A...

veryone has forgetful moments - walk upstairs then can't remember why, return from the shop without an important ingredient - but the other day I experienced a new level of blankness.

I was trying to think of a word which I knew began with the letter 'a'. Not only could I not remember the word, though, I found that I couldn't even describe the concept I was trying to remember. It felt like there was a smooth, polished, rugby-ball-shaped hole inside my head, neatly excising everything connected with this word, except its initial letter.

This sensation was so strong it was like an itch or a pain, and I started to panic. I tried to think of something else as a distraction, but that was like trying not to breathe. The word was entirely incidental to whatever I'd been thinking about, but suddenly it was crucial that I remember it.

Lisa talked me out of it, thankfully, but it left me feeling shaken. My brain must still have been thinking about it, though, for ten hours later I suddenly realised that the missing word was 'apathetic'.

A quick look at the checklist of warning signs on the Alzheimer's Association website shows that I am unlikely to be suffering from that form of dementia, but I suddenly have a bit more understanding of what it must be like for people who do.