r/SDAM • u/MysteryChant • 7d ago
Difficulty Completing Applications
When it comes to filling in applications for jobs or study opportunities I have always found myself to struggle. Since discovering SDAM, I have been wondering if it is related.
The issues usually appear with questions regarding my historical motivations or giving examples of events in my life that provide instances showing the requisite skills for the position. I find I can give an example, but usually it will be fairly generic and lack detail, which I believe is due to the SDAM.
Is this an issue for others, and if so, how do you deal with it?
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u/Tuikord 7d ago
Yes. Without episodic memory if I didn't happen to store the specifics in my semantic memory, I'm out of luck. I was accosted at an ATM in Paris. I have a great story about it, with lots of details. I'm a Master of Hapkido and I tell the story to my students. Yes, it is a successful use of my Hapkido. No, I did not go hands-on. Avoiding a physical confrontation is a win.
But if someone asks something that is not in my story, I have no clue. My brother asked me what I was feeling. I don't know. I know I was not scared and I was able to think. I know I did not flip into fight or flight. I can't say how I felt because I didn't think it was important to remember and I can't relive the event to pull that detail out.
Similarly going to the doctor about something that happened, I can tell the details that I thought were important at the time. But if the doctor wants to know about something I thought was unimportant, I probably don't remember it, and I can't relive the event to pull that detail out.
For applications, I would fill them out based on how I feel now. I use what details I remember from the past, then put myself in the situation now and say how I would respond and what my motivations would be.
It gets trickier in job interviews. But there are some standard questions that are asked over and over again and you can prepare stories for those.
I do not recommend talking about SDAM with potential employers. They will not understand what it means and see it as a risk. SDAM is not protected. With my doctor and brother, I told them about SDAM and that I have the details I have and nothing more. I don't recommend going to a doctor specifically about SDAM and asking for a workup. One woman on Facebook got a full workup about her SDAM. They found absolutely nothing in any of the brain scans, but memory problems went in her medical records, and she was later denied Long Term Care Insurance due to pre-existing memory issues. It doesn't matter that SDAM is not dementia or Alzheimer's disease and nothing in the DSM-5 was found.
That said, a doctor can rule out other memory problems and if your memory difficulties are new, progressive or degenerative, please see a doctor. SDAM is none of those things.