Long-term memories and vivid fear memories in INFJs?

I can remember certain bits from when I was very young, like the time I took command over all the blankets in the kindergarten and forced them to flash their privates to get a blanket. hahaha, I even managed to get my sidekick to do it with me, but ofc the teacher ruined the fun eventually.

Hmm, I was rather twisted when I was younger, I used to do all sorts of experiments on insects, like burning of their limbs and other body parts and see how well they did without them, and ofc making them kill each other.

I was still a very kind kid though and used to give everyone hugs...
 
I can remember every single word of conversations that took place more than 10 years ago. That tends to bug people in relationships. As far as fear memories go, mine do tend to be vivid to a point, but it depends on the intensity of the event. At some point in early childhood, I learned to consciously repress things I didn't think I could handle, or didn't want to deal with, as in "i'm not here... i'm not here... i'm not here". Some of those occasionally surface now that I'm older, and when they do, I get little bits that are akin to what you described as "flashbulb". It's usually one very vivid scene, and I can't seem to pull up more unless I really work on it for a while. That said, I do remember a few things from before verbal ability (before 7 months). I remember picking a small piece of onion out of my food and handing it to my mother because I didn't like it. I remember being fussy because my feet were cold in home that I now know was kept at 75F at all times. Stuff like that. After three, life got stressful, and the memories are hazy at best for a few years. Words, in particular, I remember practically forever, though.
 
vivid fear memories - remember how i felt and why clearly.
 
I have pretty good long-term memory. My earliest memory is from age 2, and, beyond that, I always seem to remember things that others don't or barely do. With my friends, the conversation is always like, "Hey, guys, do you remember that one time when..." And they never do, except on sparse occasions when I won't give up trying to convince them that it really happened and they remember vaguely after I give them enough details. But people remember different things for different reasons, so I'm sure this happens to everyone occasionally. It just seems to happen to me a lot, so I thought it may be worth mentioning.

Sometimes, though, I do doubt if all of my memories are really my own. A lot of the time, if you have seen a photo or a video of something or someone just told you the story, you create a mental image of it happening and can convince yourself that it is the actual memory of the event. So I don't know if everything I remember is exclusively my own personal recollection. I can narrow it down some, knowing that that does happen. I usually have personal mental asides, anyway, like remembering the way something made me feel, or whatever. I guess that's the key. For me, personally.

My short term memory is very good, though. Well, actually, no it's not. I don't have to study much, for example, to memorize information for a test. I have to think awhile, however, to remember what I had for breakfast or something I was supposed to do. (I consistently walk into rooms and forget why I'm there, and I always lose things just because I put them down somewhere absent-mindedly.) Maybe I am good at converting short term memory to long term memory. Or maybe I'm just absent-minded and wasn't paying attention to remember in the first place.
 
I relate to both WaterBaby and Under Skies. It seems I can recall conversations word for word, but people don't believe me, and I also have to give many details before others remember events. Then there are the issues like walking into a room and forgetting why you are there. I, myself don't remember a lot of my childhood as it was not a good one, but can force myself to remember things if I try.
Maybe it is part of our wonderful INFJ personalities?
 
My long term memory is not something I access much as I am so busy making connections in the present, but if I try I can reconstruct things pretty well. If I am willing to exert this energy, though, I tend to use it on things that are useful and beneficial for the moment, not on past hurts/fears.
 
I remember stuff from long ago most people completely forget. It isn't like there are some really terrible or great memories — it is the most random collection of stuff. There has to be something to trigger these memories, though — they don't just pop into my head at random.

My short term memory (especially with subconscious experiences, such as dreams) is terrible.

I realize that this thread was started ages ago, but if the OP is still around, I have a question — how do things move from our short term to our long term memory? What decides what to move?
 
under skies said:
I have pretty good long-term memory. My earliest memory is from age 2, and, beyond that, I always seem to remember things that others don't or barely do. With my friends, the conversation is always like, "Hey, guys, do you remember that one time when..." And they never do, except on sparse occasions when I won't give up trying to convince them that it really happened and they remember vaguely after I give them enough details. But people remember different things for different reasons, so I'm sure this happens to everyone occasionally. It just seems to happen to me a lot, so I thought it may be worth mentioning.

Sometimes, though, I do doubt if all of my memories are really my own. A lot of the time, if you have seen a photo or a video of something or someone just told you the story, you create a mental image of it happening and can convince yourself that it is the actual memory of the event. So I don't know if everything I remember is exclusively my own personal recollection. I can narrow it down some, knowing that that does happen. I usually have personal mental asides, anyway, like remembering the way something made me feel, or whatever. I guess that's the key. For me, personally.

My short term memory is very good, though. Well, actually, no it's not. I don't have to study much, for example, to memorize information for a test. I have to think awhile, however, to remember what I had for breakfast or something I was supposed to do. (I consistently walk into rooms and forget why I'm there, and I always lose things just because I put them down somewhere absent-mindedly.) Maybe I am good at converting short term memory to long term memory. Or maybe I'm just absent-minded and wasn't paying attention to remember in the first place.
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Me too.
 
I have a good memory in general, but long term especially. It's useful for studying but I can never forget traumatic or embarrassing moments. Sometimes they just flash through my head when I'm least expecting it *shudders*
 
Yeah, totally. My short term is okay, but my long term is very vivid. Remembering conversations, seeing a picture of the whole scene, and even dreams from childhood in great detail. I can describe something like we were in soandso's living room, you were standing next to soandso and wearing whatever and said blank and she responded with blank. I usually get a stare or "umm maybe" or "sounds familiar" along with a "look" when I recall something from the past. I don't think I scare people, but that may very well be the case as I get the impression they think I am weird and don't really believe me. It is an incomprehensible concept for them. Like fear of the unknown. It is very frustrating, invalidating and isolating when you are unable to share things and be understood and accepted.
 
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