NationStates Jolt Archive

I was wiki hoping last night, and several articles caught my attention. They concern the theory that memories can be blocked out, or repressed. This can be done at will, but is mostly used in instances of the specific memory being of particular negative emotional effect.

Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_repression)

Most of these studies can be traced at earliest too Sigmund Freud, a great thinker of past. In another instance, impulses and desires can be repressed, in some instances- muscle memory.

"Repression is considered to be an unconscious mechanism and can often be detrimental. It may be contrasted with thought suppression, which is entirely conscious and thus can be managed. Because repression is unconscious, it manifests itself through a symptom or series of symptoms, sometimes called the "return of the repressed." A repressed sexual desire, for example, might re-surface in the form of a nervous cough or a slip of the tongue. In this way, although the subject is not conscious of the desire and so cannot speak it out loud, the subject's body can still articulate it through the symptom."

Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_repression)

And then, there is the matter of re-occurring thoughts, that may be annoying, or go so far as too cause negative emotional effects or feelings. This is known as "thought suppression" as engineered and inducted into the psychological community by Wegner.

"The process of deliberately trying to stop thinking about certain thoughts is referred to as thought suppression (Wegner, 1989). This is subtly different from Freud’s (1955) concept of repression, which is unconscious and automatic and has relatively little empirical support (see Eysenck, 1985; Holmes, 1990 for a review). Conversely, over thirty-five experiments to date have successfully found evidence for thought suppression and its effectiveness. This article will draw upon these studies showing that thought suppression produces paradoxical effects for personally irrelevant and relevant thoughts at both a mental and a behavioral level and that whilst Wegner’s (1994) Ironic Process Theory is adequate accounting for this a greater consideration of individual differences within this account might better explain evidence. With such evidence one can only guess the long term effects on the brain."

Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_suppression)

In all seriousness, doesn't it seem like excessive alcohol consumption, or certain drug use, can achieve these desired effects?

Very interesting stuff- I;ve come too believe that I have experienced all of these before. The questions for this thread are, have you ever repressed a memory or thought? Do you still do it? Is it common for you? The hell was a I just talking about....Hey! It works!

Maybe...can be hard to do though.

Most of my childhood is repressed memories, I am in therapy to remember them, sometimes I wonder if it's better to leave it alone.

Repressed memory is, like a lot of Freudian psychodynamics, mostly BS.

Yeah, it can happen, but the way pop psychology works is, everyone is repressing childhood memories of Satanic Ritual Abuse Syndrome. And has a sexual fascination with their mother.

Most of my childhood is repressed memories, I am in therapy to remember them, sometimes I wonder if it's better to leave it alone.

See "recovering memories" in one of the links.

Repressed memory is, like a lot of Freudian psychodynamics, mostly BS.

Yeah, it can happen, but the way pop psychology works is, everyone is repressing childhood memories of Satanic Ritual Abuse Syndrome. And has a sexual fascination with their mother.

I'm going too repress that memory...

Constantly.

i don't remember

i don't know but there are things i just don't like thinking about. and isn't the whole purpose of repressing memories the fact that you don't remember doing it?

In Soviet Russia, memory supresses you!

In Soviet Russia, memory supresses you!

*slap*

In Soviet Russia, word misspells you!

i don't know but there are things i just don't like thinking about. and isn't the whole purpose of repressing memories the fact that you don't remember doing it?

No, the fact is you dont remmember your target memory. The process can be remmebered fine, the loud grunting, the shots of tequila, and your morally ambigous uncle seating you on his lap....Shit..

In Soviet Russia, memory supresses you!

*Golf club too crotch*

No, the fact is you dont remmember your target memory. The process can be remmebered fine, the loud grunting, the shots of tequila, and your morally ambigous uncle seating you on his lap....Shit..

well, maybe i forgot how good soft drinks taste. i used to drink them a lot, but then i quit and when i wanted one i just told myself i didn't like it anyway.

not really impressive, but meh

well, maybe i forgot how good soft drinks taste. i used to drink them a lot, but then i quit and when i wanted one i just told myself i didn't like it anyway.

not really impressive, but meh

Uhm, the taste of soft drinks brought you emotional pain in some way? Usually the effect is used on undesirable memories, and not something you randomly decide too repress.

I don't really like Freud...

