Repressed memory is a controversial and largely discredited psychiatric phenomenon characterized by an inability to recall autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. The concept originated in psychoanalytic theory, where repression is understood as a defense mechanism that excludes painful experiences and unacceptable impulses from consciousness. Repressed memory is presently considered largely unsupported by research. Sigmund Freud initially claimed the memories of historical childhood trauma could be repressed while still unconsciously influencing present behavior and emotional responses. He later revised this belief. While the concept of repressed memories persisted through much of the 1990s, insufficient support exists to conclude that memories can become inconspicuously hidden in a way that is distinct from forgetting. Historically, some psychoanalysts provided therapy based on the belief that alleged repressed memories could be recovered. However, rather than promoting the recovery of a real repressed memory, such attempts could result in the creation of entirely false memories. Subsequent accusations based on such "recovered memories" led to substantial harm to persons implicated as perpetrators, sometimes resulting in false convictions and years' incarceration. Out of lack of evidence for the concept of repressed and recovered memories, mainstream clinical psychologists have stopped using these terms. The clinical psychologist Richard McNally stated, "The notion that traumatic events can be repressed and later recovered is the most pernicious bit of folklore ever to infect psychology and psychiatry. It has provided the theoretical basis for 'recovered memory therapy'—the worst catastrophe to befall the mental health field since the lobotomy era."
History Sigmund Freud discussed repressed memory in his 1896 essay, The Aetiology of Hysteria. One of the studies published in his essay involved a young woman referred to as Anna O., who had been treated by Freud's friend and colleague Josef Breuer. Among her many ailments, Anna O. had stiff paralysis on the right side of her body. Freud hypothesized that her symptoms were attached to psychological traumas; the traumatic experiences had been repressed from her conscious mind, but reappeared as physical symptoms. Breuer used hypnosis to treat Anna O. She is reported to have gained slight mobility on her right side. The concept received renewed interest in the 1970s in relation to child sexual abuse and incest. Coming to be labelled The Recovered Memory Movement and Memory Wars or The Memory War, it became a major issue in pop culture during the 1980s and 1990s, connected to Satanic panic, and spawned a myriad of legal cases, controversies, and media. Michelle Remembers (1980), a discredited book by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his wife/former patient Michelle Smith about Smith's fabricated experiences with repressed memories of childhood Satanic rituals and abuse, gained widespread popularity that persisted after debunking, influenced subsequent claims, and received promotion from media including Oprah, Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jesse Raphael, and 20/20. Starting in the 1980s, repressed memory legal cases increased rapidly. In 1989, a landmark legal case developed when George Franklin was charged and convicted in 1990 for the rape and murder of 8-year-old Susan Kay Nason on September 22, 1969, based on the account of his daughter, Eileen Franklin's recovered memories. Originally sentenced to life imprisonment, a district court judge overturned the conviction in 1995 based on several trial errors including the unreliability of hypnosis that was used. Eileen Franklin would further accuse her father of raping and murdering 18-year-old Veronica Cascio and 17-year-old Paula Baxter. George Franklin was released in July 1996 after prosecutors announced they would not retry him, and in 2018, the DNA evidence linked Rodney Lynn Halbower to the Cascio and Baxter murders. He was convicted of both murders and sentenced to life in prison. In 1991, People magazine featured Marilyn Van Derbur and Roseanne Barr's experiences with childhood abuse and repressed memory. Van Derbur's oldest sister Gwen verified her account, though Barr would later moderate her claims. Such cases and reactions led to the definition of false memory syndrome and establishment of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in 1992. The Ramona false memory case in 1994 was another landmark case, where father Gary Ramona successfully sued for malpractice against Western Medical Center in Anaheim, its chief of psychiatry Richard Rose, and therapist Marche Isabella, for implanting false memories of child abuse while treating his daughter Holly for depression and bulimia. It was also notable for being brought by a third party not involved in the doctor-patient relationship and contributed to continued evaluation of the phenomenon. Skepticism and criticism of repressed memory continued to mount through the 1990s, 2000s, and beyond, emphasizing unreliability, false claims, and lack of examples in historical records.
Issues
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
