Add and long term memory.

[susannahmia]

My friends think I'm strange because I can remember in a relatively detailed way back until I was as young as around 18 months old. (Can guess that age as I remember specific details including ones about an aunt that moved to America when I was 18 months old (she didn't come back till I was 4).)

I think they're the strange ones as some of their first memories are as old as their first day of school, communion etc. A lot of them don't remember preschool, one doesn't even remember most of primary school which to me is very strange.

Anyways I think my first memory was climbing out of my cot at about a year and a half and giving my mother the fright of her life. I even remember a bit of what I was thinking etc. I know for certain I was about 18 months old for that memory because my cousin had cracked her skull doing the same about a month earlier. My mother was therefore so freaked out when I did it that she never put me in a crib again and she remembers the incident well. Also my aunt (who emigrated ) had called over and was in the kitchen so that was the whole reason I had climbed out in the first place.

I have lots of similar early memories in good detail from then on. Obviously not perfect but a hell of a lot more than others do.

Its strange because my short term memory sucks, I lose everything forget conversations, forget to do important stuff etc.

The only other person I know who can remember back so far is my mother who I suspect is also ADD.

Could this be related to add?

How far do you remember back?

[shadowpower88]

Thats kinda creepy lol.

Uhm,

Sitting on a high chair watching sesame street.

Im guessing that goes to around the same time.

[StoicNate]

I remember way back when I was a little toddler and all of my childhood to now. And have a pretty good long term memory, but my short term memory is almost non-existent.

I still remember a scary dream I had when I was 3 years old and then telling my dad about it at breakfast time.

I think it's very rare to meet people that can remember that far back. I think you're the first person to mention it. I'm very interested in people that can remember their early years in life.

[daveddd]

i remember little/none of my childhood

[daveddd]

Originally Posted by StoicNate

I remember way back when I was a little toddler and all of my childhood to now. And have a pretty good long term memory, but my short term memory is almost non-existent.

I think it's very rare to meet people that can remember that far back. I think you're the first person to mention it. I'm very interested in people that can remember their early years in life.

there was a special on cnn a few weeks back i watched with people who could remember everyday of their life, the weather that day , everything

and they all had ocd or traits of it

[Bradtacular]

My long term memory is really bad. I can only remember a few bits of my early childhood. Earliest memory was when I was about 3 or 4.

My elementary school years were nightmarish for those trying to teach me. My behavior was so bad that I got kicked out of almost every school in town. There were six elementary schools in town and I attended five of them.

When I reached fifth grade they put me in a special ed class and started giving me Ritalin. I have a lot memories from that year and I have to believe it was because it was the medication. My died dad near the end of that school year and I moved to different city.

I was no longer on the meds and I only have brief fleeting memories of junior high, and only a few memories of high school. I don't remember any of my teachers. My behavior had improved and I was doing okay.

Last year one of my old girl friends contacted me on Facebook. I've only had four serious relationships in my life, so you would think that I would remember her. I remember her name, where she lived and I remember her parents. I have no other memories. I have no idea how the relationship ended. Very sad considering I was in my early 20's.

[StoicNate]

Originally Posted by daveddd

there was a special on cnn a few weeks back i watched with people who could remember everyday of their life, the weather that day , everything

and they all had ocd or traits of it

I saw that too, but my memory isn't like that.
Those people have like a calender in their heads from the time they were born, which is amazing and know every little detail of every day.

My long term memory is like me remembering things like as if someone filmed it from my point of view and in front of me point of view, which can be confusing to understand.

[LostInThought12]

My long term memory is excellent. My first memory was around 18-24 months. Watching my parents eat tv dinners in front of the tv cleaning their riffles. And another one where my babysitter had me in a swing chair and covered me with balloons... I was scared when my parents walked in and saw me. I thought they were going to yell at me. Then the classic when I was 2 1/2 or 3... sitting in my highchair at the table and I had a glass of milk in front of me and I wouldnt drink it. My dad lost his temper and told me 'drink it or ware it' then asked me 'are you going to drink it?' I shook my head and then he through the glass of milk in my face. Then my mom got mad at him and gave me a bath in the sink and washed my hair and then ended back in the highchair. Again, the glass of milk and my dad. Then he asked me the same question and my mom told him 'if you do that again your going to give her a bath' and I started screaming because I didnt want him to see me naked.

Short term memory is horrible.

[shadowpower88]

what were we discussing again?

[zannie]

lost in thought - no wonder you remember the milk throwing incident it would be hard to forget - sorry you had to go through that.


I remember when I was three and my sister, my parents and I lived in a basement apartment. I had lost a button off of my coat I remember showing to my mom from outside looking down into the kitchen. I was tolerated by most of the older kids in the neighbourhood but one boy played marbles with me and tried to show me how to walk on the edge of the sandbox. There was a lady who in another apartment who had a colourful parrot. I remember seeing my parents house when the steam roller was finishing the cement floor in the basement. It was distrubing that we moved and left my friend Jimmy the day we moved into the house when we drove there I asked my mom the names of the streets so I could get back there to see him.

A memory with emotional impact creates a light bulb effect it illuminates the memories before and after it so they are easier to remember.

I have a good long term memory once if a memory manages to make it through my short term memory. My working memory is the worst.

[Offle]

My two earliest are from when I was around two, maybe a little younger. The first one is of my brother hitting my back with the tilt wand from our blinds because I broke his favorite toy and then me biting him. My other earliest memory is sitting on the ground with my brother eating cucumber slices and watching our neighbours Hansel and Audi playing hackie sack and being really good at it.

I dont actually remember much from school before I was medicated. I remember really big things, but nothing from day to day. Like I remember the time I cut off a girls braid because she said she wanted short hair like me, and I remember the time my first grade teacher locked my entire class in her supply closet and they had to call the police, and the time I was the candle bearer for Wednesday mass at school and I caught the Virgin Mary banner on fire. But that's about it. I don't even remember any of my teachers. I also don't remember anything about my home life other than being really angry with my dad all the time and my parents yelling at each other.

After I started taking medication my memory is way more filled in. I remember things from class, I remember people's names. I can even recall specific conversations and who I had them with. My short term memory is still horrible though. I have to write everything important on my hands.

[fracturedstory]

Sound pretty autistic to me. Although I'm one of the ones that can only remember as far back as being 3 or 4. There's not much to remember before then. Staring at a wall, sitting away from people and screaming over the slightest change. Or maybe it's because I was considered a normal child before I was 2.

[Justtess]

My memory is strange. I had a lot of stress one year and it zapped my long term memory and created holes of missing memory. I can remember where my prom was but not who was there or I know I had a huge 25th birthday but I don't know why. Many of these gaps disappeared and have most of the important ones anyway.

The earliest memory I have is crawling on the floor and bumping my head on the wall. That's all I did. I can remember how far my face was from the floor and the wall getting closer till my head hurt. Another early memory is the strange pattern on the overhead light cover. It had these geometric patterns a spiralgraph would make.

[TKiMNSTR]

i remember when i was 3 and i got a toy uzi for my birthday. looked real too, lifesize. it would make smoke when you fired it and sounds and the barrel lit up. also got a cap gun, and i remember the first thing i did after loading it was putting it to my head and my grandparents and uncle started freaking out lol. i also remember being in the middle of an earthquake at that age, now thats something youll never forget.

[thetoweringvirt]

Holy cow. I thought I had a good longterm memory until I started reading some of the responses on this thread. I have a [i]great[i] memory for completely inconsequential things (if there is any such thing) and small titbits I might hear here and there.