*slap*

In Soviet Russia, word misspells you!
:(
*Golf club too crotch*

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/ighzi9.gif

From the poll, I can safetly say...Many people have rperessed the memory of the theroy of repressed memories....Should've seen this coming.

I haven't blocked anything out that I'm aware of, and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure it has its place.

I just studied this as part of a course...
Basically, your mind unconsciously represses memories, most of the time with no intention on your part, to prevent anxiety or distress.
A study was done recently on women who had been sexually abused 20 years previously. Of those who did remember the event, which was very few, 16% said they had, at one time, repressed the memory and recalled it later.

Psychologists who deal with this have come under fire-often, the person who has a repressed memory is vulnerable and suggestable. If a psychologist makes even a slight hint or suggestion, the person can suddenly make up a memory (not on purpose) and to them it will seem completely real.
A women called Elizabeth Loftus' mother was found face down dead in a pool. She didn't find the body. However, someone suggested she had, and she suddenly remembered all these details-finding the body, the police cars, various things. Then she was told a mistake had been made, and that she hadn't found the body. But she now had all these very vivid, real memories about finding her mother.
And that, my friends, is repression at English A-Level curriculum.

I haven't blocked anything out that I'm aware of, and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure it has its place.

Ahhh

I just studied this as part of a course...
Basically, your mind unconsciously represses memories, most of the time with no intention on your part, to prevent anxiety or distress.
A study was done recently on women who had been sexually abused 20 years previously. Of those who did remember the event, which was very few, 16% said they had, at one time, repressed the memory and recalled it later.

Psychologists who deal with this have come under fire-often, the person who has a repressed memory is vulnerable and suggestable. If a psychologist makes even a slight hint or suggestion, the person can suddenly make up a memory (not on purpose) and to them it will seem completely real.
A women called Elizabeth Loftus' mother was found face down dead in a pool. She didn't find the body. However, someone suggested she had, and she suddenly remembered all these details-finding the body, the police cars, various things. Then she was told a mistake had been made, and that she hadn't found the body. But she now had all these very vivid, real memories about finding her mother.
And that, my friends, is repression at English A-Level curriculum.


Very interesting, I had no idea thier was an automatic neurological function in which emotionally painful memories are blocked, I was only aware that it was purely based on the acts of a concious mind.

a good bit of my childhood and much of my miltary career. I can never remember the names of guys I was in combat with but I can remember their faces...

Very interesting, I had no idea thier was an automatic neurological function in which emotionally painful memories are blocked, I was only aware that it was purely based on the acts of a concious mind.

It's the same with memories of physical pain, too, I've read. You can remember that something hurt really, really badly but you can't bring the actual pain back. Your subconscious - or whatever part of the mind we're talking about - stops that.

I just studied this as part of a course...
Basically, your mind unconsciously represses memories, most of the time with no intention on your part, to prevent anxiety or distress.
A study was done recently on women who had been sexually abused 20 years previously. Of those who did remember the event, which was very few, 16% said they had, at one time, repressed the memory and recalled it later.

Psychologists who deal with this have come under fire-often, the person who has a repressed memory is vulnerable and suggestable. If a psychologist makes even a slight hint or suggestion, the person can suddenly make up a memory (not on purpose) and to them it will seem completely real.
A women called Elizabeth Loftus' mother was found face down dead in a pool. She didn't find the body. However, someone suggested she had, and she suddenly remembered all these details-finding the body, the police cars, various things. Then she was told a mistake had been made, and that she hadn't found the body. But she now had all these very vivid, real memories about finding her mother.
And that, my friends, is repression at English A-Level curriculum.

when my oldest was about 2 we let her take part in an experiment at University of Arizona, where she went in everyday and talked to them, each session they would ask her if she had seen an elephant driving a car on the way to the University, for three weeks she said "no" but on the fourth week, she said "yes" and told a very detailed story about the elephant and his car, they measured her brain waves at the time and compared them to times when she was telling stories that she didn't believe and they were different. I think the point of the study was to prove that children are very suggestible and can come up with details of things that actually never happened.

I never actually repress a memory, I just drive them to the back of my mind. Like my experience involving girls, which never went great (It partly involved insanity).

I never actually repress a memory, I just drive them to the back of my mind. Like my experience involving girls, which never went great (It partly involved insanity).

Thats pretty much the same thing, repressing a memory doesnt have too involve "destroying" the memory.