As of 2019, Rebecca Sharrock was the sole Australian to have been diagnosed with ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory’

A woman who remembers everything has revealed the downsides to having the extremely rare condition.

In 2013, Rebecca Sharrock received diagnosis with something called ‘Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory’ (HSAM).

Also known as Hyperthymesia, MedicalNewsToday defines the unique syndrome as ‘an ability that enables people to remember nearly every event of their life with great precision’.

Though this is something Rebecca has had all her life, it wasn’t until her official diagnosis over a decade ago that she learnt why she was able to recall her past so vividly.

Rebecca’s memory is so good, she even remembers things from when she was a baby.

“When I was about a week old I remember being in this pink cotton blanket,” she told BBC News in 2017.

“I’d always know when it was Mum holding me, for some reason. I just instinctively always knew and she was my favourite person.”

When growing up, Rebecca always presumed that everyone could remember things like she did, so she was confused when a news segment about people like her were hailed as ‘amazing’.

Recalling watching this on TV on January 23, 2011, Rebecca said: “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?'”

Her parents explained that her memory was very unique and they thought she might have HSAM like those on the news.

Two years later their suspicions were confirmed and Rebecca was officially diagnosed.

As of 2019, she was the sole Australian diagnosed with HSAM, 60 Minutes Australia said.

While many see the rare syndrome as pretty astounding, Rebecca shared it comes with its downsides as remembering sad or stressful memories brings back all the feelings she felt at the time.

“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.”, she explained.

Echoing similar sentiments to The Guardian in 2022, Rebecca shared: “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 added: “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.

“Remembering this way just seems so normal to me.”