The Man With The Seven Second Memory (Amnesia Documentary) | Real Stories
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ส.ค. 2016
- The Man With The Seven Second Memory (Amnesia Documentary)
The remarkable and poignant story of Clive Wearing, a man with one of the worst cases of amnesia in the world. Once a renowned conductor and musician, Clive was struck down in 1985 by a virus that caused massive damage to his brain. Against the odds, doctors managed to save his life but he was left with a memory that spans just seven seconds.
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The best way to make him happier is to tell him jokes and then repeat the same joke that he laughs at the most
i... i mean its the truth
Please come visit mean hospital if I ever have another seizure.
Comedy Gold, literally
imagine "coming to" while laughing to a joke and not knowing why
Nahhhhh🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"What does love mean?"
"Zero in tennis and everything in life."
Dude is totally brain-damaged and still sharper than me.
😂😂😂
HAHAHA
This is so funny
I literally thought the same way thing, I really wonder what his answer would have been if there wasn't any of the brain damage...
Intents
‘Waking up’ every minute hundreds of thousands of times would drive anyone insane. It’s unfathomable what this man goes through
I guess the only solace being that he doesn't remember being enraged about it. Imagine waking up every minute, but actually retaining how maddening it is... that would drive me to kill myself, for sure. But for him, it happens again and again, but he has no memory of it.
@@Erekai yk I guess you’re right but the way he says it every time and the way he’s scrawled it in his notebook/diary and the fact that he sees the previous entry just a few minutes ago would probably still be terrifying. The human brain is fascinating I just can’t imagine what it’s like
Maybe. It could be like how we dream though. Just a constant, strange state where you want to ask questions but you just sort of go along with stuff until you wake up.
@@JJokerMoreau I imagine sometimes he realises it though, or even being just on the brink of remembering it is so frustrating
@@JJokerMoreau wow! That was a super well thought observation... dreams have the same dynamics as what he's experiencing!
This is so soul crushing. You can see in his eyes that he doesn’t know who any of these people are and why they’re talking to him. He’s stuck in an endless loop but he still retains his intelligence. He acts polite but I honestly think this is just pure torture for him. That clip of him from back in the 70s/80s where you see him visibly nauseous…terrible.
There needs to be a Black Mirror episode based on this.
9:00 this clip?
I think its 16:10
@@hypermangi8265
@@hypermangi8265 No
Him being a bit childish is a way of coping, I guess. The wonder and excitement he sometimes shows like he's still a much younger man. It's terrible but also inspiring to see him lifting himself up that way too.
He’s so charming and intelligent. “What does love mean?”
“Zero in tennis and everything in life.”
I love that quote.
That's one reason why don't believe he can just think 7 second far. He wouldn't be able to say something so deep. Because from listening to the question, then find such an amazing answer and put it into words needs AT LEAST 1 minute.
@@thomasb.2506 In my opinion British people are way snappier with things like this, they're very witty and charming. I'm not surprised at all that this came to his mind, as he is dearly in love with his wife still, he even calls her semi-frequently, but I'm sure it would be more often if it weren't for the people helping him.
Tom&Leyla Brown I say way deeper things when in a similar state of being absolutely baked
@@thomasb.2506 it's a skill, just like playing music, he's good at improvising
I think it's not so much that he can only remember things for 7 seconds, but rather that he can only hold on to one train of thought, and as soon as he lets go of that train of thought he's forgotten it. He clearly carried conversations much longer than 7 seconds in the video.
Imagine loving someone so much that the ONLY thing in the entire world that you can remember is them
I feel that
Music
@@SAM-bz9zj I imagine that you can only handle it so often.
@@SAM-bz9zj I agree it's too little time wise. But I don't think it's easy to be there and have almost nothing of your mate left.... Just a body and a wit, but no recollection of your history, no way to connect on anything except the current moment.
You mean meth?
'its just the same as death' most dementia/alzheimers patients hit a point where they are no longer aware of their condition, and what differentiates him from them is that he is fully aware of his own limitations and is fully aware that he has absolutely no control of it.
My Precius, now-deceased uncle hit that point. He'd write notes to himself, then be humiliated (by himself) as he discovered what he'd written to himself. God bless his soul, a former WWII pow, he sacrificed greatly in life.
My grandma had Alzheimer's. She was put in a nursing home and loved it. She thought she was on vacation at a resort and they were forgetting to charge her for meals. When I was in high school I volunteered at a nursing home. There was a patient there who would constantly shuffle papers around his room. He was very disagreeable, UNLESS you brought a stack of papers in and started shuffling them around too. Turns out, he was "working" and if you tried to talk to him he thought you were a lollygagger. However, if you shuffled around papers he thought the two of you were working on something together and he'd love talking with another hard worker. You can lose your physical strength, and you can lose your mental ability, but your attitude sticks with you.
I would say he is like a dementia patient but I wouldn't say he is fully aware of anything
@@travtotheworld What i dont get is how did he understand What Hard work looked like if he forgot other simple things in life. I guess for him throwing papers around was like breathing. It became something he was doing subconsciously without even knowing why. The thing that shocks me is that people who have dementia still remember language, writing skills, and maybe even where they went to school but they dont have any idea what they ate for lunch 5 to 6 hours ago though. It's almost as if they are choosing what to remember and what not to remember but at the same time they couldn't possibly be choosing because most of the conscious centers of the lobes in their brain specifically maybe the frontal and occipital lobes are going haywire.
21:31 crazy that after all those years he still doesn’t know that he has a diary but some part of him thinks to always cross out the previous entry and write the time in a random book with a bunch of other writings that are the same. This really makes me so sad to see just a man who had a brilliant mind taken away for no reason and now not being able to live or think but being aware of that. He is living a punishment worse than death in my opinion
it is sad. Its like his brain is trying to jump start having a consciousness but with the hippocampus so damaged, the brain then cant imprint a memory.
What really got to me was in the beginning when he was playing the piano and he said "I've not heard a single note of music in 20 years". Being a musician myself and having friends that are also musicians and sound producers, this just made me feel absolute despair, your body knows how to do what it's been taught but your mind never hears or recognises the talent and skill that was developed over many years nor not being able to hear any new music from new musicians or share and play music together with your mates, for me it'd be absolute torture, for such an accomplished man like himself I can't even begin to imagine what it'd be like
he understands his situation but remembers none of it.. it's so weird
It makes a lot of sense if you look at the parts of the brain he lost. I dont have any insight into that but it his personality is not lost. Him as a person is there but cant realize himself. Its like you being in the dark seing nothing but being there very much.
