If someone has traumatic amnesia due to abuse as a child, is it advisable to try to recover those memories ?

Question

Or should it just be left alone?

Person is an adult now.

Answer 1

recovering   the  past  might be  a  good way  to BEST  treat  the  trauma...   but   may take  a  long process..   and can be expensive..   hmmm..  thats  a  toughy!!..  if   left alone..  .. well depending on the personality..  things  can get  worse..  but  then  again   . I  heard  of cases  where people  get  by  without  treatment..  though   suffer  quite a bit!!..

Answer 2

Only if it would help things...

If not...

Let sleeping dog memories lie...

"Woof!"

Answer 3

Michele makes a lot of good points. Recovering traumatic memories can be an emotional ordeal and not something one would undertake without careful consideration.  

Traumatic amnesia serves a defensive purpose, designed to allow someone to function without the distracting onslaught of  disturbing and nightmarish recollections.

Veterans returning from the war often employ this strategy- repressing horrific and terrifying experiences in an attempt to get on with their lives. Sometimes the strategy is effective enough to allow them to led "normal" lives. But unfortunately often it is only partially effective.

Those horrific experiences "leak out" and manifest in a variety of symptoms that are characterized as a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Children that experienced abuse can also suffer with PTSD.

Symptoms include hyper-vigilance, irritability, flashbacks, social isolation, substance abuse, problems with anger and impulse control, and sleep disturbance among others.

Although there are a variety of treatment options, one of the best outcomes for these veterans typically involves a rather arduous and difficult process of "reliving" those experiences in a safe and therapeutic environment.  Re-experiencing is often repeated as one needs to develop a better and better emotional as well as cognitive understanding of those events.

It can feel overwhelming and requires an experienced therapist to help "sort through" all the emotional turbulence. Patients often feel worse before they get better, but eventually their demons loose their importance and life dramatically improves. It can take awhile, but many people are now benefiting from a process involving between 10-15 sessions.

Perhaps the question to be considered is to ask, How well are things going. Is this person functioning well or are they having symptoms. Has life left them with a bit of well-healed emotional scar tissue or do they still have festering wounds.

If they are having psychological symptoms, are those symptoms associated with childhood abuse or something else. Finally, if there is a relationship, what would be the best therapeutic intervention: to relive those memories or to more specifically address the symptoms with techniques of stress and anger control managment, socialization skills, etc..

If these questions seem worth exploring, I would recommend an exploratory meeting with a good clinical psychologist or therapist that has experience dealing with these issues.

Good luck.

Answer 4

I'm not sure, but I do know those memories can start coming out on their own.  If the person doesn't have the coping mechanism to handle that, it could cause some big problems.

If they decide to recover those memories, it should be in a safe environment, with someone trained to handle the situation.  It can be a very emotional experience.

Answer 5

Human beings have an amazing capacity to protect themselves from harm. One way a child may automatically protect him/herself from what would otherwise be overwhelming trauma, is to develop amnesia.

To purposefully circumvent the process of natural memory retrieval is at best foolish, and at worst quite dangerous. The possibility of creating false memories (by well meaning but underinformed therapists) presents a very real risk for these folks. Even treading very carefully can have disastrous results.

When the individual is psychologically prepared to handle the traumatic memory, it will be accessible to him/her WITHOUT the overt, intentional intervention of a therapist. That is one excellent indicator of readiness to work in therapy (i.e., resurfacing of memories). "Pushing it", so to speak, is both unnecessary, very risky, and ethically questionable.

~M~

Answer 6

that is a question best left to the doctors of psychology,

it is also something best done (if done at all) in a clinical environment, with people present that can (hopefully) glue the individual back together.

Answer 7

No because I don’t think the memories can be reliable. It can mix them with fact interspersed with fantasy.  The mind heals by forgetting bad incidences. The bad happenings were in the past and the past is gone. Good happenings can be now so forget the past and get on with living. Why remember the bad times? Life is too short.

Jeff (weseye) Wesley