Memory loss can be a minor problem, or it can be quite traumatic
Memory problems come in all shapes and sizes. Some situations where you find yourself concerned about memory loss are relatively minor ones, such as forgetting where you put your keys or forgetting to feed the cat. Some loss of memory situations are much more severe, such as crippling amnesia, where you can’t even remember your own name or where you live, let alone what you’ve been doing for the past twenty years (or with whom).
So it would be simplistic to ask what is memory loss – it can range from the comical to the tragic, and everything in between.
The wide range of memory problems
Some memory problems (at the minor end of the scale) can even be seen as quite funny, as long as it’s not you that’s experiencing the memory loss of course. Someone forgetting the punch line of a joke, specially if it’s due to come at the end of a long, rambling build up, can be quite funny to those listening, although it can be quite toe-curlingly embarrassing as well, even to watch, let alone for the hapless comic.
If someone forgets his wife’s birthday, or their wedding anniversary, then he’s got a real memory problem. Well, a real problem anyway, that’s for sure – the memory loss part of it is probably the least of his concerns.
So the range of memory problems is wide, and it covers everything from a momentary lapse of memory (which might be no more than a lapse of concentration really) to severe and really damaging cases, such as those caused by physical or psychological problems. Loss of memory can be caused by many, many different things, such as inattention, lack of interest, illness, worry, stress, shock, physical attack, the effects of medication, dietary deficiencies, dementia, surgery, a stroke, cerebral haemorrhage, and many others.
What is memory loss? It can be many, many things, and it can have innumerable causes.
See these pages for a bit more detail on memory problems: