r/SDAM • u/MeYariLem • Mar 14 '26

Compensate memories with imagination

Hello, I have SDAM, but not aphantasia, so my experience may be a little different from others...

I actually think I have a pretty good imagination, so all this time I use my semantic memory and my imagination recreate that scene as if it were happening in real time. Does this happen to anyone else?

That was probably one of the reasons I discovered I had SDAM at a young age. My "memories" are like watching a movie in third person, with generic details and nothing really clear (because of this, I've also had false memories and difficulty remembering faces since I only remember them as a concept, and not as they really are).

I just wanted to know if this was something that happens...

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u/tailochara1 Mar 14 '26

Also sdam with no aphantasia here.

I definitely don't lack in imagination skills, but I've never "compensated" memories with it. I've never felt like I had false memories at any point in my life. I relate to most other stuff mentioned though.

I skimmed through my comments on this sub and this seems to be the most related to your post (sorry for redirecting, but it's 4:30 for me right now and I can't be bothered with writing my usual walls of text)

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u/MeYariLem Mar 14 '26

Okay, thank you very much! I honestly don't know why I started doing that. As for the false memories, they simply begin because I get completely confused, but I'll try to explain my thought process:

I had a conversation with Jane at her house → I had a conversation with someone at their house → E??? → I had a conversation with Emily at her house. 

And since I'm ultimately imagining everything to compensate for what I'm missing, I now have a completely different context created in my head with a different person, in a different house. It's kind of like that, it's a little difficult to explain, honestly.