Savannah Paramo
H. Eng.
May 10, 2011
Part I
What I already know
I. What I know
Memory repression is something I’m truly interested in. I don’t know much of it. All I know is it is something that occurs when someone has decided to ‘loose’ their memory. Either voluntarily or by force, like with amnesia. I hear the most common cause of memory repression is abuse; sexual, mental, or verbal abuse. It’s said that victims use it as a way to cope with their pain. I think that is true. Harboring bad memories can be hard. And the degree of the memory only adds to the pain.
Part II
II. What I want to know
Memory in general is something I am interested in. How does memory work? Is there a proper way to memorize things? As much as I’d like to dig into memory more in-depth my main focus here is memory repression.
What degree of pain causes memories to be buried? How much of that memory is repressed? Why is this such a common thing? So many people say they ‘can’t remember,’ even the simplest things. Is that a form of memory repression? I personally have a very hard time remembering things. Dates, names, formulas, all types of things, but I just brush it off as so many of us do. Is this safe? Are these common things actually common? Can forgetting the simplest things be equivalent to something more? A brain tumor? A deadly disease? A sever case of amnesia? These are the things I wonder, and hope to answer.
Part III
III. Book
I chose to read two section of "Your Memory: A Users Guid," by Baddeley, Alan. I read pages117-1129. The other sections didn't pertain to memory repression.
These two sections, ‘Your Memory’ and ‘Repression’, were somewhat useful to my topic. The first section I read, ‘Your Memory,’ summarizes how the brain stores memory. The brain is complex and sometimes hard to understand. Your memory is just the same. The brain controls storage space. If you have had a bad memory your brain will decide whether or not to save it. More often than not it will disregard it, and send it away. It will stay that way until something triggers its appearance.
In the second section it discussed how some factors add to repressing memories. For instance, Sigmund Freud claims the first two to three years of life are repressed because a child is sexually attracted to their parent of the opposite sex. I have never before heard of such thing. But once thinking about it and reviewing some of my own seen past experiences it could make sense. Toddlers are always doing odd things. Then again I feel it could just be curiosity.
In this same section another professor, Richard Ofshe, claims child abuse memories are the most common repressed memories. They are however repressed in a different way. They are not completely gone and forgotten. They are simply placed into the ‘Dream category.’ In this category the patient thinks what happened to them was nothing but a dream. When a patient claims they have been sexually abused or abused in any form, therapists will often tell them it was real, and not a dream. Once being told that consistently they began to believe it and say it is real. The findings of the abuse will commonly lead to recovering another repressed memory. This will continue till the patient and therapists are satisfied.
III. Article
The Repressed Memory Myth by Paul J. Ciolino is about the falseness of repressed memories. Basically claiming memory repression may be real, but recovered memory is a myth. It appears Ciolino has a hard time believing anything lost can be found.
Ciolino believes that memories can be lost. That there is such a thing as repressing a memory. What he does not believe is that one can recovery a memory. In his opinion a memory once lost cannot be found. Ciolino says that there is no way a person can remember something after having repressed it for so long.
“Recovered Memory Syndrome is a myth!” That is Ciolino’s main point of argument. He does a poor job of defending it though. Which makes his argument hard to believe.
III. Interview
I planned to interview ‘Valori,’ a therapist at Southwest Behavioral Health Services. Unfortunately that did not happen. She has a mix up in schedules and could not fit me in. Instead I interview my mother, Tricia, whom has had a series of bad events happen in her life. Yet, she seems to have repressed none.
I started off my telling her what my topic was. My first question was if she understood what memory repression was. She didn’t, so I explained. Then we began.
Q1: Do you think memory repression is real? Or fake, some believe it is nothing but nonsense.
A. Real.
Q2. Why?
A. Well people can make it up, I think only the crazy ones do though. I know it’s real because I’ve been there; down and out.
Q3. Do you think you’ve repressed any?
A. Maybe.
Q4. So you think you have repressed memories?
A. Yes.
Q5. Why do you believe that?
A. No Comment.
Q6. So based on your life experience you think repressing memories is brutally real?
A. Yes,
Q7. Do you think they can be retrieve?
A. Like how? Through a counselor?
Comment 1 made my Interviewer: (Referring to book) do you think a therapist can force someone to retrieve a memory?
A. (Continued): Yes, and no. I mean, if they keep telling the kid it was real they will believe it. But then again, maybe that’s the only way they can remember it. Next Question, please.
Q8. Do you think forcing repressed memories is good? Like bringing them to the light.
A. No.
Q9. In your opinion of they’re repressed they should stay that way?
A. Yes. Because why remember?
Q10. Do you think it’s better to conquer them or to just let them be forgotten?
A. I think it all depends on the person and what they want. I tried to forget, but I still remember, and I’m 32 now.
Q11. Do you think you’ve benefited from it?
A. It made my life a living hell if you ask me.
Q12. So you would have rather forgotten?
A. Yes.
Q13. What would you say to someone who believes memory repression is something faked? Either for attention, or for another reason.
A. I would say they would have to go through that person’s experiences to know whether it’s real or not. They don’t know….
After having asked few question she asked to stop. I understood that this was, even though, having no real connection to her issues, was a tough topic for her. I then asked her one last question.
Q. Do you think people should forget anything bad?
A. I guess it depends.
Part IV. What I learned
IV. I’ve learned that memory repression is actually a controversial topic. Many people have different views of how it works. I never thought that people could see this topic from different eyes. One can claim it is real, while another will continue to believe it is something a person makes up. I learned though that it is in fact triggered by abuse. And that sometimes it is possible to recollect your memory even after a great amount of time.
Works Cited
1)Baddeley, Alan. Your Memory: A User's Guide. New Illustration. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books Ltd., 2004. 117-1129.
2)Ciolino, Paul. "The Repressed Memory Myth." (2011): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.pjcinvestigations.com/investigative-articles/repressed-memory.htm>.
3) Luna, Tricia. Intervew by Savannah Paramo. 10/5/2011. Print. 11 May 2011.
1)Baddeley, Alan. Your Memory: A User's Guide. New Illustration. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books Ltd., 2004. 117-1129.
2)Ciolino, Paul. "The Repressed Memory Myth." (2011): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.pjcinvestigations.com/investigative-articles/repressed-memory.htm>.
3) Luna, Tricia. Intervew by Savannah Paramo. 10/5/2011. Print. 11 May 2011.
