Because memory impairments tend to be the most pronounced in the first few years after TBI many survivors come to believe that nothing can be done.  This can make us anxious and actually exaggerate this particular difficulty. Anxiety over memory lapses can actually interfere with your ability to remember. Under such circumstances, feelings of inadequacy, and shame tend to overwhelm all other memories

      Research has shown that memory skills can be supplemented, and even improved with the right interventions and attitude.  The following memory inventory will help you identify your memory strengths and weaknesses.  And, ourMemory Strategies tool will help enhance your memory skills.

     Two additional types of memory come into play when we recall a past event:  narrative or episodic memory, which enables us to recall a personally experienced event; and script memory, in which we repeatedly experience the same event, and the episodes merge to form a generalized version.  The individual episodes are forgotten unless they depart significantly from the script.

     Memory of personal experiences, whether narrative or script, is reconstructive.  That is, we do not store our experiences and play them back like a tape recorder.  Instead, we recreate the past experience at the time of recall.  This re-creation is based in part, on the original experience, but is also affected by factors influencing us at the time of recall.