Most of us are lucky enough to forget those cringey or painful memories over time. But for Rebecca Sharrock and Emily Nash, that kind of forgetting doesn’t happen at all. Their brains just work differently.
It’s been more than 12 years since Rebecca received her diagnosis of a condition called ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory,’ also known as HSAM.
Both Emily and Rebecca recently sat down with 60 Minutes Australia to talk about what life is like when your memory just doesn’t forget. During the interview, Emily explained it this way: “My brain is almost organised like a calendar, and each date specifically resembles a movie where I can replay, rewind and fast-forward.”
“The more I go forward into a specific day, the more details I can pull up from that day.”
“I remember my parents started chasing me around the house, because I was just so excited to learn how to walk and it became a run.” she told the program enthusiastically.
“I think I even learned those two things the same day.”
She has the ability to remember everything—from when she was a tiny baby right up to her current life as an adult. Her memories aren’t just vague flashes; they are vivid, full, and always accessible.
When she was asked by 60 Minutes Australia whether she could remember every minute of her life, she confidently answered: “That’s pretty much the case, I’d said I remember about 95 percent of the time at least.”
Rebecca admitted that despite how impressive it might sound, living with this kind of memory can feel more like a burden than a gift.
She explained that the downside of having HSAM is that emotionally painful or stressful memories don’t just fade—they come back strong, complete with all the intense feelings from that time.
In a separate conversation with The Guardian in 2022, Rebecca shared a similar perspective. She said: “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.”
“Remembering this way just seems so normal to me.”