Despite people’s belief, memory is not a fountain of past happenings but is a comprehensive mechanism, which ascertains the steadiness and coherence of oneself across situations. The challenge of repressed memories not only concerns psychiatry and psychologists but is also a critical factor in the legal and judicial matters (Joanna 609). Lawyers, physicians, and scientists are in unsolved argument known as memory wars regarding the credibility of recovered memories specifically if they were determined based on therapeutic systems or by self-help books. The contention is based on other people’s believe that the repressed memory is recovered in future whereas other insinuate that the phenomena is untrue.
Are Repressed Memories Real or Unreal
Forgetting past events enables a person’s mind to secure itself from the psychological effects of reliving the experiences. As such, the memory creates a mechanism that blocks the unwanted happenings into a state of oblivion primarily to decrease mental distress (Joanna 610). However, the memories are perceived not to be entirely eradicated from the mind and can manifest inform of dreams and emotional reactions. Conversely, researchers claim that there is no scientific evidence to explain the process, and the natural phenomena of forgetting can only illustrate the concept. It is difficult for one to retrieve memories that occurred when they were at the age of three and those that happened recently (Joanna 611). From the discussions, I believe that the repressed memories are accurate since most of the people experience the traumatic memory of earlier dealings.
The contention between the lawyers, psychologists, and clinicians is based on the credibility of the repressed memories. The mind blocks unwanted events leading to a state of oblivion mainly to reduce mental distress. However, the memory does not entirely eradicate from the brain and manifest itself in the form of dreams and emotional disorders. Studies on repressed memory ascertain that there is a lack of scientific evidence to explain the phenomena hence is considered untrue.
Work Cited
Joanna, U. “Recovered Memories in Clinical Practice–A Research Review.” Psychiatr. Pol Vol. 51, No. 4, 2017, Pp. 609-618.