Can't remember street names or directions
 

I used to have to have an unreal ability to navigate without a map and remember directions. It was not unusual for me to watch a TV program with someone traveling down a road in the UK - not only could I identify the road but also what would be coming up on either side of the road.

Yesterday, my elderly neighbour showed me some pictures of a house his son was considering buying. I could remember the name but couldn't locate it within the neighbourhood where I grew up and still live. It was the same with some of the other properties he showed me. Later on I went to some web sites of the local estate agents (Realtors) and it was the same. Recognised the names of the streets but could I place them in the town :confused:

Same thing happened going to my accountant near the University / College I went to for 6 years - could I remember the best route there - :Scratch-Head:

This is the strangest thing - I seem to have "lost" my ability to remember the street names and directions in my locality.

It's horrible isnt it, change. I'm sorry you are having this difficulty. It must be frightening for you especially when you have always been good at something.

I suppose the difference with a TBI is no matter how much you practice something it doesn't seem to get better or come back.

Maybe the best course of action for you is what I am trying to do and that is acceptance.

What do you think?

Emotionally I can accept it, logically I am having difficulty.

My son was going to visit Dover castle with the army cadets and was moaning about seeing yet another ruined castle. I explained the history of the castle over the last 200 years, the secret tunnels, role in operation dynamo (Dunkirk evacuation) etc. This was not a problem.

Trying to remember where a stet was that I played in up to my teenage years or the route to my University 10 miles away is bizarre.

Welcome to Post Concussion Syndrome. You guys are complaining about things that are very common to PCS. I used to have a photographic memory. Now, I struggle to remember streets and directions.

Many of us learn new ways to remember things, note pads, etc.

I know the human brain is very complex and many things are yet to be discovered on how it functions - but the mystery for me is why I can still remember a whole host of things on many subjects but like you why are steet names specifically a problem?

I don't know for sure but I do know that we have differing strengths in the ways our memories work.
ie If I want to get somewhere, you can explain it to me verbally (this only applies b4 my accident) and I will mb every detail because I can mentally visualise what you are saying.
Someone else on the other hand, may need you to draw the directions out on paper or still, write them down.

What I am saying is that the memory part of our brain must be split up into sections for mental visualisation/images and mb names or roads in the form of worded facts.

This happened to me just today! Somebody stopped me to ask for directions to a church. I could see it in my mind's eye but I could not direct her, despite the fact that, on reflection, I had just walked past it on my way home and I've walked past it a thousand times before.

I find myself frequently getting lost in the city that's been my home for seven years. I always recognise where I am... I just don't know where I am in relation to anywhere else. I forget how to get to my local shop that I've been going to for years, making wrong turns and confusing myself.

My symptoms in this area are so much better now (7 months later) but most of the time I could not have survived without my GPS. It was a life saver.

I have the same problem from time to time.

I have a hard time remembering what happened yesterday. I'll have to look at my calendar or, check my text messages or my Facebook just to remind me lol.

My wife and I have constant arguments in the car because I keep on suggesting convoluted routes to get to places or the worse thing is that if I we approach a point from an unusual direction (because of diversion) my senses get completely overloaded

Being a prior athlete, I think I'm still in denial that something is seriously wrong with me. I keep trying to fix me, make me like I use to be.

Following directions, reading signs, trying to stay in between the white lines is

a challenge, driving is a challenge!! i seem to be able to do short distances, but long distances are not safe for me. And all the lights...white lights, big problem.

As an ex athlete (not like me) your probably struggling relating the concept of how to fix yourself like you did previously (very much like me). Fractures and soft tissue injuries had a clear plan and timescales for recover - pain killers, heat / ice, physio and within x weeks your virtualy as good as new.

With this it seems to be rest, good diet and at sometime into the future you will be somewhat better. It is not so much as denial as it is all the unknowns that I struggle with.

This happens to me too. I used to be excellent at spelling, now...I'm awful :(

Me too...just even simple words. For me it's like that feeling you get when you've said a word ten times over and it looks strange and loses its meaning. I've get really confused about the order of words too. And I used to write and proofread for a living :(