Wrong, he does NOT understand his situation or why he is the way he is.
@@merodbloxlover45 and you know this how?
@@joelthorstensson2772 That’s the information we’ve been told, read up on it. His understanding is he possibly woke up from a coma, he frequently ask to see a doctor, or someone. He simply can not understand his situation, not in the time allotted nor under most circumstances this is a very difficult thing to process let alone under a minute. To my understanding he seems to have an extremely friendly personality and understandable one too. I know if I was asked what seems to be seemingly dumb question, I would answer quite aggressively, honestly makes me want to change. But back to the point he doesn’t understand what happened, he has a sense of self.
@@toms.4382 This doesn’t explain that now he is much more mellow than before. He used to have tantrums and fits of rage because of his frustration at what? Not being able to properly live. Over time that mellowed down, obviously he’s not consciously aware of that, but maybe subconsciously
The way he repeats "first time I've seen a human being" is terrifying. This is true loneliness: you don't even have yourself.
the way he so calmly says it too. It's so strange
“In what... 30 years?”
I don't believe he can understand loneliness in its entirety anymore. It's the weirdest paradox of being stuck somewhere in the middle.
he says he feels like he’s dead. he’s literally living in limbo.
his aggressive outburst probably stopped due to him growing lonely
Flashbacks of my own Dad. An insulin overdose stole his long and short term memory when he was 44. He was a great Dad, but he was left w/ no recall of raising my sister and me. He only remembered his own life up to the age of about 18. He had to rely on caregivers for the last 30 years of his life. As a diabetic he couldn't recall if he'd taken his insulin 5 min. ago...or eaten breakfast etc...but he was a proud former Marine and when he was unsure, he would make up an answer and deliver it w/all the conviction of someone who really knows. It was a dangerous power struggle to manage his diabetes. RIP Dad.
The saddest part for me was when he correctly guessed Deborah’s job as PR on the 3rd try but then seconds later he doesn’t guess it. A nice happy moment contrasted with what usually happens, it really shows the futility of his illness. I feel so bad for him.
Bro was really guessing "head of the British Empire"
@@thenneklkt7786 even with brain damage he has a better sense of humour than you
"So millions of people know you."
"How embarassing"
I laughed with him at first, until it hit me that only 3 minutes into this documentary I already know more about him than he does. That's terrifying
Does it terrifies you when he remembers eating...
And forgets everything else
Well put, Gideon Jones.
@@goite2654 and he cant remember what he ate
@@goite2654 no...thats basic instinct and for the body to survive it needs energy
@@goite2654 he won’t remember what he ate but he will definitely know that he is full or is hungry. The feeling of your stomach and hunger is like breathing, it’s involuntary. You don’t have to tell yourself to be hungry and eat, it’s all on autopilot
Even with his brain heavily destroyed he is capable of making smarter remarks than most people.
Completely
I bet he was a hilarious smartass before this happened
Nothing wrong with speech and playing music :)
He also seem to have a good mood most of the time, but probably often confused and sad too. Cool old man :)
Jaja. He is still smarter than most Americans.
Smarter than libtards......
It's very interesting how he talks about his memory, it's not like he has this vague idea of having done stuff in the past and known people even if he doesn't remember specifics, he legitimately feels like he just now started existing and he hasn't ever seen another human being before.
And every seven seconds… he dies. Without memory, are we alive? The person we were is dead.
@@mrvilla5972
Perhaps the most brutal truth about ourselves is that we are just born and we are just dying
the memory that was created during evolution creates the illusion of permanent identity within one body. This is more or less the position of neurobiologist Sam Harris There is only experience - there is no one who has it
There is no one who has a thought - there can only be a thought that thinks someone has it
this thought is a separate unique person
@@dav.e4410 that’s not a “truth”
@@matheuscabral9618 i don’t know what is truth
what is your point of view?
@@dav.e4410 I actually misread your comment, I thought you meant that at every moment we died and were born again, that's why I said it wasn't "truth", but whatever "truth" means
I am a Christian and so I believe you don't just die and that's it.
It's weird how the moment now feels more vivid than memories. I remember a dream I had some day that I was walking through the corridor in my house then when I woke up I walked there again and thought about how it felt much more vivid and how obviously it wasn't a dream. But thinking about it today that feels less vivid than me being now.
I've actually been thinking more lately, or maybe I don't remember everything of some time ago, but I wondered if you could possibly run out of things to think, I wonder how eternity is, what are you gonna be thinking about after some amount of time, what if you reach a conclusion on every thought you could have.
So um, idk, my point of view is that it will be good, the only conclusion I reach about this more existencialistic things is that it will work out, just the way things are, and the sheer existence of them is beautiful, and that God is good and made everything with love
music is known to be one of the last things to disappear in our memory, its amazing.
I think that is why it was done so in Space odyssey 2001 with H.A.L.
Yep, it's because music is one of the things that uses more different parts of the brain, from semantic to motor abilities
He could not have wished for a more caring and loving wife.
she is a gem.....an amazing woman
Very true.
Nice synth rack mate, Is that a memory Moog depicted in the middle over the Jupiter 8?
you said it barry
He could not HAVE, not OF. How did you not learn this in school?
"I've brought some flowers for that lovely wife of yours" says his son
"She's Gorgeous isn't she?" he said with such a proud grin
My heart melted :')
I literally just seem that part. Awesome
tell me about that fantroll
@@pinkgoth6 that would mean thinking back to my late high school/early Uni days and psychologically? That'd be a massive blow.
Come on!!...really??
@@pinkgoth6 no
Seeing his diary and how it changed in time was heartbreaking. Entirely heartbreaking.
