim or if there’s a name for it. Ive been like this certainly since high school.

I'm the same! My friends will quote lines and scenes from movies and I have no idea what they're talking about. I forget the details once I've seen it but they seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge. My dh is the same, he'll see a photo of say, a castle or a town and he'll say "we've been there!" and I'll say "have we?!!" I guess I have always been a bit absent minded, that said I have a first class degree so I can't be a complete dope!

Yes. Everything you are all describing is what I feel too. Having read things several times over for it to process.

I'm 33 and I'm exactly the same. I have something up there (points to head), I have a good masters degree!!! But my recall is tragic.

I personally think I'm lazy! If I don't want to remember it, I won't. (Eg if it's boring or not captured my interest!) That or I have early onset Alzheimer's 😳😳😳

I can watch tv and not remember it the next day. I think I just don't pay enough attention or multi task too much. I have to read things really carefully to retain them.

I don't even have DC so I can't blame baby brain or tiredness 😳😳😳

Omg muddyduck that's me too!

DH can recall the plot of a film we both watched together once. 9/10 he's on the laptop too, so it's not like he's paying super attention.

I will swear blind we've never even watched it and won't have a clue what it was...!

Does everyone here struggle with faces too? I can't name half the celebrities out there 😂

I'm the same. I can watch a film and have forgotten a lot of the story line an hour later. I can't remember anything about school or much about childhood.
I can re read a book / watch a box set a hundred times and every one is like the first 😅.
I'm hopeless with directions or spoken instructions. I literally need a check list. DH dispares of me.
You're not alone OP

I’ve got adhd and also long term memory issues and I have trouble retaining information. I have a degree but have issues keeping information in my head and have done since I was quite young so not menopausal.

Me too! I think I'm reasonably intelligent, workied in a bank from school and control the finances in our family business which has been very challenging a few times over the years. Yet I appear to have some sort of 'number blindness' unless I'm physically reading it. Ask me to recall the price of a house I've read all the details about on Rightmove (I love looking at properties) and i kid you not, I could tell you it was £100k more, or less, than it was actually on the market for. I do it all the time! Ask me the balances on our bank accounts (which I may have looked at 5 minutes previously) and I would have to guess! It's like I have a mental block.
As for reading books, I usually write the names of the characters, who they are, and their relationships, at the front of any book I;m reading as soon as the character appears in gthe book, otherwise I totally forget who they are. (I actually think books should do this anyway unless of course it spoils the story).
As for politics and Brexit in particular, I've totally given up. I have zero interest rightly or wrongly, so I just sit back whenever it becomes a topic of conversation and let everyone else mouth their opinions. I have zero interest.

To add.. I've seen threads like this before and replyed. Another common theme is not having a 'minds eye'. I can never do guided mediation.. Visualising a sandy beach means nothing to me. I couldn't tell you what DH looked like aside from the vague details.
Oddly though I have really detailed and often lucid dreams!

I have very little idea about actors in films and tv unless they are really famous. Dont ask me for street names, even those directly off the street i live in. My directions to places will involve shops, colours of houses, post boxes etc but few street names and definitely no road names.

I e been like this for the last year or so. I'm blaming it on tiredness and stress as I've always had an excellent memory. I now take b12 vitamins with my dinner in an effort to help.

My most spectacular memory fail so far was actually a couple of days ago. I'd made fajitas for dinner (and managed to remember what ingredients I needed without looking it up) but then couldn't remember how to roll them up! I had to look around at my children's plates to remind me, still couldn't figure it out and my 19yo has to demonstrate for me!

Yes mines terrible now. I write everything down and set reminders. I told my friend last month I'd read a "life changing" book and when she asked me the other day what it was I could not remember what it was or anything about it. I could never pass an exam these days! I used to be so switched on!

This is terrible. All us geniuses being held back by our stupid brains

I'm like this, and have always been the same.
I skim read brilliantly, remember any information I am interested in but totally forget everything else.
My spelling was awful as a child but has improved over time. I think I have some undiagnosed processing/ retention issues and probably dyslexia too.
Makes life interesting!

I've always been like this.

I'm a nurse and can read a patients history and instantly forget. Have a 1;1 with a patient and struggle to recall what was discussed when writing the notes

Always been the same, terrible inability to retain information. Becoming a Mum was a revelation because my eldest has an almost photographic memory and it really brought home how poor my recall is.

I'm middle aged now but it has always been the same, I dread getting old....

oh, and if I ewatch programmes like BakeOff or Apprentice, I get all the contestants muddled up (apart from whether they're male or female). Apprectice particularly when they move them from one team to the other, I'm clueless as to who is who!
@GwenCooper81 I'm so glad you posted about not knowing all the details of your husband. I'm so the same - I know mine has certain non visible birthmarks, but if someone asked me which side of his body they were on I wouldnt be able to tell you. And I don't recall details about medical diagnoses like I should do. I sound so vague when I recount information sometimes - I fell like I need to record it!

I have found my people!
Reasonably intelligent, studying for a degree and decent job. But I often cannot remember a thing from one moment to the next. I started to look into early onset dementia at one point!
But starting to think it is more an issue with concentration.
An example is if i get a call from an unknown number and click open safari to google the number. I have to flick back to the call log for each number as I can’t hold it in my mind at all! (If that makes any sense)

And if I watch a film DP gets so exasperated with me. I often couldn’t tell you the characters’ names even at the end!