I'm trying to remember my past so I can deal with everything that happened, and a lot of it I've remembered and it's shocking me. I feel I have one large suppressed memory left, and I know the gist of what happened, and I can remember emotions and tie current actions I do as a result of it, but I can't actually remember the event. I can't see anything, I don't hear anything, there's no sensory memories tied to it, I just have the emotion and knowledge of what it had to have been. I know that's really vague, I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but it was forms of sexual abuse (I know I was never raped) that I remembered, but I just feel like something else had to have happened and I know I can't remember a certain age, but I can remember before and after it. If anyone can give maybe a little testimony, I don't know where I'm at, but I think I'm getting better. It's like my mind wants to tell me so it gives me little hints by using memories that were a result of whatever happened, but I just can't remember that life-changing event. Thanks in advance, I just hope you all are decent enough not to troll me. It's taking quite a bit to just post this here.
Update:Well the reason why I thought something happened was because I remember the emotions during something, but I can't remember the event. I'm currently reading The Right to Innocence by Beverly Engel, and she talks about how sometimes when something traumatic happens we only have a fragmented memory. One person became phobic of the color blue, and she had no idea why. It wasn't until she thought more about it that a repressed memory of her being sexually abused on her blue carpet as a child surfaced. I have clear memories of things that I would do that a child shouldn't have the impulse to do, and I wasn't sure if I was fondled as a child. I remember feelings of severe humiliation, but I can't remember the event. It's almost like knowing a portion of an old song, but not able to find it until you really think about the bit you do know, and begin having the rest unfold. I'm sorry I'm not more precise, I'm still pretty open from all of this and I don&
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This sounds like something you need to work with your therapist with. I don't have any repressed memories but I have PTSD. All I know is when something triggers my PTSD I can recall my trauma very clearly in the moment. I have seen hypnosis in the movies but I don't know if that is real.
How To Remember Repressed Memories
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RE:
How do you remember repressed memories?
I'm trying to remember my past so I can deal with everything that happened, and a lot of it I've remembered and it's shocking me. I feel I have one large suppressed memory left, and I know the gist of what happened, and I can remember emotions and tie current actions I do as a result of...
Memory is VERY fallible, and "looking for" a memory that you don't actually have can be a very dangerous thing. The problem is that if you insist "something" is there, you'll likely "remember" it whether it happened or not.
Recent research on memory:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121213-fake-pict...
Repressed memories, and the connection to alien abduction stories:
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/09.22/11-...
It is normal to have gaps in your childhood memory, and memories that you "recover" later in life are often confabulations. These confabulated memories can seem very real and cause very real distress, but they are not a reflection of objective reality.
Info on confabulation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confabulation
Take good care of yourself, and best of luck to you.
Vespa has the best answer of the 3 above. People do forgot memories when they are too painful to remember. Sometimes people have proven these forgotten memories to be real.
http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/case-archiv...
Your family may not know about what happened or if they do, may not want to admit it happened, so they may not give you the true story if you ask them.
But don't push it one way or the other. Find professional help to work through this to find your own answers.
While a tiny minority of people have legitimately repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, most people who feel they have are completely wrong. Often, individuals will look for a reason they engage in various (often destructive) behaviors or thought patterns. When no obvious answer is forthcoming, they will chalk it up to some vague feeling that "something" happened to them many years ago. This is, most often, totally wrong. It is a way of absolving oneself of personal responsibility for ones actions or passing the blame for "unconventional" personality quirks onto the actions of another person.
Please do not fall victim to this. Seek professional help to deal with everything you have talked about. Make sure you see doctor who is competent, intelligent and well-informed on the ridiculous blather that is "recovered memory syndrome". Approach this with extreme care and caution, and get to the truth, whatever it may be.
Regardless of the outcome, I wish you the best. Take care.
I have serious doubts that a person would forget physical abuse from their childhood (after the age of 3 when the brain starts to form memories).
Remembering emotions seems a vague way to go about it. We could feel humiliated by a snarky comment made by a schoolmate or sibling. Plus, children get upset at the most minor of things.
If you were physically abused, you would probably show signs of abuse. Do you have scars? You should ask your family members or people from your past if they remember anything, not try to "remember" something you seem to want to find.