Its mind blowing to me that he knows he cant remember, and he knows theres something wrong with him. Genuinely fascinating. Its also so sweet that the things he remembers most are his wife and his love for music. And hearing what he says about how what he’s going through is like death, its really interesting hearing his perspective on it. You can tell there’s an extremely small amount of awareness left in him; he can remember what he thinks about his lack of memory, like how he keeps saying “its like death, theres no difference between night and day.” Its just so cool to me that his opinion AND words stay the same when you ask him that question. His responses were also the same when his wife asked him what she does as a job. So interesting! Especially since im a psychology student. This stuff is right up my alley
it's really strange, really interesting. before i got diagnosed with MS, the symptoms caused me to fall and hit my head. due to that fall, for days, my memory was resetting every 10 minutes. i was aware somehow, going "oh it must be my memory, why am i forgetting, it must be this new weird thing happening to me." but i couldnt remember any other new information. i always wondered how and why it worked. strangely it all came back to me after my memory got better, and i suddenly remembered duplicates of every moment where i asked or did things over and over lol
@@bnuuyboy my god, the fact you remembered everything only AFTER your memory came back is astonishing, genuinely fascinating!! God, i love the human brain
@@Bocchi-db8ncproven real
He doesn’t know continuously. He has to deduce it afresh every time from the massive blank in his experience whenever his consciousness “reboots” every seven seconds.
@@catherinespark Personally, I understand you're talking about how he's not able to obtain and retain information consciously, but I don't think this is the full story. Notice how he started out in the hospital realizing his condition for the first few weeks until he became more confused and angry, to eventually, in a strange way, accepting the situation; but in a very depressed and apathetic way. After years of repetition from the hospital to the home, his brain learn to close off and accept the situation. He even learned to articulate the feeling of his condition with "it's like death".
I personally think the healthy parts of his brain had to compensate for the damage. He can still play piano cause his motor skills, reasoning and reading are still intact. He still knows his wife, even through age, by experiencing emotional connections that are the strongest. No, he can't remember why or where he is, but his brain is helping him cope as best as possible with the sections that are still intact and I believe he does know his situation in a way you and I can't fully comprehend.
He waits for her arrival, meaning he knows she's gone, even though he doesn't remember. The power of feeling is amazing.
@Mister Paradise I know it must be terribly difficult for this woman. I do hope she goes back and views this video and comments. Then she would realize The importance of being by his side more on a daily basis or perhaps a couple times a week. I know I have seen many people go through similar situations however I think her situation is much better than what I have seen my friends go through when dealing with dementia. I do hope she returns to him more quickly because he awaits for her return. I am sorry I have not replied quicker. It seems to be TH-cam is not sending me comments or replies back towards my comment. To me this is a form of censorship and I do not like what has been taking place. Anyway have a great day.
@WhatsTigUpToNow ? Beautiful 💯😊
Or another way to look at this is after so long of marraige (I guess even though he doesn't know how long it's been) he still get this crazy love for her
its actually kinda sad she couldve tried to visit more than once a month
Good comment
Every time he says "This is the first time I've seen a human being", he thinks this is the first time he has said it. He thinks this is the first time he came up with that answer.
He has no recollection of saying it previously or, perhaps to an extent, who the people are. Man that must be so frustrating.
@@joannestark3023 in fact, it isn't... because he has no idea he did say it before and he is stuck in a loop... i wonder how he breaks out of this loop... would he be stuck FOREVER if his room wouldn't change? or have no humans inside?
I wonder if he has recollections of his life and who he was prior to the virus mentioned in this video. Am curious how he is doing now some 15 or so years after this documentary was made. I can't find his wife's book on Kindle, unfortunately. :(
my aunt has lost her ability to remember things from a few seconds ago, much like him, but obviously not as bad. i can say though that my aunt repeats phrases and completely forgets she had ever said it. it’s kinda scary but unlike him she remembers past memories
Maybe, but he is a very smart man, despite the amnesia. He's probably figured out more than a few times that he has said a phrase more than once. It probably goes something like he comes up with "new" phrase, figures out he's probably has said it before and then immediately forgets. Poor dude
He doesn’t remember people but isn’t startled by seeing them. He knows he’s ill and he knows he can’t hold memories. He even knows a great deal of time has passed. Everything seems to be “instinct” and feeling. Like when he panicked after his wife left from a visit but doesn’t remember she left - it’s clear he has a lingering feeling that he’s gone from happy/content to alone/sad and that she is the source of those feelings. Absolutely fascinating. It seems they can just live in the moment and have a wonderful happy life.
For those thinking Clive is faking because he can play a song that lasts considerably longer than 7 seconds, In 2007, neurologist Oliver Sacks released his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain in which he explores a range of psychological and physiological ailments and their intriguing connections to music. Sacks examines human's musical inclination through the lens of musical therapy and treatment, as a fair number of neurological injuries and diseases have been documented to be successfully treated with music.
No one is faking that for 30yrs
Music is stored long-term in a different part of the brain from other memories, so it doesn’t get affected when the other parts dealing with memory are damaged. That’s why they use advertisement jingles, and why jingles can help dementia patients who otherwise can’t keep a hold on any information.
Plus, sane people can’t hang in mental institutions. The few people who have managed to avoid prison via an insanity plea most always end up begging to be sent to normal prisons after a very short time. No one is sticking it out for 30 years for attention or to avoid family life. I’m sure there are a lot of nuances to Mr. Wearing’s disability in regards to short term and long term memory. His brain doesn’t just do a complete factory reset every 7 seconds. He’s a human being, not an iPad. The truth is, it’s difficult for people to even begin to fathom what he’s going through. A normal brain can’t comprehend what it’s never been through. It’s easier for some to cast judgment than it is to use enough empathy to try and get a grasp on what a complicated and horrible ordeal he and his family are facing.
@@catherinespark isn't there like a study or something that proved whenever a person plays an instrument, the neurons in the brain basically go ballistic like fireworks.
@@AxleTradeI don't know of a specific study, but playing music and telling a story are the 2 most engaging things a brain can do. They often have people do these things during brain surgeries. There is something about how we as humans interact with patterned sound (music) that we DO NOT understand the full scope of.
"You're the first four people I've seen in 30 years."
Jesus christ.
What I don't understand is how he doesn't remember anything, but does know it has been 30 years, and does remember it occurs due to him being ill
Yepp yepp
In jesus name amen
Then again seven seconds later.
