Repressed memories are memories that have been unconsciously blocked as a result of the memory being associated with a high level of stress or trauma. The theory posits that although the individual cannot recall the memory, they are still affected by it without being aware of it, and that these memories can later resurface in the conscious realm. The ideas about repressed memories hiding trauma from consciousness were an important part of Sigmund Freud's work in psychoanalysis. The existence of repressed memories is a highly controversial topic in psychology. Although some studies have concluded that they can occur in varying degrees, many studies doubt their existence entirely. Some psychologists support the theory of repressed memories and claim that repressed memories can be recovered through therapy, but most psychologists argue that false memories are created by a combination of actual memories and external influences. One study concluded that repressed memories were cultural symptoms due to the lack of written evidence of their existence before the 19th century, but its findings were disputed by some psychologists and a 1786 work discussing repressed memory was eventually recognized despite the fact that Others, besides their hypotheses. According to the American Psychological Association, it is not possible to distinguish between repressed memories and false memories without supporting evidence. The term repressed memory is sometimes equated with the term "dissociative amnesia," which is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as: "The inability to recall personal information." According to the Mayo Clinic, amnesia refers to any condition in which memories stored in long-term memory are partially or completely forgotten, usually due to brain injury. According to proponents of the existence of repressed memories, such memories can be retrieved years or decades after the event on their own due to being triggered by a certain smell or taste or by a hint during psychotherapy. It was initially claimed that there was no documented literature on repressed memories or dissociative amnesia before the 1980s. The concept of repressed memory originated with Sigmund Freud in 1896 in his article "Concerning the Aetiology of Hysteria." One of the studies published in his article involved a young woman named Anna, among whom was Her many illnesses caused her to suffer from severe paralysis on the right side of her body, and Freud stated that her symptoms were related to psychological trauma. The traumatic memories had become disconnected from her conscious area and she was harming herself. Freud used hypnosis to treat Anna and she reportedly gained slight movement on her right side. Freud's theory of repressed memory was integrated into his philosophy of psychoanalysis, and repressed memory remained a controversial topic within Freud's psychoanalytic philosophy. Some research suggests that memories of child sexual abuse and other traumatic events may be forgotten. The spontaneous retrieval of traumatic memories has been demonstrated, and recovered memories of child abuse have been demonstrated. Van der Wessler's research shows that traumatic memories are initially retrieved as scattered mental traces. These traces are the emotional and sensory components of the traumatic experience. The level of emotional significance of the memory is directly related to the validity of the memory. Studies of self-reports of memory show that memories of unusually important events are consistently accurate and stable over time. Time. The effects of traumatic experiences appear to be qualitatively different from those of nontraumatic events. Traumatic memories may be encoded differently from memories of ordinary events. Another possibility is that traumatic events are pushed out of consciousness until later events trigger them as a psychological response. For example, a high percentage of female and other psychiatric patients have reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. Another clinical study found that patients who had experienced incest reported higher rates of suicide attempts, negative identity formation, and more interpersonal disturbances. There is considerable evidence that the difficulty with traumatic memories for most people is their inability to forget rather than their removal from consciousness. Retrospective studies rely critically on the ability of the mind to recall accurate memories. It has been suggested that repression may be one of the methods individuals use to deal with traumatic memories, pushing them out of consciousness to allow the child to maintain an attachment to a person on whom they depend for survival. Memories of events are a mixture of emotionally charged reality, mixed with With interpretation, and filled with fantasy and doubt about its veracity. For example, one study was conducted in which victims of a documented incident of child abuse were re-interviewed many years later, and 38% of the women denied any memory of the abuse. Arguments against the existence of “traumatic amnesia” have noted that many manipulations can be used to implant false memories. A classic experiment in memory research, conducted by Elizabeth Loftus, has become widely known as “Lost in the Mall.” In this experiment, three accounts of real childhood events written by family members were given in a shopping mall and a fourth was entirely false. A quarter of the subjects reported remembering the fictional event, giving extensive incidental details in a detailed manner. This experiment inspired many, including Porto, who was able to convince about half of his subjects that they had survived a vicious animal attack in childhood. Such experimental studies have been criticized in particular about whether the results are really relevant to traumatic memories and psychological conditions. However, these studies have raised public concern about the treatment of recovered memories due to sexual abuse. Previous. When memories are retrieved after a long period of amnesia, especially when unusual means are used to secure the memory, it is now widely agreed that the memories are likely to be false—that is, the events that occurred did not happen. Nevertheless, many therapists believe in the veracity of the recovered memories they hear from their clients. In a nonrandomized study by Loftus and Herzog of 16 physicians, 13 of them said that they always believed in their clients. The most common basis for this belief was bodily memories or the patient's symptoms. The mechanism by which these phenomena occur is poorly understood, and at this stage it is impossible to distinguish true from false memories without other corroborating evidence. True and false memories can be recovered using memory-working techniques, but there is no evidence that they can be distinguished. Some believe that memories retrieved under hypnosis are especially likely to be false. According to the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association, memories obtained during hypnosis can include false memories, and appear to be