ADHD can and does cause memory issues. It can affect short term memory (eg, remembering phone numbers for a bit), working memory (ie, manipulating information, like doing sums in your head) and finally, recall (bring back up the information stored).
Of the three, issues with recall feel like the worst (to me) as it means that we have difficulty bringing back stuff we should already know. It’s frustrating cause we know the information deep down, we just struggle with recalling it when we want to.
This friend I have known for years now? Forgot their name again.
My house number? Forgot it again.
The name of the restaurant I have been to multiple times? Nope.
One of ADHDers’ most common catchphrases (“umm, what was just saying?”) is because of this recall problem. We get distracted mid sentence and can’t recall what we were saying.
ADHD in general, from concentration to these memory problems, can make learning very challenging. And it certainly did for me until I found a strategy that worked (for me).
Imagine you lost something in your house. The common advice given would be to retrace your steps. This involves going down paths you took, chained one after the other to finally reach what you were looking for. The strategy is that even if you don’t remember the final destination, you can retrace your steps to recall it.
My strategy involves exactly that, with the metaphorical house being our minds.
A fact or a piece of information is easily lost. To make it easier to find, you have to connect it to other pieces of information. I see it in my head as a massive spider web where all interconnected information is connected. So even if I forget one piece of information on that web, I can navigate down other paths to help me find it.
So a real example is when I needed to learn about electricity generation (I am a renewable energy engineer). I couldn’t just learn about generators and have it stick in my head.
So what I did instead was start from the basics… from how electrons work. Then how wires work. Then how AC and DC electricity works.. And so on. So now, even if I forget a detail about a generator, I can essentially start from scratch to re-remember it.
Yes, it does take much longer to learn but the information is stored and recalled more solidly.
This is the method I use to study and learn that has taken me from failing everything to getting As and Bs. I start from the very basics and build my knowledge up like a web, making sure to take time to understand in the process.
Of course, I won’t claim this will work for everyone, nor that this is the one true method. But it worked very well for me, and I hope that even if it didn’t help directly, it can give you some helpful information.
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