2d ago

Is it common to have trouble remembering important details?

I forget medical info all the time. When was my last dentist visit? I dunno. Which kid had their tonsils out? What's my blood type?

Wife asks "remember when I had strep last year?" No...

Has anyone in my house had COVID? I think so, but which one(s)?

I forget vacations we took, what states I've been to.

Terrible at remembering people that I've met even a bunch of times.

Horrible at work. I'm on top of what's happening now, mostly, because I have notes, but what happened a year ago? Gosh.

It's really frustrating living like this, but I don't know how much might be my ADHD and how much is just me having a bad brain.

42 comments

I can relate to this and I'm unsure if it's part of ADHD but I'm sure it contributes. Sometimes I wonder if I have a less extreme version of SDAM.
Autobiographical memory may differ greatly between individuals. Hyperthymesia, also known as hyperthymestic syndrome or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), is a condition that affects an individual's autobiographical memory, essentially meaning that they cannot forget small details which otherwise would not be stored. It forms one extreme, in which a person might recall vividly almost every day of their life (usually from around the age of 10). On the other extreme is severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM), where a person cannot relive memories from their lives, although this does not affect other memory capabilities or general cognition.[SDAM is a severe autobiographical memory deficiency, but without amnesia.
- Huh. Maybe I'm on that spectrum. I barely remember anything from before I was 20 and as I said up top I have some really big gaps after that too.
  I wonder how you would find out for sure.
  
  I'm not sure how well known or studied it is. Trauma can also cause gaps in memory.
  
  Well, thank you very much for pointing this out.
  
  I did a little more digging and found a research study FAQ
  How can I get assessed for SDAM?
  There is no formal assessment for SDAM – this is a topic of current research. If you would like to participate, please take our survey. You may be contacted about participating in further in-depth testing.
  Not sure how up to date that is.

42 comments