Many of us deal with memory problems. We may even have a difficult time remembering what we ate for lunch, but not everybody falls into that category.
I’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Sharrock. In 2013, she was diagnosed with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). That condition, also known as Hyperthymesia, has an interesting side effect.
The syndrome, according to MedicalNewsToday says that it is ‘an ability that allows people to remember nearly every event of their life with great precision’. Rebecca claims to have had the syndrome her entire life but she didn’t know why she could remember everything so clearly until she was diagnosed officially a decade ago.
Rebecca doesn’t just have a good memory, she can even remember things from when she was a baby. She said: “When I was about a week old I remember being in this pink cotton blanket
“I’d always know when it was Mum holding me, for some reason. I just instinctively always knew and she was my favourite person.”
She found it confusing when there was a news segment about people who said her ability was ‘amazing’. When she was growing up, Rebecca thought that everybody could remember things like she did.
She recalled the time she saw it on TV on January 23, 2011. She said: “When those people were going through their recollections, the reporters were saying ‘It’s amazing, incredible.’ I said to my parents, ‘Why are they calling this amazing, isn’t it normal?'”
According to her parents, they knew that she had a unique ability with her memory and thought that she may have HSAM after they saw the news broadcast. It wasn’t until two years later that they were able to get confirmation when Rebecca was given an official diagnosis.
According to 60 Minutes Australia, she is the only Australian as of 2019 to have been diagnosed with the condition.
You would think that this was an astounding ability and would have many benefits but Rebecca says that it has its downsides as well. She has all of the sad and stressful memories from her past, and they come back frequently.
She said: “If I’m remembering an incident that happened when I was three, my emotional response to the situation is like a three-year-old, even though my mind and conscience are like an adult.”
In another interview, she said: “If I’m remembering something negative, my emotions of that experience will come back.
“Sometimes people will say that I’m just deliberately not letting go, and I’m just like dwelling on the negatives in my life.”
She went on to say: “It’s awful to be a medical exception because very few people understand what you’re going through and there just aren’t many treatments designed for it.
“Remembering this way just seems so normal to me.”
