From Frank Fahy
As part of your special report on memory, David Robson wrote: “When people find it hard to recall specific events from their past, however, they feel overwhelmed by life’s challenges, which slowly pushes them into depression” (6 October, p 38).
This suggests that it might be a good idea to keep a regular visual record of life’s more enjoyable experiences, something made easier by small digital cameras and the vast and growing data storage capacities. The only downside is that formats change so fast it might not be possible to recover one’s record in later life if depression strikes.
• Some people, such as “lifeloggers”, already keep a daily visual record with this purpose in mind (25 February, p 52).
Although I am profoundly sceptical of the value of Freudian psychotherapy, I couldn’t help but note that the concept of an “over-general memory” being linked to depression and its alleviation by eliciting specific memories lends some support to it.
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Sudbury, Massachusetts, US
King's Somborne, Hampshire, UK
