Can depression cause memory loss?

Depression has the ability to influence our minds and body in countless ways. One of how depression influences our everyday working mind is via memory. Since we know that depression means what is called a “depression” of the individual's mind and body, that lends credence to how memory can be negatively impacted when in a depressed mood state. While in a depressive mood state, the individual is functioning at a lowered capability than at their usual or baseline. The ability to recall information and even store information long-term can be impacted during these times. We also know through past clinical studies how depression can be accompanied by anxiety. With the presence of anxiety, depression increases the odds of a decline in memory in some way due to the amount of thinking we may be doing.

            Inversely to anxiety, depression impacts our memory by the lack of cerebral activity occurring. If there is a limited amount of stimulus of some kind, the brain has little reason to shift from its current depressed state of activity, thereby organically impacting memory in some form. Additionally, due to the lack of stimulus, how we think of our situation also negatively impacts memory. Usually, when individuals are in a depressed mood, meaning, purpose, outlook, and self-worth are low in presence which can create a bottleneck in grounding. This can impede memory as there is a limited sense for progression; therefore little reason to be of present mind.

            It is also possible for deep depression to mimic symptoms of dementia whereby the individual must be assessed via mental status exam, MoCa, or other forms of cognitive test to diagnose the individual properly. My clinical experience has observed an individual’s memory be impacted due to their depression and slowly see a return of their cognitive functioning through the progression of their emotional and mental health. At the time of betterment, recall is again returned to its baseline, however, not always with some remnants of memory being impacted. Our mood has an overall impact on our organism, and when we are in a state of disillusionment, there is little reason to be connected in a grounded way, and via that disconnect, memory fades.