As of 2019, Rebecca Sharrock was the only Australian diagnosed with ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory’
A woman with an incredibly rare ability to remember nearly every detail of her life has opened up about the challenges that come with it.
Rebecca Sharrock was diagnosed in 2013 with a condition known as ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory’ (HSAM).
Hyperthymesia is also a rare syndrome that allows people to recall nearly every moment of their lives in extraordinary detail, according to MedicalNewsToday.
Rebecca Sharrock has had a vivid memory since she was a child
60 Minutes Australia/YouTube
Rebecca has had this ability for as long as she can remember, but it wasn’t until her diagnosis that she understood why her memory was so different from others.
Her recall is so exceptional that she even has memories from when she was a newborn.
Speaking with BBC News in 2017, she shared: “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.”
For most of her life, Rebecca assumed that everyone could remember things as vividly as she did. That belief changed when she saw a news story about people with her condition.
She recalled watching the report on January 23, 2011, and being puzzled by the reaction it received. “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?'”
Rebecca was diagnosed with HSAM in 2013
60 Minutes Australia/YouTube
Her parents later explained that her memory was far from typical. They suspected she might have HSAM, just like the people featured in the news segment.
Two years later, doctors confirmed their suspicions, and Rebecca was officially diagnosed.
By 2019, she was the only known Australian with HSAM, as reported by 60 Minutes Australia.
While many might see her condition as an incredible gift, Rebecca has shared that it has its drawbacks.
Being able to recall past experiences so clearly means that painful or stressful memories bring back all the emotions 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.”
In a 2022 interview with The Guardian, she further elaborated: “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 also shared: “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.”
Despite everything, for Rebecca, this is simply her reality. “Remembering this way just seems so normal to me.”