Memory Supression?

JukeBox Hero · 10-28-2005, 09:32 PM

I have come to question aspects of my life that I cannot remember. For my age I can honestly say I have the ability to back track days or even weeks to remember what I was doing at a peticular time. I have reconized this ability and am pleased to know I have it, but it has come to my attnetion that thier are certain moments in my life that I can't place. When I was little I had to be rushed to the hospital for a tumer that burst on my chest. it wasn't a maligment *hope I splled that right* tumer and wasnt too serious. It's like I blacked out as soon as I got in the car to be rushed to the hospital. I was 6 at the time and I understand that traumatic events such as this could lead to memory supression. This isn't what bothers me..

As I remember'd this event I have noticed some periods in my life that I can remember up to and after, but not the event itself. There has been some strange occurances in my life where I have failed to been aware of certain things I had taken part in. Then there are times that I can remember but no one else seems to be able to relate. I know this all probably sound rediculous *spelling*, but I am a little concerned, not paranoid. I can admit my life hasnt been perfect and there are things that I would prefer to stay in the past. And up to this point, it seems as though my past is changing. Some things are disappearing and other are being replaced with things that only I remember.. Most viewers will porbably dis-reguard this in full, as just the ramblings of a *kid*. I only hope that there is some sort of advice or help to be given, Thank you for your time..

jna35 · 10-28-2005, 10:49 PM

Hi There,

I don't think you are ridiculous at all. I believe the human mind often protects us by supressing memories that may be too hard for the individual to handle at the time. Although, sometimes maybe our "perception" is different than other peoples for the same event. If you asked a dozen people to describe what happened in an accident you would get several different responses. They wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but they all viewed the same events differently. Are you afraid something bad may have happened to you? If you are concerned, I would suggest you speak with someone you can trust, your mom or dad and get some feedback from them. If that doesn't offer you any comfort or resolution then I think the next step would be to seek out a counselor. Take care.

JukeBox Hero · 10-28-2005, 11:12 PM

I appreciate your reasoning and I think you managed to get the point I was trying to get across. I have an above average ability to remember events, and I say that because it's out of honestly, and I dont want to come off as bragging. It's just that there are certain events in my life that I dont exactly remember. I remember the pre-excitment that coem before a major event, and the partial post experience, but my memory of what exactly happened is completley blacked out. I am a very deep thought person and this lays heavily upon my mind. Then as I mentio nand you explained, that thier are events that I remember happening but are left un-explained to those around me. It is as though everyone else has surpressed these memories or they're are denying thier occurance. Then there is the possibility that I am imagining things, which I'm almsot sure that I am not. ..lol.. I find this both amusing and troubling...

I also think this my pertain to my philosophy on certain things. I Believe that the human mind is the key to all that is possible.. My opinion alone possibly.. More/Less I believe that if somone has enough hope or faith or beleif in something, then it becomes realistic. As I have found with most people today, we have set our standards accordingly to "the way things are". We have become inable to accept the possibilities of change that would completley change our views upon life. As such, if I were to think something happened and believed that it honestly did occur, then there so lye's the possibility that the occurance is realistic..

Than again this also denys my morals. I embrace my ability to be truthful and would have no reason to present myself to a false occurance and would have no reason to beleif it ever happened.. Possibly there is a point in which soemone can think too much, but untill that standard has been placed, i'll feel free to break all of the other one's set before me....

habitual_loser · 10-29-2005, 01:22 AM

Memory is a funny thing. You can worry and worry about something you're trying despearately to recall and never remember, and one day you'll smell something that brings it all back.

I had an experience where I choked on a shard of chiken bone that had somehow made it into a can of Noodle Chicken Dinner (my favorite soup at the time.) I can remember my bloodcurdling scream and how wierd it felt to be rushed to the hospital when I could still (more or less) breathe.

But to my conscious mind, I can't remember anything about the experience. Apparantly (to hear my parents tell it) I amazed some doctor with my ability to "open my throat" (make the opening wider - which IS something I can do) and made it incredibly easy to pick out some foreign object. I have some memories that contradict that story, and the entire thing makes no sense. Maybe I burnt myself on some soup and thought I was chocking and wasted the time of some poor emergency room people. Maybe I actually was sitting there with a shard of bone or something stuck in my throat.

The point is, you were stressed out and you may never know what happened. You may have peices of memory that contridict what people who were there told you. This is normal. A great deal of our memory is imaginative, filling in pieces that aren't there. If there is something specific that's really important to you to find out, by all means, keep trying to remember or reason out what happened. If not, best just to move on and think of it as one of life's great mysteries.