@@lohphat You say that, but honestly everyone seems to have essentially made their peace with it. Even Clive himself. I wouldn't say this is particularly pleasant for anyone, and you can most clearly see the pain in his kids, but they haven't seen him in so long he may as well be dead to them; the pain would be the same. The wife has grown to appreciate this to that alternative. Apart from frustration and appearances, it doesn't seem so bad as to wish death for him.
It's a testament to his character that, despite his condition, he is still a strikingly intelligent, charismatic and interesting person.
Yes, he has a bright light up in his head, but he has lost most of the things this light can hit.
LMAO your profile pic!
Kirby and Peter Griffin
@@ericmsandoval kirby griffin: its a testament to his chatacter..... ;) imagien kirby griffin talking.
bimpson
His condition doesn't really give him a choice to do otherwise
My mom was struck by the same illness in 1986. She lost her short term memory, so can't remember what she had for breakfast this morning or what she did yesterday or the day before that and on and on. Her memory pre illness is still intact and so talks constantly about when she was a school secretary and tales of when i was a child. But has lived happily for nearly 40 years with the damage. Over time and repetition she can remember names and faces but not always names. So cruel and all from the cold sore virus.
Studies have shown that people with dementia can and WILL learn motorical skills like drawing, chooping, playing an instrument. They unfortunally forget learning it but the skill will build up with time. Hope you can find something that makes her live more enjobable. Best wishes to your mom, you and your family
This is the first time in a while a documentary has made me cry. I have chronic migraines, and in the past I've had episodes that are very close to what he's describing. An incessant need to regain your mentality. Frustration and anguish. For me I've lost sight, become dyslexic, auditorially alinguistic, and mute. But even more so it's the feeling of absolute confusion, spun around with more dizzying force than a roller coaster. Spending hours on the floor wondering how long it's been, not knowing how long it's going to last, grasping at something just recently forgotten that holds the secret. This is what I need to do. This is what I'm forgetting. But it's impossible to reach, as ephemeral as the darkness encroaching my vision. It's not black, it's absence. Incomphrehension. Nothing. Death.
Hoping and praying that you're better and that your situation will continue to improve. May God bless you in Jesus Christ!
His wife exudes class, beauty and elegance what a wonderful strong loving lady
Yes, she's a very beautiful, impressive soul.
His ex wife tortures him ! She takes him to the church, where he conducted before his memory loss. After this she tells him the whole story about him conducting, with such a sweet voice as if she loves him. As you can guess, he starts to cry, because he does not remember anything about it. This wife is a mean serpent, I hate her !
Achatina Slak You are the stupid person everyone searches for in the comment section.
With the way she speaks if you told me she was a published author I would not question it.
@@CC-tw6su his logic, is of that the lib hive mind cannot understand, it's called logic and realism.
"Are you paid to come here"
"Thankfully we are"
"HOORAY"
I like him.
He's just such a softy :]
This made me laugh so much 🤣
Didn’t he say alright?
Either way that was super cute
he dont want to be nuisance to anyone
So do I .
He gets by on his sense of humor and I love it. It's so incredibly sweet and sad at the same time.
The saddest part about this is that he is just SO SMART. He might be a super famous musician worldwide right now if this hadn't happened. Why am I crying lmao
yeah.. why are you
It's interesting how his mind works. It's obvious he was highly intelligent before.
still is
you see the way he plays piano
you can really tell the raw condition of his brain, because now you can just see how it is without all his experiences , emotions and memories in the way. Like for example something is in us maybe grown into us as we grew up in our teenage years that is not our memory but something beyond the psychological realm that grows in our brain. This gives such a chance to see this part of the brain because with memory and all the rest in the way you and neither the person itself can see the raw brain.
@@TrollProductionsMC Not really, he still has memories. He just doesn't have the ability to make new ones or retain short term memories. There's a frame of a person there, most certainly not a raw brain.
@@Simulator51 He doesn't have memories of events, it's his first time seeing his wife but he knows its his wife, he knows stuff but doesnt know the events and why he knows these stuff. With raw brain I don't mean a brain without anything as I said a brain without experiences, emotions and memories in the way.
@@Simulator51 They said he doesn't have any memories, not even his old ones. He has what you could call "ghosts" of memories.
He knows he's married, but he doesn't remember the courtship or the wedding. He knows his son's face, he just can't remember how, nor his son's name. He doesn't know that he was a composer for the BBC. He doesn't remember ever having met a person before, and repeatedly says through the video, "You're the first people I've ever seen in my life. I have no memories before this." Yet he knows what people are; he knows how to talk, how to make clever remarks, how to sing and play songs.
You could surmise that his brain has lost the ability to store details about events, but some of the farther-reaching information and the skills acquired from those events are stored in a different part of his brain that still works.
'because you're famous' 'hahahaha likely story'
'millions of people know your story' 'good heavens that's embarrassing'
'what do you think we'll find when we get in' 'alcohol' this man is my idol honestly he may have no memory but he has sass
I loved that part
my favorite scene - he's so endearing.
Libby my favorite is when he asked the reporter if she was getting paid she said yes and he genuinely happy for her . . . he is still a great person
Who wouldn't miss a witty, charming, self-effacing man like that? Especially if he loved one so much? Yes, I believe Deborah finds him irreplaceable. He cannot remember anything, except that she is all things to him. And, of course, he remembers the process of playing for every piece he chooses to play on the piano, and the processor apparently continues to run to the cadence unimpeded. This is the miracle: her face, figure, voice, and dress are altered by time, yet she is his own dear girl from the moment he catches sight of her, with no questions necessary--just joy. That, I'm sorry, is not science, or at least not science we can now codify. So it is magic, and I wish them well.
So interesting to me that he is conscious to the fact that he has this Amnesia, he knows that every interaction he has he will never retain.
He definitely seems to have some understanding that time passes and that he is ill, he doesn't freak out everytime he "forgets". I'm guessing the trauma of coping with his illness early on eventually embedded into what was left of his mind.
Damn... A seven second memory and it still doesn't outpace his wit.
was just about to say the same
"people told him to slow down. he never did". i would agree.
Talk about someone being sharp as a knife. Tragedy such a disease crippled such a genius mind.
