Ok, this might sound really "out there" to some of you, but this is something that has been bugging me my entire life. I have never told anyone because I figured they would think I am crazy or something of that nature, or they would think I am just full of shit. I am hoping maybe someone else here has this same "problem/ anomoly, or maybe someone at least knows what it is.... Well here it goes.

I have always had a really really great long term memory (i have a good short term mem, but nothing amazing- so no I do not have a photographic memory or anything like that.) Like I could ace a history test I took 8 years ago or whatnot, but it might take me the same amount of time for me to memorize a part in a play or what not. Ok, so this is where it get a little weird, even to me. I have many memories of things that happened my entire life, i remember not being able to crawl, and being very frustrated at my immobility. I remember people trying to talk to me, and being very confused at what they were doing... I have a VIVID memory of when I was around 2 or so, and before that it is more like images, or a slide show... you know what i mean? Ok so ya I have told people that and basically they just say I created the memories because of home video or whatever. But many of those thoughts were of times we have no pictures, and before we bought our camera. Also they are 1st person, if that means anything.... Another weird thing is I can remember things in perfect sequence years later, if I knew them originally. Like I cant tell you what date I bought my N64 at because I did not know it at the time. but I could give you the week, the amount I paid for it, where i bought, what games were got with it, who was with me, etc. And that was just a random night in 1998.

Ok this is the one "group" of memories I never tell ANYONE about. I have memories of being in darkness, hearing muffled noises and not being able to more or see. I remember the emotion of fear only. I also have a memory of a certain point where things became "hectic" and the voices and such were louder, then being in light fairly suddenly... ya what else could that be. What make this set of memories hard to explain is at the time I did not have the Ability to think in a lang, my thought were based on emotion, and no logic or words even. There were no visual objects either... So it is really hard for me to explain "exactly" what I remember.

I have been trying to find an answer to why I can do this, I know most people cant because I was scoffed at for mentioning I could remember my 3rd birthday... lol. The only theory I have every come up with it the part of my brain that creates "flash" memories is Over active, like you know how most people can remember where they were when 9/11 happened or what not. Well what causes that to happen I believe is your brain sectretes a hormone that cause the part of your brain that encodes memories to work "overtime"... So basically maybe something up there is messed up and even a moderate emotion causes that hormone to kick in.... that is best I have come up with....

help

btw- the reason I suddenly posted this is because my mind was going through all of my memories, and I could not sleep... lol.

Okay this is really off topic, but you've got a really wrong idea of what photographic memory is in your head.

Photographic memory is where what your eyes are seeing at a given moment freezes in your mind (so you still see that same image) despite your eyes looking elsewhere (so the thing you're looking at doesn't replace what you just saw), it's not something that can be controlled and therefore involuntary and it's not like you're actually remembering the visual image (in the traditional sense, like how you say people remember where they were when 9/11 happened) it's that it's stuck as your sight for an X amount of time. That's not the best description and I'm not sure if it's entirely accurate, but it's definitely not what you thought it was.

I can't give you much help for your the rest of your post though, except for some respect for posting something like this on the internet (where all the assholes in the world meet). But, just because you can't remember a particular memory, doesn't necessarily mean it was traumatic, it could be less significant, irrelevant or maybe just your imagination.

Sounds like you have an eidatic memory.

But I can't help you i'm afraid

your an alien =O

I said I know it is not photographic. Also, most of the memories I remember from VERY young, are associated with some emotion. Fear is very common among children (dark, strangers, being alone, etc) so alot of them are "momemts" when I was afraid. Another common one is when I "discovered" something.

I can remember a few bits and pieces of things as far back as when I was 2 (maybe even further), so it doesn't seem too crazy to me. Occasionally, some particular combination of emotions and sensations will revive a really old memory, and if it happens often enough, or not too far off the original event, I think it could be possible to remember quite a bit of the early years.

As for the never-before-told memories, perhaps it's just a false memory, or your brain is just perfect for remembering things, and you've had enough reminders to sustain the memory.

 yea, I keep remembering things. that is what i think keeps the memories "fresh".

Like I can remember, remembering my early memories- did you follow that? Like I can remember times when i was like 4, that I was remembering memories from when I was 1 or 2 (or earlier). Generally my memory is clearest at night when I cant sleep, but I am not thinking about my day or such....

.

So, you can remember what you were thinking. I think that's the difference. I only remember what happened, what people said, how I felt. I don't remember the thoughts that went through my head.

 you this is the kind of stuff I wanted to find out. I did not realize other people could not remember thoughs and such from earlier times. And ya, I can lay in bed and remember laying in bed when I was 3 thinking  about what would happen if I fell asleep and spiders crawled on me, really trivial stuff like that is a good example.