Repressed Memory : Causes And Treatments Of Repressed Memory

By way of introduction – and if you will indulge my brief nod to Hollywood - this is often how the issue of memory is portrayed by popular media. In the 2002 film, Antwone Fisher, Denzel Washington plays a military psychologist who is tasked with evaluating the mental health of recently demoted seaman, Antwone Fisher. As the film goes on Denzel Washington discovers (along with the rest of us) Antwone Fisher’s highly traumatized past. Through the cinematic use of multiple flashback scenes Antwone is gradually brought back to “the scene of the crime” seemingly remembering such details as the overall abuse in addition to the exact placement of holes in the wall or buckets on the floor or shirt he was wearing. In other words, the flashback scenes depict a kind of grand narrative of absolute truth that we, as viewers don’t question. Antwone Fisher simply needed a nudge by a safe, albeit stern father figure in order to remember it all.

I don’t remember much of my childhood. It’s been said that when you experience trauma, your brain has a defense mechanism to help you forget it ever happened. This is both helpful and hurtful in terms of carrying on. I don’t remember much of my mother before her alcoholism began to control her. I wish I could remember what she was like; I’ve been told she was a wonderful mother, though it’s very hard for me to believe that now.

Farrell argues, “Merely telling one’s story of trauma, however is not enough to begin the healing process” (186). Flashbacks are more than a memory, even if one tells others their flashbacks, one still would not understand the meaning or the significance of the intrusive memory. According to Caruth, “The flashbacks or traumatic reenactment conveys , that is both the truth of an event, and the truth of its incomprehensibility” (Caruth 153). In order for one to understand and heal from their trauma, one

When something happens to an individual and the opportunities to talk about the incident is repressed, there is likeliness that the victim will feel dissatisfied and “left alone.” There is absolutely nothing like re-victimizing ourselves when we talk or revisit a traumatic occurrence. In fact the only

False memories have been studied science the early 1990’s because they have become controversial topic. In the beginning they was no thought that your memory would be unfaithful and that if you had a memory that you “recovered” it had to be true because your memory couldn’t fail you. Could it? Well one woman’s disbelief caused her, Susan Clancy, who was a Harvard University graduate student at the time decided that while everyone else was arguing over the accuracy of recovered memories, she would create a study on them (Grierson 1). Clancy first started out by interviewing her subjects that said to have recovered memories of abuse after they had gone through therapy. The stories were horrifying but she was brought up to believe that what they were telling her was true. But, soon after she found herself wondering if they had even really went through these events that they “recovered”. When she spoke out against the recovered memory patients saying that they couldn’t of forgotten such a traumatic memory and that they had created a false memory by going to the therapy the hate mail started coming in (Grierson 3). Throughout this time many other scientists started to do more and more research on false memories and most of the studies have concluded with the same information. “The false memory researchers point to other research showing that traumatic events are normally remembered all too well. They argue that

Two of the consequences of sexual abuse that interest me the most is posttraumatic stress disorder and repressed memory. PTSD is known as an anxiety disorder that occurs in response to experiencing extreme stress (McCoy & Keen, 2014). The rates of PTSD vary among the type of sexual abuse that has occurred (McCoy & Keen, 2014). Victims of sexual abuse usually have to deal with PTSD. They have flashbacks of the terrible indicants, could happen randomly or be triggered by anything. Since the triggers could happen any time, it could prevent the person from prevent the person from being able to move on, which could stop them from living a successful and happy life. Another consequence of sexual abuse is repressed memory. Repressed memory is when the brain forces unacceptable thoughts, desires or memories into the unconscious (McCoy & Keen, 2014). This is done so the brain can protect itself. It takes a lot of energy for the brain to hide these memories and they can reappear caused by a trigger (McCoy & Keen, 2014). It makes

The case that has arguably had the biggest negative impact on Loftus is that of "Jane Doe"(real name Nicole Taus). In 1997, David Corwin and his colleague Erna Olafson published a case study of an apparently bona fide case of an accurate, recovered memory of childhood sexual abuse.[ Skeptical, Loftus and her colleague Melvin Guyer decided to investigate further. Using public records and interviewing people connected to Taus, they uncovered information Corwin had not included in his original article—information that they thought strongly suggested Taus' memory of abuse was false.

