Repressed Memories

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In the midst of dangerous circumstances, it is our initial instinct to defend ourselves. We mindlessly perform “fight or flight” survival techniques in response to threat. Some people have “fought” so well that the entire circumstance “flew” out of their conscious memory. Repressed memories, sometimes referred to as dissociative amnesia, are memories that are blocked from the sensible mind due to high levels of stress and fear. It is a form of cognitive defense or mental coping. In essence, the person is unconsciously protecting themselves during abuse and they are also protecting themselves in the future from remembering those traumatic events. Victims of repressed memory will likely never retrieve them without therapeutic treatments; frankly victims will never know there is a memory at all, let alone attempt to retrieve them. The process of retrieving repressed memory is a delicate one, so much so that there is controversy as to whether or not the idea of memory repression is actually a collection of false memory. Although the memory is not remembered, most victims are still deliberately affected by it. The following text will describe the workings of the mind and the unconscious, unleash the development, effects, treatment, flaws and limitations of memory repression.
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The memories which have stored in our irretrievable unconscious mind have a significant influence in molding our behavior, however we do not have easy access to that memory. Frankly, the information barricaded in the unconscious is unknown by its beholder. “The unconscious contains all sorts of significant and disturbing material which we need to keep out of awareness because they are too threatening to acknowledge fully.” (McLeod, 2009) Therefore, the buried memories of the unconscious, simple or painful, have influenced its beholder’s

Repressed Memories

The Reality of Repressed Memories by Elizabeth F. Loftus of the University of the Washington a direct link to the article can be found here https://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/lof93.htm This is a study on repressed memories that was the first post in 1993. Much of the information that went into this study came from well document legal cases where repressed memories were used to in the preceding. The study also breaks down several different aspects of repressed memories and ways to unlock…

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Repressed Memories

Repressed memories is one of the most controversial concept in psychology. It is a concept of the mind where all memories with high levels of stress or trauma can be unconsciously blocked. It is also said that sometimes the memory can emerge into consciousness having someone remember the traumatic event at a later time in their lives. This concept has been often associated with child sexual abuse. Being so controversial many people argue that a child can have repressed memories of sexual abuse while…

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