Yes, this guy is amazing, funny and witty even in this condition, imagine how intelligent he was at his full potential
moral of the story. never be too busy that you dont wash your hands before you eat.
That's a shame, because you really can tell that he is a n extremely intelligent and passionate man, but that's just taken away from him
Marcel Zager
To send 20 years without learning ANYTHING new...
his still passionate and intelligent. memory taken away does not take away his character
you can see he is still himself. he still has the subconscious cognition that he always had it seems. But he just doesnt know where anything came from. I read every line of the diary that i could and you can see that he isnt completely gone otherwise every entry would be the exact same revelation almost, but as years went on his book drastically changed even some of his vocabulary changed. He became less angry as time went on because i think his subconscious is still there in some capacity and our subconscious comes from our experiences so there is some "remembering" going on that he doesnt realize.
@@verbatimshelf3121 long term memory is stored differently I think that's why
@You're Not That Guy there's something called procedural memory that is stored differently in the brain
That part from the older documentary with the answering machine was heartbreaking. Those poor people. It's sad but beautiful how powerful their love for one another is, in spite of the impossibility of truly being together. It's understandable that Deborah left Clive. Nine years of repetition would drive anyone crazy.
I'm amazed she persevered for 9 years tbh
but she also came back... and then renewed her wedding vows....wow
This is one of the most profoundly heart-breaking bits of film I have ever seen.
it's incredibly unsettling to watch, since he clearly knows things are wrong - and him working out over and over that he's in that situation... scary
Just like PTSD.
True... 0-0
like a broken record
Like Momento
When my grandma was alive and had alzheimer's, she'd have these moments where she'd become aware that there was something wrong and she'd start crying and asking why she was like this. Then a minute later she'd go back to being lost and out of it. Super sad
The fact that he gets so excited to see his wife and jumps like a kid in a candy store melts my heart 😫❤️
@Lord Bang-a-Lot my guy simping to the fullest
IKR!!! I wish she would visit him more 💔💔
Ugh they love each other so so much. It's so wholesome.
@Johnny Steffy so he remembers her but doesnt remember she was there a month ago? Hard to believe, crazy.
It breaks mine. It would have been better for everyone if he totally forgot his wife. She probably, because of that, had felt bound to him. Not everyone is cut out to live a life of servitude with nothing in return. Her whole life was wasted along side his. It's doubly tragic. She must have cursed the fates for that - he remembers nothing but me?? God.
His intelligence and the way he speaks is so philosophical and stoic that it's crazy to think his mind is constantly in and out of consciousness.
I worked at an elderly home as a summer job some years ago, and one of the patients had a stroke and ended up like this. No memories. Everyday was the same, stuck in an endless cycle of moments passing by over and over. All he remembered was his family, and he'd often ask where they were. Seeing his family and listening to music he loved before the stroke were the only times when he was happy. He remembered lyrics here and there and would often sing along to songs. Sad fate
“You take my breath away “
“It’s better to not stop breathing my dear”
I am in tearsss
I’m in tears for Debrah, can you imagine?
Jacob D I can only imagine...
She must be a strong woman. God bless her.
She said God did bless her, remember? She found the love that filled her emptiness. I have felt it as well, though I am agnostic. I am unsure if it was a "god" I felt, I tend to think it was more like our connection to one another, that we are all linked and together we are "god". People can feel that link sometimes.
@@LadyPashta i know exactly what Debrah is speaking of, because i experienced the same thing. to fill the empty void inside you, you need Jesus, there is no other way. I got down on my knees and asked Jesus for forgiveness, (i was not raised Christian) and basicly asked Him to reveal Himself to me, and He did. it was the most supernatural thing i ever experienced, it really cant be explained through words.may God bless you and reveal Him Self to you.
LadyPashta Why would someone pretend to be her husband?
For the first time ever, I appreciate my painful memories.
Yeah I was kind of thinking the same thing. I remember every good and bad thing from my life and sometimes I hate it.
I wish I could forget some memories ...
I am very thankful for your comment 🤗🤗
@Jan Sitkowski you wouldnt be happy about your condition. You wouldn't even know you have this condition. You wouldnt be able to think long enough for that. All you would know is confusion and that nothing in your life makes sense anymore.
@Jan Sitkowski this condition would give you a whole new level of worry and no way to work through it. I cant imagine a worse state.
This is the most wholesome video ever but i'm sorry i couldn't help but laugh a little at 37:13 when he says "very pleased to see a human being for the first time" to his son 😂❤
The way she loves him, encourages him, and cares for him is so special and wholesome and wonderful. God bless her and him as well
Somehow the worst part is how he’s obviously ‘still there’. He’s the same person, but trapped.
He’s only trapped in our perception of what being trapped means. To him, his condition is perfectly normal.
@@alexblaze8878 not at all, he himself even talks about his state of “unconsciousness” being comparable to death. In every mental sense of the word, the man is trapped. It is quite hard breaking
@@nathmukherjee8865 that seems odd considering his 7 second memory
@@alexblaze8878 it likely took years of hard work and effort to get him to stop panicking about losing time and "being unconscious" every few minutes to ingrain into his long term memory what is going on.
He isn't the same person. He's a partial person in his mind. He looks the same and sounds like the same man. Beyond that there is no memory of anything. Claiming love continues is wrong. He doesn't know his own children and they said he loved them.
I think what really terrifies me is that he's still so mentally present . He's not absently just existing as a vegetable, he's able to make conversation, even joking around and being quite charming. With late-stage dementia, the person will just be incoherent and confused, but Clive is a perfectly normal man who just isn't taking in any new information.
All he has is the present.
Really weird yeah
@@ivyarianrhod all we have is the present
@@dfredankey But you have past and future too to hold. Not him. Present is all he has.
This thread is deep.
I had to stop and cry when she was describing his concert to Lazerus. His reaction was heartbreaking. I know what was going through his mind. ...poor fella.
This makes my heart hurt. My Mother suffered a traumatic brain injury and has had short term memory loss for 30 years. As a family member, it is very surreal & haunting...
This is the scariest documentary I’ve ever seen. How fragile is human consciousness.
What’s your favorite documentary that you’ve seen ?
@@brochacho8156i watch alot of docs but i don’t have a fav, i pefer music and films personally. I never trust enough to allow someone to show what their reailty is, its like fiction to me.
