Every Day Of Your Life!
It's called hyperthymesia, and it means having a very detailed memory of your life. People with this condition can remember every day of most of their lives in perfect detail!
These are not "memory experts," who use various strategies to memorize great amounts of information. These individuals simply have what might be referred to as natural total recall, and it happens involuntarily, automatically, and, it is believed, subconsciously.
Interestingly, though they are extremely gifted at recalling autobiographical details of their entire lives, these individuals tend to have worse than average ability to remember general information.
This may be due to the fact that constant memories of the past are disruptive to their lives and their thought processes, and make attending to the "here and now" difficult.
As of 2013, there were only 25 confirmed cases of hyperthymesia, making it an extremely rare condition.
If you have seen the American sit-com, "Taxi," you may be surprised to find out that actress Marilu Henner reportedly has this condition, and she appeared on the TV program 60 Minutes in 2010, discussing her ability to remember nearly every day of her life since she was 11 years old!
Now there's a condition that will give you plenty of "life story blog" ideas, and before you ask, no, I do not suffer from hyperthymesia.
I just remember a lot of "stuff."
"Memories light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were...
Memories may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget"
(Barbra Streisand, 1981)
Recent Comments
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Interesting! One of this 25 must be my wife. 10 years might have past already and she still tells me things like: "In 2005 you promised me to buy me a diamant by the year 2010. Where is it?" :)
Women have memories like an elephant, Eric-You might as well break down and get that thing now! :)
I, and my cousin, have a condition of remember dates in the past and what happened on these dates. It's involuntary. Even if the date was 30 years ago. But I cannot say I suffer from this condition, as I can't remember EVERY day of my life.
Yes, Mike, it's sure a rare and an odd condition. I understand it can be quite exhausting for them, because there's almost an element of obsessiveness about it.
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That is very interesting! I had no idea some people really remembered that much!
A few do, Keith.