Are bad memories more memorable?

By: Caleb Daniels

Imagine the smell of antiseptic and the tan walls of a hospital. You see a young boy who is only 4 years old being taken from the surgery room into a hospital room. You enter the room as he is being laid down on a bed. He has an IV in his arm going up to a bag of fluid and a heart rate monitor gently beeps on the wall. His mom is there with him, comforting him, and after he falls asleep, she takes a nap on the couch next to the bed. 

This boy is Colby Stecker and he is there for appendicitis (a removal of the appendix, an organ in the digestive system). He is so sore that he can’t get himself to the bathroom, which is just across his hospital room. He is about to have his 5th birthday in the hospital, and he will be very sad to miss his usual activities.

Now, as a 7th grader, this is the memory from his childhood that first pops into Colby’s mind and he knows that bad memories are the most memorable from experience. Why are bad memories the most memorable ones? Sylus Carrasco, an 8th grader who agrees, stated “Your injuries teach you lessons, and give you scars that take forever to fade.” While some might have good memories that are more obvious than others, often they don’t have as many details and are just associated with the good feeling from that.

“Your injuries teach you lessons, and give you scars that take forever to fade” This is also backed by science. An article from the National Library of Medicine website, reads “The additional recruitment of sensory processes during the encoding of negative items may allow these items to be vividly ‘remembered,’ whereas enhanced conceptual and self-referential processing of positive information may yield feelings of familiarity but not memory for episodic detail.” This means that negative memories instantly stick more in our brains because we don’t want to repeat our mistakes. This is a human instinct because our brains don’t like the feelings of being scared, ashamed, confused, or frustrated. Good memories are still memorable but with less details that are sometimes fuzzy or slightly incorrect, especially over time.

Some people even try to forget bad memories because they are so traumatic and haunt their thoughts and dreams. Some bad memories can even cause PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). There is an article on the website Medical News Today that teaches people to forget their bad memories. It advises, “Some people may consider using thought or memory substitution strategies to help them suppress unwanted memories. This technique suggests that people can substitute a negative memory by redirecting their consciousness toward an alternative memory. Experts sometimes describe this technique as similar to slamming on the brakes in a car or steering to avoid a hazard.” As most people don’t want PTSD, this could be effective for those with very traumatic memories and therapists can help. 

The other memory that Colby said he remembered well when being interviewed was also bad. He was camping when he was nine years old and he had an allergic reaction to something that he wasn’t sure of after he got home. There was yellow pus coming out of his red face and he couldn’t see out of his left eye. He was quickly taken to the doctor, who said to give it a few days and come back if it got worse. It ended up getting worse, and the doctor gave him a gel that was supposed to help, but to Colby it didn’t feel like it was getting any better. His doctor ordered a CAT scan, and he waited for an hour until he got in. After that, he had to go back to the room he was waiting in to wait for the results. Then, he got taken up a few stories into the Children’s Hospital, where he got lunch and got medicine to help the allergic reaction. Over time, Colby recovered and got discharged from the hospital two weeks later. It definitely wasn’t a fun experience for him and now he still doesn’t know what he is allergic to. 

Even though bad memories are more present in our minds, every cloud has a silver lining. When Colby had his appendix removed his preschool class drew on a large paper for him in the hospital, which made him feel cared for and loved even though he felt sad to not be with them. Also, he gained his love for Marvel from having nothing to do but watch shows in the hospital when he had his allergic reaction. What is the memory you remember best? If it is bad, is there a silver lining? And did that experience make you more knowledgeable?