This is the first documentary I've ever seen
Same. Ugh frightening af
@@brochacho8156 I needed color Jim Carey is really good
It's so interesting how he seems to say things like "no idea," "never seen it before," "unknown to me," etc. very flatly and matter of factly. Maybe over years and years, some bit of subconscious learning has happened and he's not really surprised by that fact anymore. Maybe that's why the aggression and distress went down too.
Ksenia like how he knows to check his watch & record in the dairy.. that he subconsciously knows to do certain things or think about them
Yeah it seems his brain has just submitted to it. Given up trying to fight against it.
i'm sure that whether he consciously remembers it or not, he's also sick of having to answer the same questions over and over and over and over and over and perform these same little tricks over and over and over for "normal" people to watch in awe and horror and feel humanity again in their ability to feel pity for him.
He's still in there. His subconscious. When she spoke to him in the church about how much a difference he's made you can see him getting choked up. She spoke for so long his subconscious was listening the whole time. We know so little about our brains. Another interesting thing was him being upset in the early years with the condition and how it settled. I believe his subconscious accepted it whether he's aware of it or not. I'm trying to think of an example of this in a fully capable brain but I can't think of any at the moment. I may come back and edit this comment with examples.
That and the environment around him has probably adapted to his condition which helps him cope
"Home is yesterday." Ouch. One of the few things he can't have.
This is heartbreaking. Watching this story, I am feeling extremely grateful for my mind, my memories, and my ability to think. We all take it for granted. Thank you for sharing.
of all the things he forgets, he can never forget her :) what a love they share
It's heart warming
so beautiful yet so sad that poor man
goes to show how strong love can be..........and music.💗🎵
its a fraud, give me a break. "I haven't heard a single note..."
LOL What a couple of morons!!!!!!!!!! He just admitted/ gave it away that he does remember what he did, he conducted the concert there "for the acoustics". Cos he's a complete prick! LOL He finishes a lot of other peoples' sentences doesn't he for someone with virtually no memory..?
as soon as everyone leaves, to him he's been alone for as long as he can remember.
that's horrible.
I mean he can only remember seven seconds, so does that mean he is only alone for seven seconds?
But he doesn't realize he only has a seven second memory.
NOOOOO, THATS HORABLE, HE DESERVES SOOOOO MUCH MORE, I WOULDN'T WISH THIS APPON ANYONE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭!!!!!
So sad
You're comment, and the realisation that that is how he must feel all the time, really hit me hard. It must be a very lonely existence for him.
the section of the video where he's leaving answer messages desperate to see her not remembering she was just there is heartbreaking, you can hear that lonliness in his voice as though he's been locked up in isolation for days. The strength of his family is herculean in magnitude
I just cannot believe how incredible this is.
A movie needs to be made about him and his wife.
He seems to be running off pure soul.
the "I AM ALIVE" written in his diary was terribly sad
And that "I DO LIVE!!" written in the same way at 21:01
The entirety of that diary was eerie to look at
try it out, it will make you feel...
@@twaggs21 feel what
Shows the mental torture
Amazing how he has no recollection of even having a diary at all, as he is literally walking over to write down his next entry in it. It’s like he has a subconscious awareness of certain routines, without the specifics.
That has to be it. When he says “I’ve never heard a note” or “I’ve never seen a person” but he knows what a note is and he knows what a person is.
@@Michelle-rv9ks right
I recommend the book, "The Power of Habit", which delves deeper into how a lot of things become habitual and instilled into a deeper part of the brain called the basal ganglia, saving the brain resources making some things automated. A similar case of having only short-term memory is brought up within the book, very interesting stuff.
I was thinking the same thing.
It's non-declarative memory, and therefore a different memory that doesn't seem to be affected by the virus. He seems to have problems with his declarative memory.
How isn't this already a movie?! It's like the greatest love story ever! It'd make for an incredibly moving drama.
Have you seen Memento? It is a wildly different story but features a main character who also cannot take in new memories. The story is told in chunks in reverse chronological order, such that at any given moment, we, just like the main character, have no idea what happened earlier. It is a unique experience.
@@saniancreations yup, I've seen it. It's a great movie! I just think that Clive's story is so remarkable, it demands to be made into a movie.
@@Lord_Procrastinatorthere is movie with a similar concept about a women with one day memory. It is a love comedy but serius enough about the subject and has a touching end
His story is realized by Debra for sure! She has such a passion for life and love, and is full of words to tell this story incredibly.
“What does love mean?”
“Zero in tennis and everything in life.”
Wow
i’m slow but could you explain this quote by any chance
@@CarlosFlores-xf2sn Having not scored a point yet, in tennis, is called "love". so when a match starts, the score is 0-0, and then when one person "scores" it is announced as "15-love".
Thank you
I’m gonna go panic for a bit...
Ikr wtf
"I haven't seen a human in years".
My heart cries for him.
Somehow he could tell that it has been years huh
@@Youuuuuu his soul must have just FELT like it was years
@Don Makaveli Why did it strike u as funny? Just curious?
what part of 7 seconds memory did you not understand?
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 seconds and everything after that is "infinity".
@@kenjidev576 there was a 45 second moment
"Is it very hard?"
"No. It's exactly the same as being dead, which is not difficult, is it? Being dead is easy. You don't do anything at all. You can't do anything when you're dead."
God, that's heart wrenching.
Such a powerful story of pain, frustration, fear and love, all wrapped up in the very fragile fabric of humanity. All my best wishes to Clive, Deborah and his family.
She took "for better, for worse, in sickness and in health" to heart. She is a strong lady and wonderful wife.
Who visits once a month and didn’t take poor the man to the hospital. She ain’t that innocent!!!
@@adamoganyan8981 You try to deal with him only remembering every seven seconds on an every day/365 days a year and it would probably drive you insane.
... it's strange to bring marriage into play here. This is story about a connection that goes way deeper and far beyond.
Like she said: She's also a widow.
And of those ... some remarry, some don't. Some have to in order to live, some need to stay away from that.
But you're right: Deborah is an awesome woman. And they are still a lovely and cute couple.
