Posted by Tamar on June 12, 2006, at 17:26:34
In reply to dissassociation child abuse trigger, I am confused, posted by happyflower on June 12, 2006, at 15:43:56
> Okay, you all know I am taking Psych class, well last week we were talking about "forgotten memories" of horrible stuff.
> Well it seems like they saying that most horrible stuff that happens to you, you remember even more so because of the physical reactions like increased hormones and stuff like that duing the event.That might be true of a traumatic incident that happens only once. But I don’t think it’s necessarily true of repeated trauma. And I don’t even think it’s *necessarily* true of an isolated traumatic incident.
> Well I think I tried very hard to forget the bad stuff that has happened to me even while it was happening. Then through therapy, some of this stuff triggered the forgotten memories.
>
> Like my burn accident I had 6 months ago. I even got the feeling (athough he didn't say it) is why I didn't tell him of this before, it was like he didn't believe that I forgot it.I’m amazed at some of the stuff I’ve forgotten. It’s not as if it’s gone forever, it just needs something to remind me. Like your burn accident reminded you of your previous experience.
> My book says that this Freudian therory is overused and almost believed by everyone including therapist who know the evidence against it. But my book claims and my instructer says that most "forgotten memories" are false. Well I know for a fact my memories aren't false, I have the burn scars to prove it. I didn't tell my instructor of my experiences and don't plan to. I don't know if I want to research into this (which is what I normally do), maybe I should just talk to my T about it since it is rather upsetting stuff to think about.
I have done quite a bit of reading about false memories and recovered memories. It can be quite hard going. I think the difficulty is that it’s very polarized: EITHER innocent people legitimately forget traumatic experiences OR bad people make up evil lies about their families. And I really don’t think it’s that simple. I think any theory of memory has to take account of the potential problems that can arise in social and legal contexts from adopting that theory. Sorry, I’m not very articulate at the moment. I hope that made sense.
Anyway, in case you’re interested, my own conclusion based on what I’ve read is that false memories can be planted in the minds of vulnerable people by unscrupulous or untrained therapists, possibly using hypnotherapy as an attempt to uncover buried memories. But if memories emerge spontaneously (or in response to a related incident, like your burn) they are likely to be real. Well, that’s my unqualified opinion.
> The book did say a small percentage of people have dissaccociated their bad abuse, we all disassociate to some degree, but it is over dianognosed. What do you all think?
Actually, I think dissociation is probably under-diagnosed. Or rather, I think a great many people experience it, but don’t receive a diagnosis because they’re not unwell enough to need mental health care.
Just my two cents!
poster:Tamar
thread:656012
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060604/msgs/656069.html