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I'd be honestly surprised if you hadn't heard about repression. Most people have, and most people believe it. Psychological Science has come a long ways since Freud's time and as it turns out, the science -- both clinical and lab -- has discovered NO evidence for the defense mechanism Freud proposed. People can forget and later remember experiences. They can engage in conscious motivated forgetting. They can even engage in memory suppression (a form of motivated forgetting). But none of these examples are repression. They are something else entirely. The Psychological Science story of emotion of and memory is a complex one, but the story has moved on from Freud and so should you. The reality is that we remember trauma more than we forget it, and it bears repeating that age-related or context related forgetting are not synonymous with repression. Much harm has happened over the years as unchecked belief in an antiquated Victorian concept has remained embedded in popular culture. Science has moved on, and culture needs to, too. Please stop the spread of this dangerous psychological myth so that folks who've experience trauma are treated with empirically sound and sensitive care.
Exhibit A
Exhibit A
note: people who have experienced "memory recovery therapy"
Traumatic memories form relatively similarly to normal memories
Some trauma forms as a "flashbulb" memory in which a few moments are extremely vivid and the rest is blurry. However this does not provide any evidence for repression
There is no scientific evidence for the existence of repressed memories
Some argue that 'motivated forgetting' is evidence for repressed memories, however there is very little research on this concept and there is no established link between motivated forgetting and traumatic memories
Even 'recovered' memories from some psychotherapy patients could have been placed there accidentally by the therapist (as shown in mulitple research studies by Elizabeth Loftus)
In fact, research often shows that we experience stronger memory recall, sometimes involuntary memory recall, of traumatic events
It is counterintuitive, knowing this, to suggest that repressed memories exist
Memories often fade, because our memories are never perfect. However, the entire memory is unlikely to fade. Even if it did, it would be hard to truly call this 'repression'
The repressed memories myth has led to the unnecessary destruction of lives and creation of harmful, false memories. There are important legal and social ramifications to the widespread belief in this myth
Exhibit B
Exhibit B
In an Instagram poll 38 people (92.68%) believed the myth, "extreme trauma is repressed to protect our psyches from stress-overload".
The myth has gained traction through the long lasting popularity of Freud's works, but modern empirical evidence contradicts his Victorian beliefs.
His theory lacked a framework to evaluate or measure repression scientifically
Freud believed individuals who experience extreme trauma will actively forget in order to cope, but we can disprove this by analyzing individuals with PTSD.
Individuals suffering from PTSD experience persistent flashbacks memories causing unwanted stress and emotions.
This myth can cause severe consequences in society
In the 1990s many highly publicized trials occurred where women who were being treated for trauma based on the recovery of repressed childhood memories were suing for damages.
These cases lead to the wrongful conviction of innocent people.
While the women in these cases, meantime, were not properly treated for their mental health and the trauma that came from belief in memory repression. There were no winners.
How we can debunk this myth?
(1) Shift the conversation away from repressed trauma and shift towards understanding memory function
(2) Provide information on how memory is faulty and how forgetting is a normal process of life
(3) Shift from Sigmund Freud's view and begin to acknowledge the scientific evidence that has debunked his theory of repression.
We need to cycle in new and accurate data in media and in education.
Additionally, emotions are extremely powerful cues for our brain which means that events tied to high emotions, whether it be good or bad, that event is more often remembered, albeit not always accurately, than others that did not have the same level of emotion.
For example, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is known for its persistence of emotion and memory, not the lack or repression of it.
Exhibit C
Exhibit C
In a straw poll conducted, 85.71% believed the myth to be true, while only 14.29% believed it to be false.
Many people and events have become household names, like Oprah or September 11th, and one of those names in the social science field is Freud. Although he contributed to the field, not all of his ideas have stood the test of time and yet many people continue to believe in them. The one most people tend to reference is the idea of repression.
Evidence has accumulated over the years attempting to answer the question of trauma and memory and all have shown no proof of repression.
Elizabeth Loftus has done many studies showing the importance of bias, repetition, and language because by manipulating which words were used and how frequently they were said, participants answers changed dramatically.
For example, college students participated in a study where they were told three childhood stories, two were true but one was fabricated by the researchers. At first, most said that they did not remember this false event, however, after many sessions, these same participants claimed to have remembered this false event and even came up with more details for it.
Sir Frederik Bartlett also demonstrated how although memories do fade and are not always accurate, the gist of the story or event is almost always remembered.
Still skeptical? Unravelling Freud's work is a difficult, delicate business.
Not all his ideas were wrong, for example, he coined the term childhood childhood amnesia, that we still use today which might explain some of the remaining issues.
Childhood amnesia is a phrase that is characterized by the inability to remember much of our experiences during our early childhood. This once was linked to repression, however modern evidence has shown that this occurs because our brains are not yet fully developed. To be able to form memories, our synaptic functions must be pruned and ready to encode, but at this early age they are not so we are not able to encode memories, therefore we are not able to remember those memories.
Exhibit D
Exhibit D
Repression does not exist!
81.8% of 33 straw poll participants believed this myth
Suppression is possible, and can be a common coping mechanism that some trauma survivors may use. It is not the same as repression though.
The diagnostic criteria for PTSD is different for children under 6 because their memory processes are not developed, but for adults a symptom of PTSD is memory persistence not loss.
Exhibit E
Exhibit E
86.12% of people believed this myth after taking a survey on Instagram and Facebook
Out of these people, 70.96% had taken a psychology class before
In combination with imagination, the myth lives on, but there is no scientific evidence to support this
With PTSD, memories are actually repeated over and over, not repressed
Memory is malleable, so it changes frequently; Memory is not 100% accurate, it changes as we age, and is suggestible to everyday life
Exhibit F
Exhibit F
In a instagram poll 40 people (87%)believed the myth that trauma is repressed in order to protect our psyche from stress overload and 6 people (13%) did not believe the myth
There is zero empirical evidence that repressed memories exist
In many cases we have seen that psychologists who use psychotherapy have created false memories to manipulate peoples memory
We have also seen through research that memories seem to be more reliable when they are recovered spontaneously
We know that our memories often fade over time and become less descriptive but this does not mean that we have repressed the memory
Repression is an idea of the past and we have seen that it has become harmful in some situations specifically in some legal cases of child abuse where memories were faked by psychologist
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