Speculate as to why emotional trauma can result in memory loss. Include in your speculation your ideas regarding each of the major aspects of trauma discussed in class, including emotional overwhelm, stress, repressed memory, intrusive thoughts and the impact of emotion on the memory process.
We all experience stress or trauma at some times in our lives and our minds process this in a certain way. When something frightening, shocking, sad or dangerous happens to us, our bodies and minds process the experience by having a reaction. Some people have the sensation of complete shock and are unable to understand what is occurring. Our muscles may tense or some people faint. Along with our bodies having a strong reaction to trauma, our minds are …show more content…
When something traumatic happens to someone, he or she may be motivated to forget about it because it is too emotionally painful to think about. The process of consciously or unconsciously blocking or burying memories is called repressing memories. Victims of sexual abuse are a case of when repressed memory is very common and around one third of sexually abused people don’t remember a large part of what they experienced. Naturally, people don’t want to remember the stressful and traumatic memories of sexual abuse so they repress them. This happens when they forcefully stop from thinking about anything that occurred during the trauma to a point where the memories are almost completely forgotten. Intrusive memories can also be a large part of repressing memories because there is no way to control them. This type of memory is out of anyone’s control and could come at any time. Intrusive thoughts of past traumatic experiences can cause panic attacks and nightmares because they come so unexpectedly, and are a struggle to be rid of. If intrusive thoughts affect someone in a negative way and come too often, one might push any traumatic memories away as to eliminate intrusive memories. People can repress memories for years, to a point where if trauma occurred during childhood, in their adult years they will have none or little memory of the event at all. Sexually abused …show more content…
Just like emotions, stress can overwhelm a situation to the point of taking over one 's body and mind completely. Like studying for a large test in school or handling a divorce, stress makes people focus. Lots of energy is put into dealing and handling stress whether it be buckling down and conquering the problem or going over it in your mind over and over until you can find a proper solution. Some people even avoid stress altogether, but end up having to deal with a huge load of what needs to get done in the end. Because stress involves the mind focusing so much and being so overwhelmed by stressful thoughts, the memory is compromised. As the human mind deals with stress, the other functions are lessened as to put all possible energy into handling stress and fixing a situation. I remember the day I took my driver 's test on October 11th, 2014. Passing the driving test and getting my official license was on my mind weeks before the date of the test and I practiced driving with my dad every day as to be sure I would pass. When the big day finally came to get into the car with the test examiner and show her that I was a great driver, my mind was in total stress mode. I was sweating, shaking, and stuttering but I drove around Fort Bragg confidently and carefully. As I pulled into the DMV parking lot after the test was over, it was almost as though I was shot back into my body and my mind regained consciousness. I
We all experience stress or trauma at some times in our lives and our minds process this in a certain way. When something frightening, shocking, sad or dangerous happens to us, our bodies and minds process the experience by having a reaction. Some people have the sensation of complete shock and are unable to understand what is occurring. Our muscles may tense or some people faint. Along with our bodies having a strong reaction to trauma, our minds are …show more content…
When something traumatic happens to someone, he or she may be motivated to forget about it because it is too emotionally painful to think about. The process of consciously or unconsciously blocking or burying memories is called repressing memories. Victims of sexual abuse are a case of when repressed memory is very common and around one third of sexually abused people don’t remember a large part of what they experienced. Naturally, people don’t want to remember the stressful and traumatic memories of sexual abuse so they repress them. This happens when they forcefully stop from thinking about anything that occurred during the trauma to a point where the memories are almost completely forgotten. Intrusive memories can also be a large part of repressing memories because there is no way to control them. This type of memory is out of anyone’s control and could come at any time. Intrusive thoughts of past traumatic experiences can cause panic attacks and nightmares because they come so unexpectedly, and are a struggle to be rid of. If intrusive thoughts affect someone in a negative way and come too often, one might push any traumatic memories away as to eliminate intrusive memories. People can repress memories for years, to a point where if trauma occurred during childhood, in their adult years they will have none or little memory of the event at all. Sexually abused …show more content…
Just like emotions, stress can overwhelm a situation to the point of taking over one 's body and mind completely. Like studying for a large test in school or handling a divorce, stress makes people focus. Lots of energy is put into dealing and handling stress whether it be buckling down and conquering the problem or going over it in your mind over and over until you can find a proper solution. Some people even avoid stress altogether, but end up having to deal with a huge load of what needs to get done in the end. Because stress involves the mind focusing so much and being so overwhelmed by stressful thoughts, the memory is compromised. As the human mind deals with stress, the other functions are lessened as to put all possible energy into handling stress and fixing a situation. I remember the day I took my driver 's test on October 11th, 2014. Passing the driving test and getting my official license was on my mind weeks before the date of the test and I practiced driving with my dad every day as to be sure I would pass. When the big day finally came to get into the car with the test examiner and show her that I was a great driver, my mind was in total stress mode. I was sweating, shaking, and stuttering but I drove around Fort Bragg confidently and carefully. As I pulled into the DMV parking lot after the test was over, it was almost as though I was shot back into my body and my mind regained consciousness. I