Repressed Memories Essay

Repressed memories have long been one of the most highly debated topics in psychology. Repressed memories are said to be a defense mechanism for forgetting, or disassociating from, extremely traumatic events. However, an overwhelming amount of research suggests that traumatic events are much more likely to stick to memory because they are extremely emotional. It is important to understand the reality of repressed memories because the perpetuation of these memories can have extreme personal, legal, and moral implications. Despite popular belief and anecdotal cases, there is no support in cognitive research for the existence of repressed memories.
The idea that repressed memories are real often come from a discovery made with a therapist. They work with clients to find the root of their mental health problems, eventually, after questioning from the therapist, the client will have a memory of a traumatic event. Often
It is possible to consciously work on not thinking about a traumatic event, thereby “forgetting” (keeping off the mind, but never truly removing from memory) unpleasant memories (Belli, 2012). This is not, however, the same thing as memory repression. Individuals who use the motivated forgetting technique will always remember their trauma, they are simply choosing to not focus on it constantly. They may for periods of time not think about the traumatic event and one day have the memory reappear, but they would not be surprised by the memory.
Holding onto the belief that these types of memories are real can result in terrible consequences. First, there are the personal implications. If an individual falsely remembers a history of abuse, it could lead to the accused individual being ostracized from the people they love. The falsely accused would have live their life wondering why their loved one would accuse them of doing something so