Robert,
When my 50th birthday came long, I stressed to no end. I was pretty down and honestly I don't think I've fully recovered from it. My filing system was piles, and I knew which pile and where everything was. I prided myself on what a great memory I had. I don't have that power any more.
I turned 60 last year while I have come to grips with the aging, I still walk into a room and forget exactly what I went in there for. I have to put my keys and glasses in the same place all the time when I put them down or I'll never find them. Some forgetfulness is what happens when we age. I played a lot of sports and have had my share of concussions over the years so I am a little paranoid that might affect me.
During this lockdown period, I've been going through a LOT of old stuff, and have been finding things that I FORGOT I had. See there's that "F" word. It's been quite an eye-opener on my own brain. I've even found things I thought lost long ago.
Agree with the previous posters, if you are really worried, make sure you are having annual physicals and let your Dr know your concerns. If you can, find out about any family history you may or may not have in terms of any congnitive issues. Get all the normal blood work and at least that should let you know if anything might be health related. If anything is suspected you'll get a date with a neurologist for some more tests.
If you turn up healthy, and if your health plan allows it or if you're down with it, have a couple of sessions with a psychologist, call it a sanity check or brain check up. Some hospitals and plans will even let you do sessions by phone or teleconference. You don't have to commit to anything long term but they'll at least "ease your mind", so to speak, and give you some tips on keeping your brain active and healthy.
From a personal standpoint, if you are the type that has to be doing something all time, have several things going on at once, just stop it. It's been proven that multi-tasking is a myth and I think the ability to divide one's attention gets less as you get over 50. Slow down, work on one thing at a time and give it your full attention. This takes a lot of work. I'm more easily distracted now then when I was a pup but I have found if I just do one thing at a time things go a lot better. I also make a lot of lists, but I have done that most of my life (and still never get most of the stuff checked off!)
Some suggestions:
- Take walks. Doesn't have to be long, around the block, up and down the street, whatever. And just walk, preferably by yourself. You're brain is going to start telling you stuff you need to do, tell it to shut up until the walk is one. Don't listen to music, don't discuss stress-inducing subjects with your walking partner if you have one.
- Watch less TV. I found my brain turning to mush the more hours I watched and cut back quite a bit. I'm pretty much down to sports and very few TV shows and movies. I limit news to about an hour.
- Exercise your brain...it should be something you actually enjoy or it won't do much good...reading (anything, fiction, non-fiction, medical journals, whatever floats your boat)...puzzles (word search, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, sukoku, trivia - lots of apps for these). Playing or learning a musical instrument.
- Relax your brain...mindfulness meditation (no religion involved, you just sit and breath, try and turn your mind off...just be there in the moment). Personally I've found zen meditation very helpful, my brain just wouldn't shut up and I found the "empty mind" philosophy worked for me. Just remember as I told a buddy of mine it's "empty mind" not "empty brain"!
- Declutter. Marie Kondo gets a lot of s**t but she is onto something. We have too much stuff. Get rid of that which you don't really care about any more.
- Laughter really is the best medicine.
Your brain is like the rest of your body, it needs exercise, and it needs rest. When it gets overtaxed it's going to keep working but it will send you signs you need to take a break.
I kinda went on a ramble here but I hope something here is helpful.
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