Terrible short-term memory...

[damiencoold]

...awesome long-term memory. Does anyone has same trait as me? My old buddies from middle school re always speechless when I told past stories and events, questioning how the heck I can remember that much. But I had tough time with some activities involving short-term memory

[musicman64]

That's me. I can restart a conversation from 6 months ago as if I never left it. I can recall exact details from events and conversations from years ago. Do not ask me to remember a word that I have forgotten right now and don't ask what I ate or did yesterday. Just an ADD thing.

[aularian]

People are amazed that I can recognise a face of a person I haven't seen since I was a child (of people I barely even knew anyway), yet I have trouble remembering something that I read or was said to me 5 minutes ago. My long term memory stands for most things up until I was about 15, then diminishes from there...

[sarey]

Yep, long term memory is quite good(sort of), short term memory... forget about it!!!

[JollyBadger]

Yep, same here.

I can still remember (and recite) poems or song lyrics from back in grade school, or details about places or events from my childhood.

But give me a set of instructions (like driving directions) and ask me to repeat them five minutes later, and I draw a blank.

[ADHDTigger]

Another voice saying "me too". I can remember some of the oddest things easily and forget others just as easily. I have been telling people for years that I carry a drivers license so that I can remember where I live.

[stef]

Same here!
I can remember anything from childhood in detail (and probably what I was wearing and what the weather was like too); old phone numbers, obscure names of clients from former jobs etc...
But my short term memory is very, very flawed. I have to write EVERYTHING down at work and color-code it, and I have another little notebook always in my purse for stuff outside of work.

[QueensU_girl]

Yup. Impaired WM is classic ADD.

[talitha]

i remember visuals. like i'll know if i've seen something or not before. i remember the face of the parents of my fellow pre-schoolers, the names of friends when i was 5, the workers at the bookstore, etc. but i lose my train of thought mid-sentence (even mid-word at times), i don't know what day it is, i forget almost everything short term...

for me i've found that mostly stuff that is not interesting to me i will never remember. i dont beat myself up over it... doesn't really bother me. hah.

[PinkRoxy]

Yeah I think Im kind of the same, my memory was better as a child than it is now. I have told so many people if they want me to do something make sure they tell me to do it so I can do it right away not in 5 or 10 minutes or after Ive done something else because I just would forget about it and then I end up beating myself up about it cos I usually get into trouble for not remembering to do something.

I think my long term memory is good but not my short term memory.

[Trooper Keith]

I guess for a differing opinion, I have absolutely terrible longterm memory. Terrible. Like, I've blasted most of the memories of my childhood out of my brain. It's getting better but generally I need prompted before I can remember something, and even then I'm not sure if I'm just making it up.

To be fair, though, my working memory isn't all that great, either. I'm pretty quick to forget what I'm in the process of doing unless it's patently obvious, and I can lose track of the original topic of conversations pretty easily if I'm let to my own devices and take the conversation all over the place.

[talitha]

Originally Posted by KMiller

I guess for a differing opinion, I have absolutely terrible longterm memory. Terrible. Like, I've blasted most of the memories of my childhood out of my brain. It's getting better but generally I need prompted before I can remember something, and even then I'm not sure if I'm just making it up.

To be fair, though, my working memory isn't all that great, either. I'm pretty quick to forget what I'm in the process of doing unless it's patently obvious, and I can lose track of the original topic of conversations pretty easily if I'm let to my own devices and take the conversation all over the place.

well... that describes me too tho. hah maybe I'm connfused.

[kendrabean]

Originally Posted by damiencoold

...awesome long-term memory. Does anyone has same trait as me? My old buddies from middle school re always speechless when I told past stories and events, questioning how the heck I can remember that much. But I had tough time with some activities involving short-term memory

Dude this is so me. LOL Seriously I have said this to my family 100 times before. I can remember vivid details about insignificant things that happened in 3rd grade, but I can't remember the last time I took my pill today.

[damiencoold]

my long-term is so awesome that sometimes it kills me. couple days ago I was thinking back about my high school year, and an event that included some haters came to my mind. Suddenly I was so mad. I just wanted to come back to give them some sh** even though it had happened a long time ago. That was a weird feeling

[Kiddder]

Yup....I am same....had High School 30 year reunion last year and was relating stories my friends had forgotten and were amazed I remembered the.

So here is my delemma....if we have had ADD all our lives and have poor short term memories.....how in the heck do those ever become rooted into our long term memories.....am I asking that right? Does anyone know what I mean, if we cannot remember things from yesterday, how, in say 10 years do we remember yesterday?