Mind myths

Today we are going to clarify some misconceptions about the mind.

Surely you know someone who boasts of having a photographic memory. So the next time you see that person, put your hand on his or her shoulder and say, "No, you don't". For someone to have a photographic memory, the memory of that person would have to be like a photograph. They would have to be able to recover that memory at will and examine it in detail. Zooming in on different parts. But it has never been proven that a true photographic memory exists in that way. Surely somebody is already going to say to you: "I meant that I can remember faces easily." Well that isn't photographic memory, that is remembering faces easily.

But some people can have eidetic memory. That it sometimes confused with photographic but they are not the same. A person who has eidetic memory can vividly recover images after a few moments of exposure for a short period afterwards without using mnemonic techniques. That is, techniques that help you remember.

Stephen Wiltshire, has this kind of memory. Stephen cannot re-access the mental image he had of a landscape he saw for brief moments if you ask him months later. That should be photographic memory and as we said a skill of such nature has never been proven.

There is only one possible case of photographic memory in a girl named Elizabeth, who is closest to what could be defined as such. But there was only one study that was done on her, and the most controversial part is that she married the person who did the study. That's why there is not enough evidence to corroborate this.

Now let's corroborate another myth, some people think that people with are those that read words inverted as if they were in a mirror. Well this is not true, dyslexia is a disorder that consists of a difficulty in spelling words, reading quickly, pronouncing words in your head, saying words when you read aloud and understanding what is read. Although some dyslexics also have problems with inverting letters this is not a characteristic symptom of dyslexia. There is even a website stating Leonardo Da Vinci had dyslexia because he could write backwards, not because of any evidence that he had trouble reading. Maybe it is one of the causes of the myth.

There are other people who use the word "dyslexia" to excuse other problems, such as when they tell you: it's not you, it's me, I have dyslexia. Okay, that was a joke. But you have heard that some people often associate dyslexia problems with memory problems or even carelessness. If true, this would imply a connection between a reading problem and memory, and this is not the case. That would mean that anyone with dyslexia would have to have memory problems too.

Another myth. Some people believe that a schizophrenic person is one who has multiple personalities, or a separate personality or one that constantly changes their mind. This is not true. Maybe this idea comes from the Greek origin of the word that means "split mind", but this is because people who have schizophrenia are split from reality and not from themselves that is, a person with schizophrenia does not have multiple personalities, instead they have false ideas or have lost contact with reality. People who have schizophrenia often experience hallucinations, sensations and false perceptions.

So what is the disorder with multiple personalities? Ah, that's called Dissociative Identity Disorder. also known as Multiple Personality Disorder. This disorder is characterized by the existence of two or more personalities in a person. Each one with its own way of perceiving and acting in the environment.

To finish we’ll talk about the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Surely you know someone who jokingly always says when they're fixing something, "I must have OCD or something, all this has to be organized and clean." Well, no, they don't have the disorder. This is equivalent to saying, "I am not hungry, I have an eating disorder".

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is a serious mental illness characterized by high levels of anxiety and emotional distress. People with this disorder can have cleansing rituals but they do not enjoy them. They keep things clean and organized because otherwise they experience an overwhelming anxiety. On the other hand it is also important to remember that not all people with OCD have compulsions related to cleanliness. It is a heterogeneous disorder, in other words, it manifests differently in different people. Actually, only a portion of people with the disorder are afraid of germs, or have compulsions related to keeping themselves and their world clean. Common fears or obsessions in people with OCD include: fear of germs fear of committing a sin, fear of hurting themselves or others, fear of a loved one dying, fear of certain numbers, colors or even words. Fear of becoming a sexual predator. These people perform rituals to mitigate the anxiety associated with their obsessions. These symptoms vary from individual to individual, and may even change throughout a person's life.

Sources:

Does Photographic Memory Exist?
Seven myths about dyslexia put to rest
9 Schizophrenia Myths and Facts
4 Myths About OCD