A teenager forgetting his 11 o'clock curfew hardly raises any eyebrows, but when he starts to forget that he was supposed to go on a date, or he forgets not only basketball practice, but even that he ever signed up, you may wonder what is going on. Memory loss in your teenager could be so shocking to you that it can serve as an eye opener for a real underlying problem that may have gone unnoticed.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, the kind that usually develops later in life but now also afflicts children at an ever increasing rate, causes subtle brain changes, states Science Daily. These changes include problems with memory. According to a study published in Diabetologia in July 2010 in which researchers compared 18 obese diabetic and 18 obese non-diabetic adolescents, decreased cognitive performance, memory problems, and abnormalities in white brain matter were found in the diabetic adolescents.
Depression
Depression has many symptoms, as stated on the Medline website. Pay attention to irritable behavior, excessive sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, episodes of memory loss, and extreme mood swings as those can be symptoms of depression. Mood swings can be misleading, however, as teenagers are notorious for their hormonal moodiness. Memory loss in this scenario might be considered minor compared with other more overwhelming symptoms.
Binge Drinking
Memory loss due to binge drinking has been demonstrated in teens as young as 12 years old. Dr. Thomas Heffernan, a psychologist at Northumbria University, interviewed 100 students by asking them about their drinking habits and whether they had ever forgotten things they had meant to do in the near future. The excessive drinkers among them admitted to having problems remembering future tasks. Dr. Heffernan explains that the teenage years are important for structural and functional development of the brain, and teenagers who drink heavily not only impact their memory, but also risk damaging the development of their brain.
Substance Abuse
Substance abuse that begins in the teenage years causes learning impairments and a decline in grades. For adolescents who have good learning behaviors in place prior to abusing drugs, the drugs' effects will not be immediately apparent, but eventually they will catch up with the student. Drug use affects short-term memory and eventually long-term memory, even into adulthood, says Mike Alle from Hazelden Center for Youth and Families in Plymouth, Minnesota.
POTS
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, occurs due to an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, which controls blood flow to all parts of the body. In a POTS patient, circulation is impaired to the point where the heart rate rises very quickly when the person moves into a standing position, while at the same time the blood pressure drops. One of the symptoms of POTS can be a rather dramatic loss of memory, as described in a "Washington Post" article that outlines the case of a 16-year-old high school sophomore who was diagnosed with POTS. Other symptoms of POTS are fainting and migraine headaches.
References
- Science Daily: Adolescents With Type 2 Diabetes Have Diminished Cognitive Performance and Brain Abnormalities, Study Finds
- Medline Plus: Adolescent Depression
- Mail Online: Binge-drinking teenagers are damaging their brains
- Hazelden: Substance abuse linked to poor academic performance, memory loss among teens
- The Washington Post: Migraines, Memory Loss--Was it All in His Head?
