Why do people suppress memories

Everyone has done something they probably want to forget -- falling face first on the stage at your high school graduation or asking a woman how far along she is only to find out she isn't even pregnant.

Wanting to squash these not-so-great memories is human nature, but is it possible to intentionally forget a traumatic experience? As Emily Dickinson once said, "the mind is wider than the sky," and this is very true when it comes to the complexity of storing memories.

The cerebrum, or forebrain, makes up the largest part of the brain, and it is covered by a sheet of neural tissue known as the cerebral cortex, which envelops the part of our brain where memories are stored.

Items in short-term memory, such as a telephone number remembered for a few moments, will often be forgotten by the brain unless there is constant repetition. Long-term memory is typically involved in retaining information for lengthier periods of time, like remembering the birth of your child. There is increasing debate over whether we actually forget something, or if it just becomes more difficult to remember.

Declarative memory, 'knowing what,' is memory of facts, experiences and events. Although your brain does typically automatically store your experiences into a form of memory, there are times where your brain "walls off" a memory of a traumatic experience -- for its own good.

According to McLaughlin, if the brain registers an overwhelming trauma, then it can essentially block that memory in a process called dissociation -- or detachment from reality. For example, if you've recently gotten "lost" in a book or daydreamed at work, then you've experienced a common form of mild dissociation. A severe and more chronic form of dissociation is seen in mental illnesses and rare forms of dissociative disorders, such as dissociative identity disorder, which was once called multiple personality disorder.

The same way the body can wall-off an abscess or foreign substance to protect the rest of the body, the brain can dissociate from an experience. Gabrieli said the findings contradict human intuition.

Mostly, if you say, 'Don't think about a pink elephant or a white bear,' people flash onto it immediately. Anderson likened the brain's ability to control memory to an individual's reflexive ability to halt an unwanted action. For example, Anderson recalled once standing at an open window and noticing a potted plant starting to fall. He quickly tried to catch the plant until he realized it was a cactus that could have injured him.

Anderson said the findings about the brain's ability to suppress memory could be used as a tool to better understand addiction and the ability of people to suppress unwanted thoughts related to craving. It might also help provide a model to assess individuals at risk from suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. In addition to Anderson and Gabrieli, the paper was written by Kevin N.

Ochsner, a former Stanford postdoctoral fellow now at Columbia University; and other Stanford researchers including graduate student Brice Kuhl; social science research assistants Jeffrey Cooper and Elaine Robertson; science and engineering associate Susan W. Gabrieli; and radiology Professor Gary H. The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health.

These are memories created through suggestion and coaching. They can have a negative impact on both the person experiencing them and anyone who might be implicated in them, such as a family member suspected of abuse based on a false memory. There are a few theories that might explain why this happens.

This detachment can blur, alter, or block the memory of the event. Some experts believe children who experience abuse or other trauma may not be able to create or access memories in the usual way.

Maury offers the example of a child who witnesses domestic violence between their parents. They might temporarily check out mentally. Still, they get tense when watching a fight scene in a movie. These new meanings may emerge during therapy or simply as you get older and gain life experience.

Both memory and trauma are complicated topics that researchers are still working to understand. Leading experts in both fields continue to explore links between the two. A good therapist will help you explore memories and feelings without leading you in any particular direction.

Keep in mind a therapist should never coach you through memory recollection. They should also be unbiased. In theory, memory repression could happen, though other explanations for lost memories may be more likely. The APA suggests that while memories of trauma may be repressed and recovered later, this seems extremely rare. Trauma can have very real effects on your brain and body, but treating these symptoms may have more benefit than searching for memories that may not actually exist.

Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. I thought it was a diagnosis for war survivors. False memory is more common that most people realize.