It happened to me in a very public way many years ago, and I can still remember the occasion now. I was a competitive dancer and I had practised and practised a spectacular new step. I couldn’t wait to perform it as one of a series of six different dance movements.

All was going well until I came to the point where the new step was to be performed and I stopped. My mind was a blank. You see, I’d practised the step on its own and not in sequence, so under the pressure of competition, my memory couldn’t cope.

Pressure on your memory comes from many quarters: when you’re tense, afraid or in panic; when you’re under pressure, multi-tasking or feel angry, emotionally charged or under threat. Feelings of loneliness, insecurity or confusion can all lead to mental blocks and, in the midst of the ever-increasing pace of our technological world, these blank moments occur in even the youngest of adults. What is usually happening is that the sustained release of adrenalin actually decreases the efficiency of essential brain connections required for you to remember well. Your memory is a complex and amazing set of reactions and processes which work best when you are not stressed and operating in ‘normal’ mode.

So what can be done to clear a mental block?

Firstly, it’s important to check that there is nothing physical causing the condition, particularly if it is happening more frequently than twice a week. Stress , if sustained over a long period of time, can cause mental blocks, so honestly evaluate how you rate on a stress questionnaire.

Relaxation is a key factor in clearing mental blocks, so take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. Rotate your shoulders and loosely shake your arms and hands to relieve tension. Don’t panic – if you are in a public situation, make a humorous comment and move on. Find another way to continue and, chances are, the lost thought will pop back into your mind seconds later.

Thinking about the task you were undertaking in a different way will sometimes clear the block, also. Re-framing your thinking and looking at other possibilities will also give you new brain connections to approach the task.

A famous problem was solved when the makers of hotel elevators tried to overcome the many complaints they received about the slowness of even their newest elevators. After spending a lot of time analyzing the machinery and the physical impact on patrons of increased elevator speeds, some clever thinkers redefined the problem. Why did hotel guests complain? Why did the lifts seems so slow? Answer: Because they had nothing to do while they were waiting! When visible screens indicated the progress of the elevator, and mirrors were installed inside and outside the elevators, the complaints ceased.

Trust your brain – given the right conditions, your brain will remember. If you can control the factors surrounding you at the time, mental blocks will be a thing of the past. Or, if they occur, you know what to do. Relax, laugh, re-frame and respond.

For more information, read Keep that Boomer Brain Growing

Avoid multi-tasking. It leads to stress and memory loss.

For weeks you’ve been cramming for this exam and you got up early this morning to make sure that you had remembered everything. A lot hangs on this test – your promotion, for one. You can feel the tension rising but say to yourself, “It’s just exam nerves – it’s good stress”, right? Then, when you look at the first question one that you’ve been expecting, your brain goes blank, the words don’t make sense, and you can’t remember a single fact to write down.

You want to get up and run right out of the exam room. When this happens, you are experiencing the “fight or flight response” that every human being has in cases of impending danger.

‘Fight or flight’ is an innate response and it’s a great instinct in its right place. When Fight or Flight kicks in, though, the brain slows down so that it can concentrate on protecting you. If you try to remember something when Fight or Flight is operating, you’ll forget – that’s why stress can cause memory loss.

Stress isn’t always a bad thing – we can all do with energy surges now and then.

In Fight or Flight, for instance, your body automatically starts a chain of reactions. Stress hormones such as cortisol, secreted by the brain, provide energy to our limbs so that we can run away immediately. At the same time, though, the hippocampus is robbed of its energy; if this goes on for a long time, then there are chances of short-term memory loss, because the hippocampus is vital in processing memory.
Repeated exposure to stress of the hippocampus can cause long-term damage and more permanent memory loss. So, it is important to get stress under control.

Can continuous stress cause memory loss? Yes, it can.

If you are forgetting more often, panicking about deadlines and too many unfinished tasks, then you must do something about it today. Stress can become a chronic ailment and you will suffer memory loss.

So, what can you do to contain stress?

1. Monitor how your body and brain are being affected by stress every day. It is important that you take this seriously in order to avoid irreparable damage. Make a note of times you feel particularly pushed; jot down how you are feeling and what you are doing. What are you eating? What are you drinking?
2. Make a list of tasks to be done and create a time-line. If you know that some deadlines you have agreed to cannot be done in the time, contact the recipient now and renegotiate. Take control, relieve the pressure and begin working in a planned, sensible way.
3. Organize your life so that you can work under normal conditions without undue stress. Enjoy your tasks and regain your life.
4. Be in control of the way you eat, exercise, plan and respond – think about your reactions consciously until you feel you life is back on track.

Stress related memory loss diseases include Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other related illnesses that can cause brain trauma. So take action NOW.
A risk-free way of making a start is to sign up for your free  six-part course of Brain Tune.

• It takes no more than 20 minutes a day.
• It’s based on science and research.
• It’s easy to do.
• And it’s been shown to make a difference.

In fact, it’s so good, the University of Oxford in the UK are using a similar product in a research project involving people just like you.