As imagined, there are countless inordinate debates in the subject of psychology and psychiatry; however, the peak controversial, most frequently debated, and lurid topic in this field is the false memory debate. Society has seen a staggering increase in cases of repressed memories surfacing; in fact, there have been so many that it is now being considered an epidemic. These types of memories are “often ‘recovered’ during psychotherapy and have resulted in fierce debate concerning the reality and reliability of such memories” (Memon & Young, 1998). It is the psychological debate heard around the word and has “elicited considerable controversy in the courts, academic circles, and in professional practices due to its personal, social, and political
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Mainly because it is seemingly impossible to distinguish with ample precision memories that are valid and based on true events from those that are fabricated; and currently, there is “no scientifically valid criteria that would generally permit the reliable differentiation of true, recovered memories” (False Memory Syndrome Foundation). Generally speaking, everyone has a few inaccurate memories; however memories are considered to fall under the category of False Memory Syndrome when these memories become so entangled in the mind that its existence disorients the personality of the person and disrupts their adaptive behaviors (Brown & Pope, 1996). Simply speaking, this person is largely effected by their false memories that it truly defines who they are as a person to the point that they are so preoccupied with focusing on said memory that they cannot focus on coping. On the hand, it becomes convoluted when one tries to categorize forms of memory loss and recovery. One of the most difficulty problems commonly arising in the false memory debate is “defining terms such as amnesia, recovery, repression, trauma, therapy, and even forgetting”; especially when there are scientifically proven cases of psychogenic amnesia (or functional amnesia) which refers to “a temporary loss of memory precipitated by a psychological trauma” (Memon & Young, 1998). But the line is thinly drawn between psychogenic amnesia and recovered memories by the concept of repression. Sigmund Freud was the first to discuss the idea of repression; conversely, the way her viewed and used the term shifted and was fickle throughout his writings (Memon & Young, 1998). In the beginning, he stated that repression involved “the intentional rejection of distressing thoughts and memories from conscious awareness” to eventually defining it as an “unconscious defense
Mainly because it is seemingly impossible to distinguish with ample precision memories that are valid and based on true events from those that are fabricated; and currently, there is “no scientifically valid criteria that would generally permit the reliable differentiation of true, recovered memories” (False Memory Syndrome Foundation). Generally speaking, everyone has a few inaccurate memories; however memories are considered to fall under the category of False Memory Syndrome when these memories become so entangled in the mind that its existence disorients the personality of the person and disrupts their adaptive behaviors (Brown & Pope, 1996). Simply speaking, this person is largely effected by their false memories that it truly defines who they are as a person to the point that they are so preoccupied with focusing on said memory that they cannot focus on coping. On the hand, it becomes convoluted when one tries to categorize forms of memory loss and recovery. One of the most difficulty problems commonly arising in the false memory debate is “defining terms such as amnesia, recovery, repression, trauma, therapy, and even forgetting”; especially when there are scientifically proven cases of psychogenic amnesia (or functional amnesia) which refers to “a temporary loss of memory precipitated by a psychological trauma” (Memon & Young, 1998). But the line is thinly drawn between psychogenic amnesia and recovered memories by the concept of repression. Sigmund Freud was the first to discuss the idea of repression; conversely, the way her viewed and used the term shifted and was fickle throughout his writings (Memon & Young, 1998). In the beginning, he stated that repression involved “the intentional rejection of distressing thoughts and memories from conscious awareness” to eventually defining it as an “unconscious defense