Repressed memories are blocked from conscious thought, often involving traumatic events such as childhood abuse. Dissociative amnesia is a diagnosable mental disorder related to repressed memories, often causing depression or anxiety. Memories can resurface spontaneously or through therapy, but the ethics and effectiveness of memory retrieval techniques are disputed.
A repressed memory is one that has been blocked from a person’s conscious mind. The memory is not entirely forgotten and can go back many years or even decades after an event has occurred. Most cases of repressed memories involve particularly traumatic, stressful, or frightening events, such as childhood abuse, car accidents, or war battles. Cognitive psychologists and other researchers have long debated the existence and significance of repressed memories, as cases are usually difficult to study and diagnose clinically. The concept of repressed memory disorder is often related to dissociative amnesia, a condition that is better studied and understood.
According to many psychologists, a person may repress a memory if an event was so traumatic that they are simply unable to process and cope with the situation at the time. In some cases, people report being unable to remember long periods of their childhood; there may even be years without significant memories. It is common for these people to have experienced significant abuse or neglect during those years. An individual usually has a hard time coming to terms with their past when a repressed memory eventually resurfaces. He or she may experience new heartache, confusion, and relationship problems.
Dissociative amnesia is a clinically diagnosable mental disorder involving repressed memories of stressful or traumatic events. It is common for people with dissociative amnesia to also struggle with bouts of depression or anxiety for reasons not clear to them, but likely stemming from past trauma. Psychiatrists usually make the diagnosis after thorough physical and mental evaluations have been completed and other causes of memory impairment, such as drug abuse or insomnia, have been ruled out. An individual with dissociative amnesia usually receives psychological counseling to help them overcome stress and behavioral problems, discuss past events in a safe environment, and learn how to better cope with future situations.
A repressed memory is most often spontaneously retrieved at some point in adulthood. Some people recall information after visiting a forgotten site or childhood, recognizing a sound or smell, or hearing a vaguely familiar name. Memories can sometimes be retrieved through intensive psychotherapy or hypnotherapy, in which trained psychologists help people recall events through suggestive questioning. Many professionals, however, dispute both the effectiveness and ethics of asking pointed questions to retrieve memories. Some psychologists believe that repressed memory therapy techniques can produce false memories if the person asking the questions is too bossy or manipulative.
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