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Oct 6, 2019 · Between 60 and 89 percent of modern mental health clinicians believe that traumatic memories can be forgotten, repressed, or suppressed. A study of clinicians who utilize EMDR to treat trauma ...
Jul 11, 2007 · Depue’s work shows for the first time that a neural emotion regulator, the amygdala, contributes to suppressing upsetting memories and that two neural mechanisms promote this process, Anderson says.
Dec 9, 2016 · According to McLaughlin, if the brain registers an overwhelming trauma, then it can essentially block that memory in a process called dissociation—or detachment from reality. "The brain will ...
- Overview
- Where did the idea come from?
- Why is it controversial?
- What is repressed memory therapy?
- What else might explain the phenomenon?
- What if I feel like I have some kind of repressed memory?
- The bottom line
Significant events in life tend to linger in your memory. Some might spark happiness when you recall them. Others might involve less pleasant emotions.
You might make a conscious effort to avoid thinking about these memories. Repressed memories, on the other hand, are those you unconsciously forget. These memories generally involve some kind of trauma or a deeply distressing event.
Maury Joseph, a clinical psychologist in Washington, D.C., explains that when your brain registers something too distressing, “it drops the memory into a ‘nonconscious’ zone, a realm of the mind you don’t think about.”
It sounds simple enough, but the concept of memory repression is a controversial one that experts have long debated.
The idea of memory repression dates back to Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. He began developing the theory after his teacher, Dr. Joseph Breuer, told him about a patient, Anna O.
She experienced many unexplained symptoms. During treatment for these symptoms, she started remembering upsetting events from the past she previously had no memory of. After regaining these memories and talking about them, her symptoms began to improve.
Freud believed that memory repression served as a defense mechanism against traumatic events. Symptoms that couldn’t be traced to a clear cause, he concluded, stemmed from repressed memories. You can’t remember what happened, but you feel it in your body, anyway.
The concept of memory repression had a resurgence in popularity in the 1990s when an increasing number of adults started reporting memories of child abuse they hadn’t been aware of previously.
Some mental health professionals believe the brain can repress memories and offer therapy to help people recover hidden memories. Others agree repression could theoretically be possible, even though there’s no concrete proof.
But the majority of practicing psychologists, researchers, and other experts in the field question the whole concept of repressed memories. Even Freud later discovered many of the things his clients “remembered” during psychoanalysis sessions weren’t real memories.
Above all, “memory is highly flawed,” Joseph says. “It’s subject to our biases, how we feel in the moment, and how we felt emotionally at the time of event.”
That doesn’t mean memories aren’t useful for exploring psychological issues or learning about someone’s personality. But they shouldn’t necessarily be taken as concrete truths.
Despite the controversy surrounding repressed memories, some people offer repressed memory therapy. It’s designed to access and recover repressed memories in an effort to relieve unexplained symptoms.
Practitioners often use hypnosis, guided imagery, or age regression techniques to help people access memories.
Some specific approaches include:
•brainspotting
•somatic transformation therapy
•primal therapy
Dissociation
People often cope with severe trauma by dissociating, or detaching from what’s happening. This detachment can blur, alter, or block the memory of the event. Some experts believe children who experience abuse or other trauma may not be able to create or access memories in the usual way. They have the memories of the event, but they may not recall them until they’re older and better equipped to deal with the distress.
Denial
When you deny an event, Joseph says, it may never register in your consciousness. “Denial might occur when something is so traumatic and upsetting your mind doesn’t let a picture form,” he adds. Maury offers the example of a child who witnesses domestic violence between their parents. They might temporarily check out mentally. As a result, they might not have a “picture” of what happened in their memory. Still, they get tense when watching a fight scene in a movie.
Forgetting
You may not remember an event until something later in life triggers your recollection. But it’s not really possible to know whether your brain unconsciously repressed the memory or you consciously buried it, or simply forgot.
Both memory and trauma are complicated topics that researchers are still working to understand. Leading experts in both fields continue to explore links between the two.
If you feel like you’re having trouble recalling an early memory or don’t remember a traumatic event people have told you about, consider reaching out to a licensed therapist.
The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends looking for one trained to treat specific symptoms, such as:
•anxiety
•somatic (physical) symptoms
•depression
In theory, memory repression could happen, though other explanations for lost memories may be more likely.
The APA suggests that while memories of trauma may be repressed and recovered later, this seems extremely rare.
The APA also points out that experts don’t yet know enough about how memory works to tell a real recovered memory from a false memory, unless other evidence supports the recovered memory.
It’s important for mental health professionals to take an unbiased and objective approach to treatment, one that’s grounded in your present experience.
Trauma can have very real effects on your brain and body, but treating these symptoms may have more benefit than searching for memories that may not actually exist.
Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.
- Crystal Raypole
Jun 15, 2015 · Physical abuse: Those that are violently beaten or “hit” by others may block all memory of the event from consciousness. Physical abuse often leaves psychological marks, but permanent psychological scars. The physical abuse may be ongoing or an isolated event that leads to repression of memories of the attacks.
Aug 18, 2015 · The best way to access the memories in this system is to return the brain to the same state of consciousness as when the memory was encoded, the study showed. Changing the brain’s radio frequencies Two amino acids, glutamate and GABA, are the yin and yang of the brain, directing its emotional tides and controlling whether nerve cells are excited or inhibited (calm).
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May 13, 2022 · Remembering a repressed memory “could begin with dream-like memories,” says psychologist Pauline Peck, PhD. It ’s “something that doesn ’t feel like a coherent narrative. You might have ...
