Why Do We Tend to Forget Things When Stressed?

When you're stressed, your brain gets busy dealing with the problem that's making you feel worried. It leaves less room for remembering things like where you put your keys or what you were supposed to do today. Imagine your brain is a toy box, when it’s full of big, noisy toys (like stress), there’s no space for the smaller ones (like memories).

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Examples

You forget your lunch at home because you're worried about an upcoming test.
Your brain can’t remember the day's schedule because it’s too busy thinking about being late to school.
You leave your keys on the table and think they’re in your backpack, all because you were stressed.

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Categories: Psychology · memory,stress,cognitive psychology