Repressed memories don’t exist
Sep 5 2010 ยท Random
Fascinating, enlightening article,
… memory usually works in the opposite way, with traumatised people reliving experiences they would rather forget.
In a briefing to the US Supreme Court, Professor Richard McNally from Harvard University described the theory of repressed memory as “the most pernicious bit of folklore ever to infect psychology and psychiatry”.
He maintains false memories can easily be created by inept therapists.
“The stress hormones that are released during a trauma tend to consolidate the memory, make it rather strong and sometimes even intrusive, as you see in post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said.