less reliable than non-hypnotic retrieval. Neuroscientist Donald Hebb was the first to distinguish between short-term and long-term memory. According to current theories in neuroscience, things we notice are stored in short-term memory for up to a few minutes. This memory is based on the electrical activity of the neural circuits and can be easily destroyed by interruption or interference. Memories are stored for longer periods in long-term memory. The information stored in long-term memory depends on its importance. Traumatic events are likely to be important for the adaptive value they have for future avoidance behavior, and hormones released during stress play a role in determining which memories are retained. Amnesia is a partial or complete loss of memory that goes beyond mere forgetting. It is often temporary and involves only part of a person's experience. Amnesia is often caused by a brain injury such as a blow to the head, or by psychological trauma. Anterograde amnesia is a failure to remember new experiences that occurs after brain damage, and retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories of events that occurred before the trauma or injury. For a memory to become permanent, there must be a steady change in the strength of the memory. The connection between certain nerves in the brain. Anterograde amnesia can occur because this consolidation process is disrupted, and retrograde amnesia can occur either from damage to the memory storage site or from a malfunction in the mechanisms by which memories are retrieved from their stores. Specific types of amnesia are recognized, including: Childhood amnesia: This is the normal inability to remember events from the first three years of life. Sigmund Freud observed that humans not only remember everything from birth to three years of age, but also have fragmentary memories of anything that happens from three to seven years of age. There are several theories about why this happens. Some believe that the development of language is important for the effective storage of long-term memories, while others believe that early memories do not last long because the brain is still developing. Fugue: This is a rare condition caused by a stressful event. A form of amnesia associated with recovered memories is dissociative amnesia, which is caused by a psychological cause rather than direct brain damage, and is usually about traumatic or extremely stressful events. This is usually seen as a gap in recalling aspects of a person's life history but with Severe acute trauma such as during war, and there can be a sudden acute onset of symptoms. The "traitor trauma" theory suggests that in the case of child abuse dissociative amnesia is an adaptive response, and that they may need to remain unaware of the trauma, not to reduce suffering but to enhance survival. When stress interferes with memory, some memory may be retained by a system that records emotional experience but has no symbolic location in time or space. Traumatic memories are initially retrieved as scattered mental traces of the emotional and sensory elements of the traumatic experience. Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk has divided the effects of trauma on memory functions into four groups: Traumatic amnesia: This includes loss of memories of traumatic experiences. The younger the individual, the longer the traumatic event, and the greater the chance of amnesia. The subsequent retrieval of memories after traumatic amnesia is well documented in the literature with documented examples from natural disasters and accidents, combat soldiers, victims of kidnapping and torture in concentration camps, victims of physical and sexual abuse, and those who have committed murder. -Global amnesia: This makes it difficult for a person to create an accurate account of their current and past history. The combination of lack of autobiographical memory and persistent dissociation and emotional schemas involving victimization, helplessness, and betrayal likely makes these individuals vulnerable to constructing explanations for their trauma-related effects that may have little to do with remembering the actual facts of their lives. -Dissociative processes: This refers to memories being stored in fragments rather than as a single mass. - Sensory motor regulation of traumatic memories. The inability to integrate traumatic memories appears to be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. When there is inappropriate retrieval between neurological situations, changes in the stress response system may occur, some of which may be irreversible and cause pathological responses that may include amnesia, learning disabilities, and other maladaptive symptoms. In an animal study, high levels of cortisol can damage the hippocampus, which may cause deficits in short-term memory. In humans, MRI studies have shown reduced hippocampal volume in veterans and adults with PTSD, and survivors of repeated childhood sexual or physical abuse. The existence of repressed memory recovery is not accepted by mainstream psychology nor clearly proven, and some experts in the field of human memory feel that there is no reliable scientific support for the concept of repressed memories. One research report suggests that a distinction should be made between spontaneously recovered memories and memories recovered during therapy. A criticism of Loktos is that recovered memories can The American Psychiatric Association's Working Group on Investigating Memories of Child Abuse has made conclusions that contradict those of other professional organizations. The Working Group made five major conclusions: 1. Controversies about adult memories should not be allowed to obscure the fact that child sexual abuse is a complex and widespread problem in America that has historically been under-recognized. 2. Most people who were sexually abused as children remember all or part of what happened to them. 3. Long-forgotten memories of abuse can be recalled. 4. It is also possible to construct false memories that are convincing for events that did not occur. 5. There are gaps in our knowledge about the processes that lead to accurate and inaccurate memories of childhood abuse. Many critics believe that memories may be false and distorted. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus questions the concept of repressed memories and whether they can be accurate. Loftus focuses on techniques that therapists use to help patients recover their memories. These techniques include age regression, guided imagery, Body work, and hypnosis. Loftus's research suggests that repressed memories face problems such as memory alteration. Recovered memory therapy is a group of psychotherapeutic methods based on recalling previously forgotten memories of abuse. The term "recovered memory therapy" is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or used by mainstream formal psychotherapy. Patients who retract their claims after reporting their recovered memories may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the trauma of the false memories.