What are Repressed Memories and are they real?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 มิ.ย. 2024
- This video describes the concept of repressed memories and the defense mechanism of repression. Repression is one of the defense mechanisms theorized by Sigmund Freud when he created psychoanalytic theory, which is a talk therapy modality. In psychoanalytic theory, the ego regulates the unconscious drives of the id and the morals and societal values of the superego. When the ego fails to regulate the id and the superego sometimes defense mechanisms can be observed. One of those defense mechanisms is repression and arguably it's the most important defense mechanism because every defense mechanism has repression reflected in it in some way. To understand repression we have to understand the idea of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. The conscious mind contains information that we are aware of right now. The preconscious mind stores more information that we have access to but we are not thinking of at the moment. That information can be retrieved. The unconscious mind contains the most information and it's information that we are not aware of we can't retrieve. With repression, frightening and painful memories, thoughts, or unconscious drives that are unacceptable get pushed from conscious awareness or from the preconscious mind to the unconscious mind. By definition someone cannot recall a repressed memory. They are not aware of the information that is stored away securely in the unconscious mind. On this issue of the existence of repressed memories, most therapists believe that this phenomenon is true (about 70%). Most researchers don't believe it's true with only around 15 - 30% believing that repressed memories are real. There are a number of alternative explanations to repressed memories, however, research in this area is difficult to conduct. There is no way currently of proving or disproving the concept of repressed memories.
As a pastor/counselor, I served a church with several adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. A woman asked if I would talk with her, and I agreed. She was cardboard, colorless and two-dimensional, boring, robotic. She thought she might have been abused, but was not sure. I read Janov's "Primal Scream" and a couple others, and simply visited with her, once a week, and had her talk about what she did remember. We got earlier and earlier, and eventually she remembered virtually everything. It wasn't pretty. Verbalizing what she recalled, she would curl up on the couch in the fetal position and fall asleep. Realization was traumatic. At one place she opened her mouth and showed me a mass of scar tissue, inflicted by her father. Unexpectedly I burst out in tears (I have three daughters.), I was embarrassed, and sent her home, determined I was not cut out for this. Then she manifested a sudden, global change of personality. She became bright and talkative. She started laughing and crying. She said a change came over her when I cried. Her left arm and hand began to tingle, as if she had been lying on it when asleep, and the circulation was returning. No man had ever expressed empathy for her. She had also been ambidextrous as a child, and lost that ability. It returned. Apparently the right side of her brain had shut down into survival mode, and finally, when it was safe to come out, it fired up again. At age 14 she aborted her father's baby, and felt remorse. We talked about forgiveness and atonement, and I suggested that she take her ordeal and turn it into something good...something that would not have happened, had the abuse not occurred. Today she is a realistic portrait artist, and she specializes in fathers and children. She also had another child, and named him after me! Counseling doesn't get better than that.
I have, and have always had, extremely vivid dreams; the issue with me and therapy and recalling what may be considered "repressed" memories, is that they could very well have been dreams. I even recall specific dreams and nightmares I had when I was 3 or 4 and I'm almost 30 now. I don't trust my recalled memories surrounding potential trauma because of this.
I had a dream around 11 that to this day I don’t know if it was a dream or not and I’m 21 it haunts me
In his book The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk cited a study where they identified a group of women who had experienced sexual abuse when they were children. The researchers knew the women had been abused because they had the medical records. But many years later when they surveyed the women, they found that many of the women had forgotten the incidents. The closer their relationship to the perpetrator, the more likely they were to not be able to recall the incident. So isn't this evidence of repressed memories?
It happened to me. I witnessed something very traumatic when I was about 5. I completely repressed it until I was in my late 20's. It suddenly returned to me when looking through old photographs and talking about relatives who had passed away long before. The memory of the incident came back to me completely. I believe it was just more than I could handle at age 5 so I somehow repressed it until a time in which I could process it. I never would have thought it was real phenomenon until it happened to me.
