“When we speak about dementia, it would seem that this disease is most prevalent among our politicians. They seem to forget everything they promise during their campaigns the day after they are elected.”
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As we approach retirement age, it is very common to have simple memory lapses. In the modern world, that is described as follows: humans have a limited amount of megabytes of memory capacity in their brains. When full capacity has been reached, something has to give. And the first thing that usually gives is “where the hell are my car keys”? Our first thought is that early stage dementia has set in. But this is not necessarily so. It is far more likely that we are overwhelmed with too much stress, with entirely too much to do and far too little time to do it!
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The following vignette says it all. (Received from unknown author via e-mail.)
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A.A.A.D.D. – KNOW THE SYMPTOMS!
Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder:
Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, And notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first…
But then I think,
Since I’m going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, So I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking.
I’m going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside So that I don’t accidentally knock it over.
The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, A vase of flowers on the counter Catches my eye–they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I’ve been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, But first I’m going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I’ll be looking for the remote, But I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, But first I’ll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The car isn’t washed,
The bills aren’t paid,
There is a warm can of
Pepsi sitting on the counter,
The flowers don’t have enough water,
There is still only 1 check in my check book, I can’t find the remote, I can’t find my glasses, And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day, And I’m really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem,
And I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail….
Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know, Because I don’t remember who I’ve sent it to.
Don’t laugh — if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!
P.S. I don’t remember who sent it to me, so if it was you, I’m sorry.