I have been inspired to record this podcast for two reasons, firstly because many of my clients who have anxiety, with or without depression, tell me that they struggle to remember things. Secondly because as part of my psychology MSc we have been studying the effects of anxiety in exam performance.

In this episode I cover:

  • What types of memory are affected
  • How anxiety affects memory
  • Why anxiety sufferers forget things
  • What you can do to overcome anxiety

References:

Shi, Z., Gao, X. and Zhou, R., 2014. Emotional working memory capacity in test anxiety. Learning and Individual Differences, 32, pp.178-183.

Hembree, R. (1988). Correlates, causes, effects, and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 58, 47-77

Schweizer, S., & Dalgleish, T. (2011). Emotional working memory capacity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(8), 498–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.05.007

Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7(2), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336