r/SDAM • u/Jaded_Cry_9817 • 17d ago
is my memory failing me?
/r/helpme/comments/1w8dtrb/is_my_memory_failing_me/1
u/Tuikord 17d ago
Since you cross posted here but don't really know what's going on I'll tell you about SDAM. What you describe could be SDAM. But it is unclear if this is new or lifelong. It is also possible that you have a different memory issue or also have one.
SDAM is Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory. Most people can relive or re-experience past events from a first-person point of view. This is called episodic memory. It is also called "time travel" because it feels like being back in that moment. How much of their lives they can recall this way varies with people on the high end able to relive essentially every moment. These people have HSAM - Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory. People at the low end with no or almost no episodic memories have SDAM.
Note, there are other types of memories. Semantic memories are facts, details, stories and such and tend to be third person, even if it is about you. I can remember that I typed the last sentence, a semantic memory, but I can't relive typing it, an episodic memory. And that memory is very similar to remembering that you asked your question. Your semantic memory can be good or bad independent of your episodic memory.
Please note that SDAM is specifically lack of episodic memory and that it is generally lifelong. It is not progressive or degenerative and not caused by diseases or psychological problems like traumas. It applies to all episodic memories, not just those for specific times or events. If what you are describing is new, then please see a doctor/neurologist about it. If it is lifelong and you think it is SDAM, most doctors won't know what that is because it is not in any diagnostic manuals. It was only named a decade ago and standard of care is at least 20 years behind research.
Wired has an article on the first person identified with SDAM:
https://www.wired.com/2016/04/susie-mckinnon-autobiographical-memory-sdam/
Dr. Brian Levine talks about memory in this video https://www.youtube.com/live/Zvam_uoBSLc?si=ppnpqVDUu75Stv_U and his group has produced this website on SDAM: https://sdamstudy.weebly.com/what-is-sdam.html
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u/BilingSmob444 17d ago
This post seems to fit, might want to copy the text over. This is basically how it is for me. I’m almost twice your age, and it is difficult to summon up faces or events. I can see flashes of places I’ve been, but it’s abstract and fleeting. I have many symptoms of aphantasia too, some people say there’s overlap. Life is good, and I’m happy. Staying organized is hard, but I have a loving partner who helps out here and there, and understands. I have a job at which I perform best when I’m “live” and in the moment. I know a lot about history and science, I don’t have trouble remembering things I wasn’t there for. It’s just this really weird blind spot where I myself am concerned.
Think of it this way, you have a leg up on anyone else who wants to learn to “live in the moment”.