Can't remember characters names

Very interesting. A lot of food for thought there.

I find looking at pictures almost therapeutic in a way, sometimes, but other times it makes me sad seeing people who are no longer here and days long since passed. 

Hi, I’ve had this since childhood, I love audiobooks, I can never remember any of the characters names. I can remember the storylines but never names. 

My brain remembers the bad stuff in great detail too  The article I posted on the memory thread suggests it is because such traumatic memories are stored in a different part of the brain.

https://www.barrierstoeducation.co.uk/autism-and-trauma

I find photos to be a good visual reminder of happier times such as days out and holidays. I always try and take my camera whenever I go anywhere and looking at old photos is a good way to cheer myself up when I'm stuck at home.

I struggle to recognise people (bad for walking past people I know when they are out of their usual context!), so rely on TV and film casting to select actors who look very different to each other, but also do not change hair cut or clothing style half way through. Unfortunately, they are not always that considerate! Big fan of small casts as a result. I had previously thought that the BBC were just being cheap when keeping the number of suspects to only 3-4 people in each episode of Death In Paradise, but now wondering whether they have designed the series to help us out.

Not sure whether it is related, but I completely forget doing things at work. I had an example before Christmas where I was looking at my ‘to do’ list, and there was something that had come in a couple of weeks earlier that I could not recall receiving at all. I started checking my emails to see what it was about, and it turned out that I had already done the work, which must have taken me half a day! Maybe not being able to remember work is a good thing. As with others, an ever-present issue rather than something that has worsened significantly over time.

I know what you mean about wondering what the point is if you cannot remember things. I have been feeling the same way, which has led me to doing fewer things, something that is harmful to me. Before the pandemic I was reading a lot of non-fiction on the train when commuting, but I would often not even remember what the books were about never mind the detail of the content! I am trying to enjoy the moment more now, rather than being constantly frustrated with myself when I cannot remember it, which is easier said than done.

I find that I can recall the traumatic events in pinpoint detail (necessary for me to constantly relive them), and it is the good stuff that disappears! I probably need to spend more time remembering the pleasant events so that they do not fade away.

Autonomistic said:

Rewind is how I deal with it. That and total concentration without any distractions. I often have to keep rewinding to remind myself who a particular character is.

Great suggestion! 

Do you think this will work for me as well? My memory recall is pretty lame lol names, places and my own childhood memory is really bad. I wrote on Debbie's holiday thread the other day and really struggled to remember even one holiday I had been on and I'm not even that old really. 

I had a therapist who said sometimes your brain can shut out the past and that's why memories can be hard to think of because of childhood trauma. But I thought it would only block out the bad stuff but generally it's the good and I still remember the bad. Lol.

I don't know it's all linked to ADHD, autism or trauma... Or is it all 3 coinciding with each other?

Sorry, this got away from me! I'll try the rewinding technique and see how that works for me. It's interesting how so many of us have this memory difficulty.

It's something I've always struggled with. Remembering names and faces in real life is a huge problem too. 

For me I think it is partly due to a combination of prosopagnosia and auditory processing issues. I do find the character names sink in a bit more if I have the subtitles on when I'm watching a movie or TV series. However it can be so difficult to work out who is who if some of the characters look similar in terms of stature and hairstyles etc.

Rewind is how I deal with it. That and total concentration without any distractions. I often have to keep rewinding to remind myself who a particular character is.

Also I record the whole series and watch them back to back in one evening, otherwise I will completely forget what happened the week before. When there is a new series of something I have watched previously I find I have absolutely no memory of what happened in previous series and it is as if I'm watching something completely new. However scriptwriters will often assume prior knowledge and that can make it hard to follow the plot.

There was an interesting discussion about autistic memory on here a few weeks ago.

https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/34778/autistic-memory

That's entirely up to you if you want to look further in to it. I did for myself because I wanted answers as I found it really annoying at the time, it was frustrating watching something and being unable to remember names. I also have the problem where I get distracted really easily when trying to watch stuff lol.

Nigel said:

Or actors. I remember images, feelings. That is why I like it, the feeling it gives me

Same for me with this ^<^

A lot changes in 20 years and yes there's so many things out there it could be, so if you want to it's an idea to get assessed and would be good if uni could do it for you.

I think this is pretty common for most people to be honest. Like in Game of Thrones, I remember an Honest Trailer video playfully mocking how viewers can only really remember about 4 of the main characters' names. 

To be honest, it's also a bit of a fault in scriptwriters. In some films a character's name just isn't mentioned very clearly. 

I think that is because animated characters are more 'iconic', very clearly defined characters, visually simple and identifiable, so memorable. Often with music and clear cut emotions. I prefer cartoons myself, much easier to digest.

For me I am bad at names for live action movies and people in real life (unless I am told several times) but for animated movies then I remember all the names even with random background characters. 

Is it worth it? I think so. As I pointed out I have similar issues. I cant remember names. Even the film I watch repeatedly, 'The Goodbye Girl', I have no idea what the character names are. Or actors. I remember images, feelings. That is why I like it, the feeling it gives me. I can't believe remembering the names or faces would improve my love of the film. I think take what you can and enjoy it. If you really don't enjoy it don't go back.

I didn't take that Ed Psychologist serious. This was 20 years ago and nothings got worse, and if it is dementia I had it since my first memories.  All I got was a report with test figures saying I had a serious memory issue, and something wrong with part of my brain and numbers, calculations. No labels, so not helpful. I wouldn't consider myself hyper in any way, so maybe ADD at most. Perhaps Uni I am studying at can assess me.

Nigel said:

Is that really adhd

It might be but it might also be linked to something else. You would need to speak to a professional to find out for definite. My doctor said with ADHD there's problems with processing information the brain receives and it can't store said info, so names in my case and possibly yours as well.

Before my doctor even suggested ADHD I had no idea that it was even a thing. I know you've had one person suggest dementia but going for a second opinion might lead to answers for you. There's no cure if it is ADHD but the knowledge of knowing was comforting for me.

I don't know much about adhd. But I don't recall anyones names unless it is repeated to me endlessly. I never recognise faces or actors so I have great problems following stories in anything acted. I have to rely on others keeping me up to date on who is who and what is going on. Is that really adhd? Certainly a memory problem. I was seen by an Educational Psychologist years ago and he just went on about early onset dementia - but I told him it wasn't that as I have always had the very same problem with no change.

This sounds like it could be ADHD. I have this and 100% what I watch and read I'll remember the story and what happens and be able to picture it easily but character names never sink in. This is what led to me getting an ADHD diagnosis. I've always been like this since I was a little girl, could never remember a single character name, but I could describe their appearance no problem.

If you enjoy the film and book then definitely it's worth it. If you want to know who characters are you could try IMDB, it always displays the characters names, you can check it when watching a film it might make it easier for you possibly?