Key Takeaways
- Scientists say that people can forget extreme trauma, even though it’s rare.
- Some therapists and scientists think that recovered memories can be true, but others worry about false memories.
- Memory does not work like a tape recorder; the brain stores memories in different ways, sometimes as emotions or sensations.
There is still a fairly heated controversy in the field of psychology about whether or not repressed memories can or should be recovered, as well as whether or not they are accurate. The clearest divide appears to be between mental health practitioners and researchers.
In one study, clinicians had a much greater tendency to believe that people repress memories that can be recovered in therapy than the researchers did. The general public, too, has a belief in repressed memory. Clearly, more research is needed in the area of memory.
Trauma Can Be Forgotten
Most people remember the bad things that happen to them, but sometimes extreme trauma is forgotten. Scientists are studying this, and we are beginning to understand how this occurs.
When this forgetting becomes extreme, a dissociative disorder sometimes develops, such as dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, depersonalization disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. These disorders and their relationship to trauma are still being studied.
How Memory Works
Memory is not like a tape recorder. The brain processes information and stores it in different ways. Most of us have had some mildly traumatic experiences, and these experiences sometimes seem to be burned into our brains with a high degree of detail.
Scientists are studying the relationship between two parts of the brain, the amygdala and the hippocampus, to understand why this is. Here’s what we know at this time:
- Moderate trauma can enhance long-term memory. This is the common-sense experience that most of us have, and it makes it difficult to understand how the memory of horrible events can be forgotten.
- Extreme trauma can disrupt long-term storage and leave memories stored as emotions or sensations rather than as memories. Research suggests that it can take up to several days to fully store an event in long-term memory.
- Sensory triggers in the present can cause forgotten material to surface. This is because the material is associated with the trigger through a process known as “state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior.”
- “False memories” of mildly traumatic events have been created in the laboratory. It is unclear to what extent this occurs in other settings.
- Studies have documented that people who live through extreme trauma sometimes forget the trauma. The memory of the trauma can return later in life, usually beginning in the form of sensations or emotions, sometimes involving “flashbacks” during which the person feels like they are reliving the memory. This material gradually becomes more integrated until it resembles other memories.
Debate Over Recovered Memories
Are recovered memories necessarily true? There is much debate surrounding this question. Some therapists who work with trauma survivors believe that the memories are true because they are accompanied by such extreme emotions.
Other therapists have reported that some of their patients have recovered memories that could not have been true (a memory of being decapitated, for example). Some groups have claimed that therapists are “implanting memories” or causing false memories in vulnerable patients by suggesting that they are victims of abuse when no abuse occurred.
Some therapists do seem to have persuaded patients that their symptoms were due to abuse when they did not know this to be true. This was never considered good therapeutic practice, and most therapists are careful not to suggest a cause for a symptom unless the patient reports the cause.
There is some research suggesting that false memories for mild trauma can be created in the laboratory. In one study, suggestions were made that children had been lost in a shopping mall. Many of the children later came to believe that this was a real memory. It is important to note that it is not ethical to suggest memories of severe trauma in a laboratory setting.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Patihis L, Ho LY, Tingen IW, Lilienfeld SO, Loftus EF. Are the “memory wars” over? A scientist-practitioner gap in beliefs about repressed memory. Psychol Sci. 2014;25(2):519–530. doi:10.1177/0956797613510718
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National Alliance on Mental Illness. Dissociative disorders.
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van Marle H. PTSD as a memory disorder. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27633. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27633
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Davis RL, Zhong Y. The biology of forgetting: A perspective. Neuron. 2017;95(3):490–503. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.039
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Radulovic J, Lee R, Ortony A. State-dependent memory: Neurobiological advances and prospects for translation to dissociative amnesia. Front Behav Neurosci. 2018;12:259. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00259
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Strange D, Takarangi MK. False memories for missing aspects of traumatic events. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2012;141(3):322–326. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.08.005
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Brewin CR. Memory and forgetting. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2018;20(10):87. doi:10.1007/s11920-018-0950-7
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Crook LS, McEwen LE. Deconstructing the lost in the mall study. J Child Custody. 2019;16(1):719, doi:10.1080/15379418.2019.1601603
Additional Reading
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APS. Scientists and Practitioners Don’t See Eye to Eye on Repressed Memory.
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International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. Dissociation FAQs.
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