There are multiple reasons believed to cause repressed memories. A very publicized one is sexual assault. Many victims of this awful crime fail to recall what happened to them, some for a decade or two, but then can recall, sometimes in vivid detail, what happened to them.

Re-experiencing the traumatic event can come in the form of nightmares, night terrors, frightening thoughts and/or flashbacks. Nightmares can be a dream in which the individual feels like he or she is reliving the event or it can be an entirely different event that only reminds the person of the traumatizing event. Flashbacks are reliving the event over and over again and can produce other symptoms such as a racing heart and excessive sweating. Any reminders in the persons everyday life can trigger re-experiencing symptoms. Staying away from certain places, people, or activities that are reminders of the event is an avoidance symptom. Feeling lack of emotions and/or a strong sense of guilt, stress and depression are also an avoidance symptom. In some individuals tend to avoid the fact the event happened in the first place which causes difficulties remembering the entire event. Hyperarousal symptoms are not triggered by any reminder of the event but are constant instead. Angry outbursts, tenseness, and being easily agitated can make everyday tasks much harder for the individual to do. Some people who have developed PTSD may not show any symptoms for weeks after the

The need for understanding the phenomenon of repressed memories is also very important from a legal standpoint. In recent years there has been numerous cases of people suing their parents or other authority figures for abuse that has been recalled many years after the abuse was said to have occurred. The rulings in these cases have often been controversial considering there is often not enough concrete or collaborative evidence to prove the accused to be guilty or innocent. The judge and jury are often forced to make a ruling that relies heavily on the testimonial of the accuser. This is very contentious considering there is not an accurate and reliable test to determine the validity of the accuser.

Based on my reading, repressed memories are more likely to surface when people feel the need to play the victim and fancy accusing other people to achieve that aim. The fact that many women retracted their allegations showed me that they may have intentionally fabricated the stories. Perhaps, the growth in the number of people making these types of allegations could have grown because they were getting attention and they thought that was cool. One possible positive effect is that some cultures reward the idea that someone could be a victim. I have heard countless stories where victims have been compensated by their aggressors. In politics for example, some countries immediately take sides with a victim city or country in an interstate conflict to prove they support

The name of the video I viewed was “Personality and Repressed Memories”. I viewed this video at 2:19 PM on February 7, 2016. The video began with the narrator introducing the case, while a video of the defendant walking to the courthouse is being played in the background. The narrator explained that the primary witness in the case was the defendant’s daughter, Eileen. A still shot of the victim was then shown on the screen. The victim was Eileen’s childhood friend, Susan. She went missing from her neighborhood and was later found dead with a fractured skull outside of town. A shot of the site where her body was discovered was also shown in the video. The video then switched to show Eileen as a grown woman. She was telling her side of what happened

The practice of recovered memory has been used for centuries among mental health patients to resurface the repressed memories of a patient past in order to help heal them of a disease or disorder. Despite psychologists preaching its effectiveness many of the memories recovered have otherwise been proven false. Psychologist have even been known to embed false memories of child abuse, sexual abuse, and satanic ritual abuse. Although most of these claims are proven false, many court systems have allowed patients to sue their believed abusers, ultimately tearing apart families and jailing innocent

Do you think an experience can be so traumatizing that the brain pushes it into an inaccessible corner of the unconscious to later recall it years later? This concept on the mind is expressed as repressed memories. These are types of memories that are blocked unconsciously due to the high levels of stress experienced during the event. This theory on memories are based on the idea that even though the memory is repressed it is still affecting the individual in their conscious aspects of life. Repressed memories are often associated with childhood sexual abuse. This relies on the idea that these memories of sexual abuse can be brought up either in therapy or by the victim themselves years after the abuse. The concept of repressed memories has been a huge controversy in psychology from the beginning of time. Many people believe that repressed memories in regards to childhood sexual abuse are possible while others believe they can’t be as accurate as some people believe.

      Why would anyone want to erase a part of their memory? No one would want to remember being raped or tortured, witness a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. People simply want to forget these memories because they want to stop it hurting and haunting them. Trauma can greatly affect our memory. We may use our natural ability to dissociate to avoid awareness of a traumatic experience while the trauma is happening and however long it may occur. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that develops in some people who have experienced any of events I have mentioned (NIMH). It is normal for us to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear is a powerful trigger for the changes in our body to help defend against danger or avoid it. Most people will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet many will recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to suffer may have PTSD and they may feel