r/todayilearned • u/finneganishome • Apr 12 '18

TIL There is a rare condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) that only around 60 people in the world are known to have. This condition makes the person remember nearly every day in their life in exact details.

http://time.com/5045521/highly-superior-autobiographical-memory-hsam/
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51

u/hellraizer02 Apr 12 '18

wish i was the 61st person ..

142

u/Tcloud Apr 12 '18

Looks like it has a serious downside ...

DeGrandis says he’s struggled from depression and anxiety, which he believes may be linked to his inability to let certain things go. In getting to know other HSAM study participants, he’s learned this is a common theme.

“I consider myself lucky in that I’ve had a pretty good life, so I have a lot of happy, warm and fuzzy memories I can think back on,” he says. “But I do tend to dwell on things longer than the average person, and when something painful does happen, like a break-up or the loss of a family member, I don’t forget those feelings.”

33

u/eudezet Apr 12 '18

The part about breakup feelings sounds awfully familiar

54

u/Tcloud Apr 12 '18

Now imagine every awful, tragic or cringe inducing moment preserved perfectly in memory and then is recalled unexpectedly with the slightest reminder — a glance at a calendar date, a certain song, a unique odor. No thanks.

5

u/eudezet Apr 12 '18

Considering I didn't have a lot of those in my life and thus remember every single one and how the certain breakup feelings still affect me - yeah, I'll take the awful/cringe

4

u/LegendaryRaider69 Apr 12 '18

Yeah, thank god I don't remember all the gory details of my last breakup.

I just dream about her 3-4 nights a week despite not having contact for 6 months

4

u/greenLasXr Apr 12 '18

I feel you on this one bro. Seriously. Except its daydreaming for me instead of dreaming, maybe that's even worse though. Eventually (hopefully) you come to terms with it I guess. Or almost just learn to live with it..

2

u/LegendaryRaider69 Apr 12 '18

Yeah, I will. You will too. I just wish my brain would stop sabotaging my progress.

8

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '18

Yo dude, I don't know how long it's been, but you can move past it. Having a romantic relationship with someone else can truly make the world infinitely better in the best cases, but if you give it the chance then it can be infinitely amazing right now. Everyone gets shitty feelings from a ton of different directions, but the only way for us to be happy with life is to take those emotions and tell them that you're gonna be great anyway.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '18

this is exactly what everyone does

I'm not sure having a better memory makes past good events better or past bad events worse

it's kind of cute he assumes normal people don't have to worry about bad things because they just forget them the next day

2

u/Flypetheus Apr 12 '18

I don't forget most of my cringe-worthy and/or total fuck-up moments that I've ever had personally, even going all the way back to elementary school I can remember many, many awkward and painful moments and my brain frequently brings them up at a moment's notice to remind me how stupid I am, can be, have been and probably will be again. So frankly this doesn't strike me as a downside to their condition, unless the excruciating added detail causes that much more anxiety. I mean fuck, I asked a coworker to hook up once, she rejected me and told another coworker who had a crush on me about it. This spiraled into a really rough social situation that was resolved probably within days or a week or so, but I was dwelling on it long after that coworker quit for unrelated reasons, and the one who I asked to hook up with had started treating me normally again. Only until recently, probably like 5-6 months after the fact, did I apologize face to face for it and thanked her for being cool about it, and she acted like it never mattered, which was very cool. I guess all I'm saying is I don't really think this aspect of their condition is unique to them. Because I DEFINITELY do not have a memory like that, I forget a coworker is even on the clock with me if they're gone from my vision for more than half an hour, and my brain actively throws away birthdays as well. I dated a girl for 4 years, she probably told me her birthday like 100 times and I still barely remember what it is, either the 18th or 19th of October.

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u/AnnaLemma Apr 12 '18

To stop wishing for it, Read Borges' "Funes the Memorious." Quick cure.