Featured Image Credit: 60 Minutes Australia/YouTube
Topics: Psychology, Science, Health, Australia, Life
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Psychology, Science, Health, Australia, Life
A woman who remembers everything has shared the downsides to having the extremely rare condition.
In 2013, Rebecca Sharrock was diagnosed with something called ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory’ (HSAM).
Also known as Hyperthymesia, MedicalNewsToday defines the unique syndrome as 'an ability that allows people to remember nearly every event of their life with great precision'.
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This is something Rebecca has had all her life, but it wasn't until her official diagnosis over a decade ago that she learnt why she was able to recall her past so vividly.
Rebecca's memory is so good, she even remembers things from when she was a baby.
"When I was about a week old I remember being in this pink cotton blanket," she told BBC News in 2017.
"I’d always know when it was Mum holding me, for some reason. I just instinctively always knew and she was my favourite person."
Growing up, Rebecca always presumed that everyone could remember things like she did, so she was confused when a news segment about people like her were hailed as 'amazing'.
Recalling watching this on TV on January 23, 2011, Rebecca 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?'"
Her parents they explained that her memory was very unique and they thought she might have HSAM like those on the news.
Two years later their suspicions were confirmed and Rebecca received an official diagnosis.
As of 2019, she was the only Australian to have been diagnosed with HSAM, 60 Minutes Australia said.
While many see the rare syndrome as pretty astounding, Rebecca said it comes with its downsides as remembering sad or stressful memories brings back all the feelings she felt at the time.
She explained: "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."
Echoing similar sentiments to The Guardian in 2022, Rebecca shared: "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 added: "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."