Posted by pegasus on June 14, 2004, at 16:15:20
In reply to Re: sorry, it takes a while...., posted by fires on June 14, 2004, at 15:15:31
Fires, I'm so sorry about your brother. I'm sure you will never forget him, or you presence at his death.
But, then, I'm sure you weren't disssociating during the experience.
I don't see anything in your posted links that contradict what Daisy or I or anyone here has been saying about recalling memories of past traumas. I'm not sure if you meant to suggest that your links were an argument against the very possibility of delayed recall of traumatic events. Or possibly you were just defining what you meant by "recovered memory".
I do want to point out that what Elizabeth Loftus et al have discovered does not really address the question of amnesia for traumatic events. They just show that it is possible to plant false memories in people. I think we all agree that that is possible. And I don't know of many mainstream folks who would argue for RMT as a useful tool these days.
But there is also research into the possibility of people having amnesia for traumatic events. Especially in situations of severe trauma during childhood. The theory, which makes a lot of sense to me, is that dissociation happens because a child experiencing trauma is especially vulnerable and unable to escape. So dissociation is a common coping mechanism used by individuals in these situations. When one dissociates, by definition, they aren't paying much attention to what's going on. So, they are likely to lose those memories preferentially over other types of memories.
None of the research cited by your links shows that memories are *not* lost by some folks who have experienced trauma and dissociation. And the testimony we see here every day helps convince me that it is likely to be a real phenomenon. I am skeptical of your skeptics' arguments, because I believe they don't directly address some viable possibilities.
pegasus
poster:pegasus
thread:354179
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040614/msgs/356651.html