@@FR0STBL0D I agree with you. My comment does seem to say that other spouses who leave, are lesser. That is definitely not true. I don't know if I could stay. One doesn't know until you are in the situation. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Good on her for sticking around but I don't really understand why she only visits once a month seeing how much he enjoys her company. I mean I guess It doesn't make a difference whether she visits once a day or once a month because seven seconds after she leaves it will feel to him like he has never even met her before, aside from knowing that she exists. It must feel like somewhat of a burden to her.
He is so polite and gracious... his character just shines through the whole ordeal.
His wife is so much conscious and empathetic. I love how she just reflected on giving harsh answer to the journalist nad rewind the scene. Very lovely!
He was angry in the beginning of his illness whereas now he is very calm even though his conditoon hasn't got any better. He can't remember anything but his mind somehow found a peace.. Really hard to understand.
Yeah I wonder if he’s on medications or if it just happened like that. I’d think that if he was persistently agitated, some sort of sedative may have been prescribed but who knows.
@@joshuagavaghan224 There's a point in the documentary where it's mentioned that they don't know why he's become so calm over the years. Maybe generally being at peace or generally being frustrated has to do with a part of the brain that is not influenced by the hippocampus.
Not to hard to imagine. While most of the damage is permanent, the brain is still incredible at making new connections for old systems. Of course this process only goes so far sometimes but it seems like parts of his brain have learned to become accustomed to his current condition. All that cortisol being released is still recognized by the brain sub-conciously so internally it knows he was constantly in a stressed state and something had to be done about that. Just my theory though.
let's not forget that he is highly drugged
Id guess hormone levels changing with age
Drugs
Or what id put my money on something akin to muscle memory doing its work which doesn't require the hippocampus to work remember most of his brain still works
i cried when he begged her to see him after just leaving.
At what minute
@@footballknowledge07 16:25
me too.
Heartbreaking
And the way he talks about her "I dont care how late it is come to me midnight or 1oclock i dont mind i just love you more then anything please come to me"
welp ive cried
God, watching him and his wife made me sob. It's so heartbreaking to hear that he got so sick so fast. I can't imagine how his wife felt when he first started losing his memory
Such a clever man makes it even more of a tragic. imagine the feelings he would have given people with his gifts. God bless you, Clive. You will get another chance, I believe xx
"I've never heard a note yet"
That must be torture to a musician.
If he hasnt heard a note it's no torture to him since he doesnt know what it feels like to hear it. But it's a miracle when he hears a sound of the piano, must feel nice when finding music all over again.
But this documentary is not about music per se yet if you cannot hear his playing well , if it IS him playing - good on him and God bless his wife .
He may forget who she is but SHE never forgot who he is .
When my husband Paul who passed in 2015 after a lengthy illness and I NEVER left him for one day over 7 years - not for a day ... once when Paul woke up from a 3 month coma , he didn't know that I was his wife but he knew that he could trust me to help him live .
Prior to Paul's waking up , a few nurses asked why I was doing what I did , sleeping in a chair next to him , minding for him and my response :
" Paul may not remember who I am but I know who he is . "
Love never dies .
@Mandragora Ouroboros It's his procedural memory, a memory of automatic actions that don't need to go through conscience to be executed. Like riding a bike, for example. Since he was a musician, playing piano is a mechanic automatic process he's learned and stored in his procedural memory, but since he can't accumulate more than 7 seconds of information at a time and it goes away all the time, he doesn't remember playing the piano at all since the start of his problem.
This is an unimaginable existential nightmare of ungodly proportions. I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of unending abrupt beginning of consciousness.
what
Someone trying to act smart with big words
Jasmine Casserly: Well he used them correctly, so that counts for something right?
Same. That must be one of the worst existences anyone should have to endure. Can't imagine it.
Neither can he
When I first started watching I was expecting him to not be able to speak to well but he is very well spoken! Amazing
I wish there was a cure to jolt his memory back. This made me cry so much! I'm so glad they renewed their marriage vows. Praying for a miracle for Clive. And praying that his family has strength, peace and comfort through this. It's pretty heartbreaking. 🙏
Wouldn’t it be interesting if he could have half a brain transplant or something? I’m sure every single possibility has been thought up already but it would sure be fascinating.
He seems witty and intelligent, even in this state. Imagine how he was before the virus.
I imagine that's why she could not find anyone else when she went looking. Clive is truly irreplaceable.
Brilliant of course, musical genius even.
@@stephaniefisher2241 That's so beautifully written.
Well, he seems extremely Intelligent. I couldn't give such good Answers in so short Time. Heck, I'd need more then 7 Seconds to give half as good Answers. By that point he would have allready forgotten what we were talking about.
One of his Sons said he was a Genius before the Virus, and I'm certain that wasn't an exaggeration. He had a razor sharp Mind, was very educated and brilliant I'm sure.
At least his musical Genius is still there. He's fantastic on the Piano. Music is absolutely fascinating anyway. Many Seniors suffer from Alzheimers. In the worst State of the Desease, you are basically a walking Potato. No Memory, no Mind. But somehow many of them are still able to play Music. Many are as great as ever on their Instrument, altough they are otherwise not even able to speak. That, or those who didn't play Music will often react very, very emotional towards their favorite Songs.
@@sagichdirdochnicht4653 Yeah that's fascinating, music is so powerful. One day we might be able to explain that
This is so unsettling and difficult to wrap my head around. He is obviously really intelligent, and it seems like he's accepted his condition, even though he can't remember any of the thought processes.
Ikrrr! I cannot tell what it is, maybe his personality has changed slightly with time, making him more accepting of whatever happens. Or he's simply that intelligent, his brain o'clock resets and his first thought is "guess I have amnesia"
it's like he knows but can't remember it's really hard to understand
Well
Yeah
Well i guess it became just such a big thing in life that it became a part of him without the need to remember it. Like you dont have to think about your own name, or gender or something that is a part of you since "forever".
What a tragic loss of a brilliant, gifted mind. Absolutely heartbreaking!😢
It's so difficult to wrap my head around what a life like that is like. A life filled with company of so many kinds yet so profoundly isolated. All this loss yet no capacity to internalize anything or feel any particular way about it.
......"He knows me, he might not remember anything about me.....but he knows me"
My heart😢😍
I can’t find it pin it
@@hellohellohello517 5.50
The way he sees himself in a state of death and his wife; his angel that he forever waits for.
