What Are Repressed Memories?
Have you ever experienced something you wish you could just forget? Maybe it was something really embarrassing that happened in high school, perhaps it was a fight you had with a family member or maybe it was a really devastating break up that left you heart broken for months. Whatever the case, sometimes we just wish that we could block some memories out of our minds. Well, it turns out that some people actually do … but it might not be in the way you expect.
Repressed memories refer to events that occurred in a person’s past, which have been unconsciously blocked due to the psychologically traumatic or devastating impact of that memory. Sometimes, when we experience events that are so distressing, such as sexual abuse, being in a car accident or witnessing another person’s death, our minds will unconsciously block this memory out in an attempt to spare us from the psychologically painful effects of it. Although this may be problematic it actually does serve a functional purpose, as repressed memories are in essence, a defence mechanism.
They are our minds way of protecting ourselves and allowing us to go through our daily lives without having to recollect this painful experience. However, even if someone cannot recall a memory, this memory may still be actively affecting them. For example, someone who may have experienced sexual abuse may feel extremely uncomfortable around men and have no idea why. So while our mind is trying it's best to protect us … this doesn’t always go exactly according to plan.
So are repressed memories real?
The concept of repressed memories has received some controversy over the past several years. This has come from evidence of false memories and the way in which the phrasing of certain words and sentences can lead one to remember events that never actually occurred. In one study, researches obtained information from the parents of a number of university students regarding events that occurred when their child was young. The (now adult) children were then presented with a number of real memories and one false memory (e.g. getting lost in a shopping centre). It was found that approximately 15-25% of participants recalled this false memory. On this basis it is of course very possible that the wording of a therapists questions to their client may lead them to recall a false memory, such as that of abuse or trauma.
Despite this, there is substantial evidence for the existence of repressed memories. One of the most popular examples of this is a study which tracked down women who had been treated at a hospital for sexual molestation when they were children. Seventeen years after the abuse, 38% of these people did not recall the incident. When they were asked whether any family members had ever been in trouble for sexual behaviour, one participant (who did not recall sexual abuse) advised that she had heard that before she was born, there was an uncle who had apparently molested a girl and was stabbed to death by the girl’s mother. Upon further investigation into this, it was found that while these facts were true, the uncle had two victims and she was one of them.
Ultimately it is important that therapists are very careful when questioning clients about events in their past as it is easy to mistakenly implant a false memory into their minds. On the flip side however, repressed memories, although blocked out of our conscious awareness can evidently still be impacting upon our lives in significant ways and so confronting these in a safe and supportive environment with a trained professional can be immensely beneficial to one’s overall wellbeing.