I can tell you for certain that it is real. I had blocked out the first 16 years of my life. I've gotten a lot if not most of my memories back. It isn't what people think... I wasn't raped, or tortured', I was in denial about the severe psychological abuse that I had endured. There is other proof that it's real too. People, for example, who have been in car wrecks, or natural disasters repress the memory of the traumatic event.
Can you remember any of it now? You said you "had" blocked it out. What do you remember now? Is it fixable? I can't remember a thing.
I’m so sorry you had a childhood too traumatic to be remembered. Mine was hard (just so rough) but I remember sunny days, swimming at the public pool with my friends, then crossing the street to buy THE BEST chips (French fries) I’ve ever eaten from Chicken Express. Climbing a tree with a pillow & a book or picking the mulberries from our tree & just SO MUCH FUN in between the traumas because I was a little kid. Mostly I could shake it off & live my day in a way that teens & adults can’t manage. I do suffer some memory problems now (& I did forget big chunks of 3 of my teen years) due to all the medical stuff/medication side-effects... I guess we kind of have flipped memories. I think that it’s better to not remember & build new memories than remember a lot but be unable to hold on to now
Repressed or... dissociated memories..?
Personally, I believe that “repressed memories” is real, and certain techniques or events can trigger the memories. However, the insufficient scientific evidence makes me cautious about this belief.
Thank you for ALL of your videos on Narccism ! You have helped me so much more then any therapist I have seen to understand my family Dynamics. You are a God sent.
While I disagree with some concepts in relation to psychoanalysis as proposed by Freud, I do agree with the concept of repressed memories. Research that demonstrates that 20-60% of individuals who have experienced some form of trauma cannot account for certain periods of time, may support this concept. However, alternative explanations offered such as forgetfulness, confirmation bias, and unintentional suggestion should not be discounted. The brain and mind are only components within a complex system.
Thank you for this video 😊. This topic has been at the forefront of my life for a very long time. Out of thin air (not in therapy, never had therapy) I had a flashback of something that happened to me as a child. I relived the whole event (I was a child again, experiencing all of the thoughts, confusion and emotions). It felt real, very real. I had no memory of the event and Honestly as an adult reliving it I was traumatised. I have spent every day since then trying to make sense of it and trying to remember, but I can’t. Sometimes though, particularly when relaxing My body goes into panic , It always feels as though I was just about to remember something 🤷♀️. Probably haven’t done a great job of explaining that, but I wish I knew for sure whether it happened, whist at the same time I don’t want to remember.
Dotty P you maybe have physical and emotional flashbacks? I have emotional ones- i get triggered but i have very few childhood memories- but iv been told stuff and can imagine the rest- im 46 btw and had 20 yrs of counselling and still have amnesia 🙋❤️
Repressed memories can provide a breakthrough opportunity for one experiencing this issue.
Memories are constructs, not recordings, so it may make more sense to ask not if the memories are real, but if they are consistent with known facts. There are a number of things I cannot remember about my childhood, but my physical reactions/ responses show clearly what was done. I have one memory which could be real, or could be a construct melding several incidents together. Does it really matter which it is? Something of the sort definitely happened. (There's no one besides myself in the flash of memory.)
I have repressed memories of someone I was close to I dont remember most of my childhood sometimes it comes back with little triggers like smells, feelings or things I see. Both good and bad come back. So yes I think repressed memories are real.
When you think that you've imagined something and then it turns out that you haven't 😬because you might have been remembering it from when you're about two
Thank you for your very own steady understanding, encouragement and also guidance to backup my journey to becoming more consciously watchful and additionally spiritually connected.
You are quite welcome -
When I first became aware of repressed memories it was a very intriguing concept that I wanted to learn about. This video provided more information on the topic in explaining how difficult it may be to prove the components and mechanisms that are involved.
Listening to you speak is relaxing
I really enjoyed your detailed explanation on this topic. During my undergraduate studies, I did research on Dr. Elizabeth Loftus and repressed memories and I found it fascinating.