I cried so hard.
right ;((
You're not alone.
And this feels like he's interviewing in heaven, 42:38
Beautiful perspective
Yes, I am still sobbing. This is what love is.
Because he won't remember the good times even seconds later, it would be easy to say there's no point. But even if he doesn't have a conscious memory of the moment, the physiological effects of happiness, the presence of serotonin rather than cortisol, for example, would still make a difference to him. ❤
"Welcome to Earth" is such a whimsical way to greet someone. I love that.
"What does it mean to you when Debra arrives?"
"Heaven on Earth has arrived". Omg. 😭💓
God bless
I'm sure your someone's heaven on earth. 😇
a hit and a miss
Debra is amaziiiing !!! I found her so calm and patient it's beautiful !
I read this as it played on the video haha
"You're the first human beings I've seen, three of you. Two men and one lady. The first people I've seen since being ill. No difference between day and night, no thoughts at all, no dreams. Precisely like death." The description is always similar. He seems so alive but his experience is of a dead man walking. I don't blame him for his violent episodes early in his illness. It's amazing how he can react so well to the present without any past.
He seems to react based on his mood, when his sister left his mood went really down, also some of his responses and actions seems to be something he learns in some way, he developed some kind of routine, like crossing his diary entries and some other details shown in the documentary...
@@c_urrutia I have little to no knowledge about this but because of his situation, does it make emotions more heightened, as a result? Like, his wife or his kids leaving for the day, while something that would be not much of an issue with most people, it would be like some big situation?
I have no clue and only basing it off of similar feelings I had while high on weed.
@@JLCL01 Now you're thinking we make him do a crap ton of coke an see the results.
His explosive episodes make so much sense at the beginning though. He was scared cause he had no idea why he was in that place. Then secondly his wife was trying to constantly make him remember what he wrote on that diary, and he was so frustrated because he genuinely had forgotten. No wonder this man was like that. I sympathize
He had outbursts because he was confused and desperate, the trauma of being completely self-aware yet having no capacity to access any actual contextual memory or form new ones. The name of the first documentary was a truly an accurate description for it, "prisoner of consciousness".
He is conscious of his own reality, yet has no ability to recall this reality, it's like being stuck in a psychological paradox.
However, through time his subconsious memory has learnt and gotten used to this illness. Just like every organic lifeform evolves and learns through repeated patterns and habit, his mind has adapted to his new reality on a subconscious level even though he himself can't think that or remember it
I think this teaches us to be grateful in life and everything
A wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
Clives wife is the definition of "Lovely". I have never before seen someone who actually fits that word, but she does.
Really she has the soul of an angel 😇
Wait what? You’ve never met a lovely person?
Amen.
She really is amazing.
21:11 her patience... Wow.
She has to be the most supporting wife to ever exist, this is true love right here..."clive and i are in a different plane, we are in a world where there's no time"
That's for sure.
Most people would have given up on him and left him alone like that.
And even if I got left after something like this happened to me I couldn't blame them. I mean just watching this brought me to tears multiple times, I couldn't imagine the emotional stress I would cause someone to endure that loved me like that. She's an actual angel. But only a slight fraction of the pain she felt I was able to feel and even that was monumental.
@@nploda1408 She tried to give up on him but she couldn't do it. Her love for him is too strong.
@@Valvex_ what part of she lives 40 miles away do you not understand?
One of the best quotes of the film. Truly the definition of love
Clive is still alive. He's been like this almost 40 years now. The poor man.
Thank you for making this documentary.
The terrifying thing about this situation for me is how clearly intelligent he is. The scariest thing for intelligence is loss of itself, and he not only realizes that something is horribly wrong with his memory, but can actually analyze it with what little time he has to remember his analysis. This must be _torturous_ on I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream level.
What a brilliant person he would have been if not for his disability.
But its interesting how it shows how intelligence is independent of knowledge, or how knowledge is independent of memory
@@ariarimeowmeow I think he has knowledge, but not the memory of acquiring it and no roadmap to formulate an idea to a conclusion, like having a CD filled with information and a broken laser reader
Reminds me of finally getting the right medication for a neurological problem that caused numbness and paralysis, starting in my feet and as a musician I work by playing an instrument to feed my family and I got help when I already had to resort to easier pieces. I wanted to scream at my hands to follow my commands, it was hard and yesterday was literally the first day I felt like some sensation in the feet may come back.
@@jan.plays.guitar While I am very glad that you've found medicine that allowed you to regain control of your hands (currently working on a brain-digi barrier thing to rectify that, but I can't speak much about it) it's one thing to will your muscles to do something and your muscles refusing, and it's completely another to not even have any idea when and where you had willed your muscles to move.
I hope you make a speedy and permanent recovery, but the amount of anguish this guy experiences daily is just unfathomable to me
@@FiksIIanzO maybe read the first three words I commented again ;)
The final exchange made me shed a tear
Interviewer: "If you could do anything now, if you had free choice, what would you do next?"
Clive: "Oh a gin and tonic, I think, with a cigarette. Then, of course, waiting for time to elude and disappear. And her arrival."
Was he talking about death?
@@c_urrutia I think "her arrival" was referring to death
@@gandalf1753 I had the same impression...
@@c_urrutia, I feel like he was talking about his wife because the camera shows a photo of her on top of the piano right after he answers.
@@c_urrutia I think that’s him having at least some understanding of his current reality: he waits for time to elude and disappear in his next “consciusness reset” and then for the arrival of his wife, as he perceives her again.
Thanks a lot for this documentaries Real Stories. Extremely heart breaking...
Thanks again for the ... not bleeping ... anything.
The hard part wit this poor man is that HE KNOWS. He's not living some magical life where he doesn't even know he has issues, the man recognizes that he cannot think. That hit me hard when he stated he is completely incapable of thinking, he was making concious efforts to use a part of his brain that he knows is there but just not working.
He might have a very short memory but he is extremely intelligent, brilliant.
He was.
No, he is. He just doesn't have the ability to show it.
Vasto Lorde just think how fascinating he would be had he not lost his memory.
Vasto Lorde true at the beginning he seemed slow but as the documentary went on he seemed smart.