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How Overcome Difficulty With Words

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Published: 04Nov2009
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Difficulty with words is quite common, especially with those who are advancing in age. Difficulty with words means having problems in word finding, which is a mental activity of selecting or retrieving words from memory. The difficulty lies in a temporary disruption in the mental processing, which naturally declines with age. But difficulty with words may not be an exclusive setback in the elderly: even younger people may have forgotten a person's name at the moment of introduction, especially a long foreign name. Irrespective of age, gender, and profession, we all experience every now and then the difficulty with words - forgetting a too-familiar word, substituting a complex word with another similar-sound word are just some of the common examples of difficulty with words.

Difficulty with words is difficulty in word finding. That is to say, you know the word, but you simply cannot retrieve it instantly or when you want to. This happens when you don't remember the word or name (which is all too common), or when you say the wrong word, instead of the word you have in mind, e.g. "I need some sugar" when you really mean "salt" instead. Difficulty with words occurs when your mind becomes blank, or a word is just at the tip of your tongue. In a futile attempt to get the word out, you simply choose another word with a similar sound but the wrong meaning, or you substitute the word with another less-specific word, such as "thing" in "the thing has expired" when you cannot remember the word "warranty."

Difficulty with words can be embarrassing in a social conversation, especially when you are at a loss for those words that are important in conveying your message.

The good news is that there are ways to overcome difficulty with words.

1. Rest assured, you are not alone - there are many just like you struggling with word finding. Just learn to overcome your inadequacy in word finding. Dwelling on your setback will only aggravate your predicament.

2. Learn to work on strategies to remember names and familiar words. Be proactive in improving your basic memory skills to improve your memory.

3. Be confident and positive that you can improve your basic memory skills to overcome your difficulty with words. If you stay focused on applying your word-finding strategies, you can improve your basic memory skills in mental processing to enhance your memory.

4. Be knowledgeable. Identify your weaknesses or shortcomings with respect to the types of names or words you always have problems with remembering. In addition to learning strategies to store names and words in your memory, you also need to learn how to consistently retrieve them correctly with basic memory skills.

5. Be prepared. You can predict many of the words in upcoming situations. For example, if you have to address a group on a certain topic, you should have jotted down some key words and names - if not already written down the whole speech - to facilitate your retrieval and to avoid word finding difficulty.

Difficulty with words is just the way of life - something we all need to confront, to accept, and to adjust at some point in life. It is already a blessing that you have lived to that stage in your life. Just learn some strategies and basic memory skills to overcome difficulty with words.

For more information on the wisdom of healthy living, go to Stephen Lau's website: The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Stephen Lau is a writer and researcher with books and websites on health, Chinese healing, eating disorders, golf, and money matters. Visit his web page: A Healthy Mind.

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