**Panicked by Forgetfulness**
因健忘而驚慌
My patient Sharon was a chic and coiffed 62-year-old real estate broker who looked years younger than her age.
我的病人Sharon是一位時髦且打理得體的62歲房地產經紀人，看起來比實際年齡年輕許多。
She wasn't embarrassed to admit that she visited her plastic surgeon every four months to get Botox injections.
她毫不掩飾地承認自己每四個月就去整形外科醫生那裡打肉毒桿菌。
She loved the way he made the lines around her eyes disappear.
她很喜歡醫生讓她眼周細紋消失的效果。
Riding down in the elevator from his office recently, she couldn't remember whether her next stop was the dentist or a meeting with a client.
最近一次從醫生辦公室搭電梯下來時，她竟然忘了下一個目的地是牙醫診所還是要見客戶。
She searched her purse for her smartphone and panicked when she couldn't find it.
她在包包裡找手機，發現找不到時感到非常慌張。
Had she left it at home? Could it be in the car?
她是不是把手機忘在家裡？還是留在車上？
As she raced into the parking structure, she suddenly realized that she hadn't noticed what level she parked on.
她衝進停車場時，突然意識到自己根本沒注意停在哪一層。
Sharon hurried past rows and rows of cars, repeatedly pressing the remote unlock button on her key in hopes of hearing the car beep.
Sharon在車陣中不斷按遙控鑰匙，希望聽到車子的嗶聲。
After searching two levels, she sat down on a bench to catch her breath and calm down.
找了兩層之後，她坐在長椅上喘口氣、讓自己冷靜下來。
This wasn't the first time she'd experienced memory problems, but this episode finally convinced her to come see me.
這已不是她第一次遇到記憶問題，但這次終於讓她決定來找我。
Sharon entered my office and took a seat, and I asked how I could help.
Sharon走進我的診間坐下，我問她需要什麼協助。
She told me that her memory had always been excellent and how much that helped in business.
她告訴我自己一直以來記憶力都很好，這對工作幫助很大。
But for the last two years she'd been having more memory lapses, and they seemed to be getting worse.
但近兩年來，她的健忘情形越來越嚴重。
I asked her what had been going on in her life when the memory lapses had begun.
我問她在健忘開始出現時，她的生活發生了什麼變化。
"Well, I had just gone through a messy divorce and decided to have another facelift. You know, it's good for my job to look young. But since then, I haven't felt quite as sharp.
「嗯，我剛經歷了一場混亂的離婚，然後又做了一次拉皮手術。你知道，對我的工作來說，年輕很重要。但自那之後，我就覺得自己不再那麼敏銳了。
I know it takes weeks, sometimes months to get back to normal after a big procedure, but this is ridiculous.
我知道大手術後需要幾週甚至幾個月才能恢復正常，但這次真的太誇張了。
I'm having trouble keeping track of clients, and my sales are slipping.
我現在很難記住客戶，業績也在下滑。
I worry all the time, and frankly, I'm getting depressed about it."
我一直很擔心，坦白說，這讓我開始感到憂鬱。」
We discussed her feelings of depression for a while, but because general anesthesia can lead to temporary or even chronic memory problems, I wanted to know more about her facelift two years ago.
我們討論了她的憂鬱感受，但由於全身麻醉可能導致暫時或長期的記憶問題，我想多了解她兩年前做拉皮手術的情況。
"How long did the surgery take?" I asked.
「手術做了多久？」我問。
"The nurse said I was out for about eight hours."
「護士說我昏迷了大約八個小時。」
I was already forming several ideas of what might be contributing to Sharon's complaints.
我開始思考可能造成Sharon困擾的各種原因。
In addition to major surgery, stress from her divorce and job could have been worsening her memory and mood.
除了大手術，離婚和工作的壓力也可能讓她的記憶和情緒惡化。
I reviewed her medical history, medications, and lifestyle habits that might have been affecting her brain health.
我檢查了她的病史、藥物和生活習慣，這些都有可能影響大腦健康。
I described various treatments for depression that might lift her spirits and offered Sharon some tips to improve her recall abilities quickly.
我介紹了各種能提升心情的憂鬱症治療方式，也給Sharon一些能快速改善記憶力的建議。
At the end of her first session, I recommended that she avoid further elective surgery because of the possible effects on her memory due to surgery requiring general anesthesia.
在第一次看診結束時，我建議她不要再做選擇性手術，因為全身麻醉可能影響記憶力。
Sharon laughed. "You're going to have to come up with something better than that, Dr. Small, because I'm getting my eyes done in two weeks."
Sharon笑了：「Dr. Small，你得想個更好的方法，因為我兩週後還要做眼部手術。」
As we continued to meet over the next few weeks, I was able to convince Sharon to hold off on the surgery.
接下來幾週我們持續見面，我成功說服Sharon暫緩手術。
She began her younger brain program and gradually adjusted her lifestyle to include daily exercise, memory training,
她開始進行年輕大腦計畫，並逐漸將日常運動、記憶訓練等融入生活，
