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False memory syndrome
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I think that's the term. When people 'imagine' (for want of a better word) things that have happend to them, but haven't in reality particulary child abuse.
I ask because the memory of my abuse as a child is VERY patchy. There's so little of it i can remember, and my childhood in general, and this has got me to wondering.
1. Is my brain (or possibly the medication i'm on) just blotting out all the bad shit.
2. Have i got this false memory thing and i'm imagining what happened.
3. Unlikely, but am i getting HIV related dementia/memory loss (it happens).
Just a tad confused by it all at the moment.
I ask because the memory of my abuse as a child is VERY patchy. There's so little of it i can remember, and my childhood in general, and this has got me to wondering.
1. Is my brain (or possibly the medication i'm on) just blotting out all the bad shit.
2. Have i got this false memory thing and i'm imagining what happened.
3. Unlikely, but am i getting HIV related dementia/memory loss (it happens).
Just a tad confused by it all at the moment.
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For a long time I "forgot" about an incident in my childhood (which I won't go into now as the specifics are irrelevant) and would only remember - or allow myself to remember - when I was in very difficult and confusing times of life. That definitely led me to doubt not whether what I was remembering had happened at all but what had happened and how much of my memories were just my imagination filling in the blanks. This was then obviously not helped by the accusation actually being made of my having something along the lines of what you're talking about (this false memory syndrome) or to be even more frank, of my being an outright liar. I'm sure you know yourself that when you're upset about the past and also experiencing difficulty even remembering your own experiences you become a lot more suggestible to the words of people pointing the finger and more inclined to believe that maybe they're right.
I'm pretty sure that what you're experiencing is going to be 1). The memory is a very tricky thing and is a lot more likely to be selective in which events it recalls than to be actually creating false memories. Like I said, it's likely that since these things happened so far in the past your memory has filled in some blanks - I know mine has. But trust your instincts and try not to doubt yourself too much, I think - certainly in my case - it could be a slippery slope into full-blown madness (as opposed to partial
What are you yourself inclined to believe it is - one of the three? A combination?
Yeah i'd say my brain trying to 'defend' itself and not let the demons out. But maybe a bit of memory loss too. My father's memory was appaling from his 30's and maybe it can be a genetic thing, though usually it's short term. Which puts me off the HIV related demetia thing.
Usually with dementia it's short term that's bad and long term's ok. LIke old people can easily remember what the war was like, but can't remember what they had for dinner yesterday.
It's all so confusing. I'm going on a bit of a downer at the mo with me manic depression and i'm wondering if the paranoia is coming back. I suffered from that a couple of years ago and it was horrible.