I’m really curious if repressed memories are real and I’m still unsure. I have actual memories of gross behavior throughout my childhood/teen years but when I started heavily using drugs, specifically psychedelics, I started to experience horrible things always about that person every time I used them. I actually was diagnosed with PTSD because of it and idk I feel crazy even talking about it. I didn’t get much help from mental health professionals with my experiences and really didn’t even feel comfortable talking about it. But I tried looking up information to understand if it was just a continuous bad trip or if I was reliving memories. I came across the idea of repressed memories, but I still feel confused and it’s hard to get help for bizarre occurrences like mine even without that aspect. Either way could you do more videos on repressed memories? I’d really like to learn more about it from a professional.
Yes repressed memories exist. I didn’t believe in them at the time & I wasn’t in any kind of therapy. I was just walking down the hall, holding a book or something and “BAM!” Creepy uncle watched me pee, stood in the door so I had to press against him to get into the bedroom (I’d used their en-suite). Then he walked around me, sat on the bed & tried to “play a game” with me. He was between me & the door but the jackass tried it when my mum was in their house too. I called out “I’m coming out mummy!” She called “Um Ok?” We both knew she’d come & investigate why I was taking so long to come out now. So he had to let me go... I was 5 (17 when I remembered)
very real. i've experienced this and still am
Thank you, Doctor Grande. This is a very good explanation.
I’m wondering what your thoughts are on false memory syndrome? As it relates to repression and methods of therapy. Also, I wonder if repression could be accurately and ethically studied through verification (through researching that time in the subject’s life)?
I have what probably could be classified as recovered repressed memories and I recovered them on my own (outside any form of therapy). I have a pretty vast trauma history and at the point when I became aware of it (or I mean, started to accept the fact that I have had trauma in my life) I had years worth of memories missing. For example, I was severely bullied in 3rd and 4th grade. Initially I had zero recollection about anything school-related from those years, even though I could remember 1st and 2nd grade very clearly and could remember some stuff that was not related to the school like trips to another country from the time i was in 3rd and 4th grade. Nowadays I remember pretty much everything that happened at that school, including all the positive experiences and all the mundane everyday stuff. I also remember that when me moved to another city and I moved to another school, I think for the first year I remembered the 3rd and 4th grade and had some flashbacks about it etc, but I would presume that I was suppressing these memories really strongly, but anyway I remember that by the time I went to 7th grade I had zero recollection of 3rd and 4th grade (I would have nightmares about it often though, but since I had zero recollection of that time I was unable to realize what the nightmares were about). Of course I also have supressed/repressed other memories too including sexual abuse between the ages of six and ten (not actually by any family member, like usually in "false memory syndrome"), but I think it was the same mechanism accompanied by the fact that I could not make any sense out of these experiences. I also struggle with lots of dissociation so my reaction to this situation that I did not understand and was unable to disclose was to dissociate. My ability to "forget" events in early childhood I think is not that surprising since still a couple of years ago I would have these changes in identity (not like full-fledged DID but it had resemblance to it) which I was unaware of and partial amnesia between the "identity states". Also for example, when I got into a fight with my mother, I would go on to have a horrible headache and after a minute or so I would have lost all recollection of that event.
While I believe that repressed memories are real, I (like mentioned in the video) believe this would be very hard to prove. How would one even begin to formulate an experiment to determine this? If the memories reside in the unconscious mind, how do you even access them? Very interesting subject for debate.
It was interesting to learn that there isn’t a specific way to research repressed memories. Memories vary based on an individuals perception and this makes it difficult to create a tool to measure the accuracy of an individuals repressed memories. However with the rate of advancement within technology it would be interesting to see a tool created for this specific type of research.
Great content! Very informative and well explained
Thank you so much!
@@DrGrande Can you in the future do a video on the 1984 original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" as it relates to PTSD, child abuse, and repressed memories, I recently read an article on the movie and would like your take on it.
Now I understand why a professional person serving the public may refuse to believe someone who comes to them with a concern for their safety. It could be compassion fatigue. How can social workers and caregivers reach people with encouragmen to not give up finding a professional without compassion fatigue who can help in all practicality with more staturs than someone like me lower down in professonal status who doesn't have compassion fatigue?
