Things that I know that can affect my cognition

August 1, 2019 (Chapter 6 Living with a Memory Impairment in my book)

One of the things that I know that can throw my cognition off is when there are abrupt changes to my day. I do much better if I can plan for my day, but sometimes when changes happen it doesn't go so well. By this I mean that I am not functioning at my best. I will probably have more problems with my short-term memory and word retrieval. I wouldn't call this "fog" but that my day is a little more challenging. I know that when I can plan and know what I'm going to be doing and where I'm going on a particular day, things often go much better.

I also know that being in a new and different environment can throw my cognition way off. An example of this might be if I went to a restaurant that I have never been to. That means nothing inside is going to be familiar to me. I'm much more comfortable in an environment that is familiar to me. This doesn't mean that I can't go to new places or go on vacation because I can do those things. With a new environment may come some challenges. I might be sitting in the restaurant looking around at the tables and walls, trying to get my bearings. In a familiar restaurant I would not be doing that. Also, in a place that I have never been to before, there is another thing that causes me stress! If I need to use the ladies’ room, will I not only know where it is but will I be able to find my way back to my table afterwards? That can be very complicated because of my memory problems.