You learn things in psychology 101 that are actually useful even if you don't become a shrink. Because, of course, psychology is the study of brain basics. Here's something that will ring a bell:

Intermittent reinforcement. Remember the three little rats in their cages pressing levers? The first rat never got a food pellet, so he quit pressing the lever. The second rat always got a food pellet, so he lost interest and also quit pushing the lever. Rat #3, however, sometimes got a food pellet, and sometimes didn't. He just kept on pushing that lever. The lesson: intermittent reinforcement is the most powerful kind.

I remind clients of this when they are having memory issues: specifically sometimes they remember and sometimes they don't. People with actual damage to the brain which causes no possible memory storage use memory systems all the time because they never remember without help. People without MTBI generally can rely on themselves to remember most of the time ("I used to have a really good memory!"). If you have an MTBI, however, sometimes that memory is pretty good, sometimes it fails entirely. This is really frustrating.

And when your memory actually works as it's supposed to, you are (altogether now!) intermittently reinforced! Yay! But this makes it harder to use those memory strategies and systems your cognitive therapist insists on. Because you don't always need them. You resist. You say, "Oh, I'll remember that." And it's embarrassing when you don't.

This is why I tell my clients to be more like Rat A. Act as if you don't have a memory, particularly when it's important. That's why we tell you to write it down. Safety net.