I think that repressed memories are real, the mind has many compartments in which to keep thoughts and feelings, and I liken it to forgetting but on a deeper level. I do wonder if it would be possible to use techniques to retrieve memories and then study that event to gain more research and knowledge on repressed memories.
I think I have experienced repressed memories at times when I was intoxicated. I have forgotten things while being intoxicated and weeks or months later or sometimes days something triggers the memory.
My sister's, mother and I all had memories come back together. Mental health clinicians didn't really know what to do to help us. I don't remember my dreams hardly ever. Don't think four people could of remembered similar events and then not be real. We just live on with no substantial proof that any of it happened.
Until watching this video I believed repressed memories were real but now I’m unsure because how can someone retrieve something that he or she doesn’t know happened? And how can repressed memories come up through therapy if one doesn’t know he or she is repressing a memory?
Janice Dixon well the point is you remember something you didn’t remember before.
Dr Grande, can you do a video on "The Satanic Panic" of the 80s and 90s?
Please explain intermittent explosive disorder. Thanks
I started to try and recall bit bits and pieces of it from childhood and I keep trying to remember every little detail of every little thing because I was pulled away from that thing when I was very young but for some reason now mych older I keep wanting to recall every little thing and I'm having issues with that
Is it possible that you remember it when someone tells you it happend, but you had no memories of it before? I know the events reallly happened and now that i remember it, I can't get it out of my head. I have months were i have no clue what happened, but it shows up when sombody speaks about it
When I was in junior high playing a softball game in gym me and this guy collided and i got a concussion. I don't really remember what happened. The only thing I remember is the paramedics putting me on the stretcher because my tooth had went through my lip. To this day I can't remember what happened. I remember in the hospital they told me that my brain would block out this memory. My question is this a repressed memory that can be brought out in therapy?
I had a concussion in high school and lost about 7 to 10 days except for some random and odd memories(?), and I wonder the same thing.
I’m very interested to know if repressed memory has been researched within validating circumstances? For example: someone experiencing something traumatic, and having a witness that confirms it happened, but the person did not remember for years and then suddenly it came back. I. E. I have repressed memories that came back before I ever went to a therapist, wherein my sister can confirm either its a strong possibility or having witnessed it first hand. I even have some where I can’t recall the layout of a room in general, completely absent from my normal memories, but then it comes back in the context of a repressed memory of the traumatic event, with no prompt, and the room layout within the memory is exact to a T with no suggestion or information given beforehand. I also have very strong physical sensory flashbacks of the events. So I’m curious how researchers can debunk cases with confirmation like that? Do they just assume people are lying or is there an actual scientific basis to explain it? is it a theory that people can fabricate both memory and flashbacks? Sorry for so many questions, I’m just very curious since I experience these things myself!
All memories are not retrieved by therapists. Many people remember on their own without the aid of a therapist.
I’m liking the black background
Doctor I have a lot of blackouts looking back in my childhood. Is there a way I can retrieve them?
You can use Hipnosis in order to retrieve repress memory. It does work I saw a trauma victim got better and now lives a better healthy life.
Is it necessary to retrieve repressed/ suppressed memories in order to heal from trauma?
What if the person never received therapy?
How would this be falsified?
The life before birth of PhD Arthur Janov tells us a lot
I can't see anyone especially a child being able to repress a memory? Especially a traumatic one ?
As surly it will keep going round and round in there mind, and things in the environment will help to keep it in there until when there behaviour becomes too much for them to cope with?
They are real, I have been in a living hell for two years. My mother trafficked me from the age of 4-13.
The abuse has been coming back, lots of abuse, I am re-living. This is not through therapy. My pastor stuck me on a whattsapp group without my permission, and it was all triggered. I live in the UK, and I have to take out a bank loan to pay for therapy. My PTSD is so bad that I can barely function.
I’ve watched my siblings fully believe a lie about something that happened 2 hours before. I do not believe repressed memories and I think it’s so unreliable it’s at the level of financial fraud to even offer the service.
Repressed memories are real if you can prove them with information you find online about your abuser.
Freud was kind of a clown