TheDMan05 · 10-29-2005, 03:11 AM

Sometimes, quite often actually, memories of events distort. You may believe you are recalling events perfectly but some aspects of the memory are 'made up' by your subconscious to fill in gaps and make sense of things that are unfamiliar to you.

This could explain why some events you remember are different to what other people remember. It could be your memory that has changed, or their's, or both.

As for the 'suppressed' memories. Psychologists are now coming to the conclusion that memories cannot be suppressed, you either remember an event or you don't. Though not all pschologists believe this.

The mind is one of those things that you can never truly understand.

~Serendipity~ · 10-29-2005, 04:41 AM

Memory suppression is quite normal if you have been through a traumatic experience..

I remember when my stepfather died (of old age - long story) I just couldn't wear the particular deodarant that I had on at the time I found out about his death...
I put the deodarant in my drawers and forgot about it.. then one day I was getting ready for school and saw it in there, and sprayed it on myself - it kinda sent me into hysterics from just the smell alone...

The human mind is almost designed to block parts of your memory that cause just an overload of emotion etc..

10-28-2005, 09:32 PM	#1
JukeBox Hero Offline Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kentucky Age: 20 Posts: 34	Memory Supression? I have come to question aspects of my life that I cannot remember. For my age I can honestly say I have the ability to back track days or even weeks to remember what I was doing at a peticular time. I have reconized this ability and am pleased to know I have it, but it has come to my attnetion that thier are certain moments in my life that I can't place. When I was little I had to be rushed to the hospital for a tumer that burst on my chest. it wasn't a maligment hope I splled that right tumer and wasnt too serious. It's like I blacked out as soon as I got in the car to be rushed to the hospital. I was 6 at the time and I understand that traumatic events such as this could lead to memory supression. This isn't what bothers me.. As I remember'd this event I have noticed some periods in my life that I can remember up to and after, but not the event itself. There has been some strange occurances in my life where I have failed to been aware of certain things I had taken part in. Then there are times that I can remember but no one else seems to be able to relate. I know this all probably sound rediculous spelling, but I am a little concerned, not paranoid. I can admit my life hasnt been perfect and there are things that I would prefer to stay in the past. And up to this point, it seems as though my past is changing. Some things are disappearing and other are being replaced with things that only I remember.. Most viewers will porbably dis-reguard this in full, as just the ramblings of a kid. I only hope that there is some sort of advice or help to be given, Thank you for your time.. __________________ "Things come and things go, but some things never change,..then again, some do"

10-28-2005, 11:12 PM	#3
JukeBox Hero Offline Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kentucky Age: 20 Posts: 34	I appreciate your reasoning and I think you managed to get the point I was trying to get across. I have an above average ability to remember events, and I say that because it's out of honestly, and I dont want to come off as bragging. It's just that there are certain events in my life that I dont exactly remember. I remember the pre-excitment that coem before a major event, and the partial post experience, but my memory of what exactly happened is completley blacked out. I am a very deep thought person and this lays heavily upon my mind. Then as I mentio nand you explained, that thier are events that I remember happening but are left un-explained to those around me. It is as though everyone else has surpressed these memories or they're are denying thier occurance. Then there is the possibility that I am imagining things, which I'm almsot sure that I am not. ..lol.. I find this both amusing and troubling... I also think this my pertain to my philosophy on certain things. I Believe that the human mind is the key to all that is possible.. My opinion alone possibly.. More/Less I believe that if somone has enough hope or faith or beleif in something, then it becomes realistic. As I have found with most people today, we have set our standards accordingly to "the way things are". We have become inable to accept the possibilities of change that would completley change our views upon life. As such, if I were to think something happened and believed that it honestly did occur, then there so lye's the possibility that the occurance is realistic.. Than again this also denys my morals. I embrace my ability to be truthful and would have no reason to present myself to a false occurance and would have no reason to beleif it ever happened.. Possibly there is a point in which soemone can think too much, but untill that standard has been placed, i'll feel free to break all of the other one's set before me.... __________________ "Things come and things go, but some things never change,..then again, some do"

10-29-2005, 04:41 AM	#6
~Serendipity~ Offline Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Perth, Australia Gender: Female Age: 23 Posts: 767	Memory suppression is quite normal if you have been through a traumatic experience.. I remember when my stepfather died (of old age - long story) I just couldn't wear the particular deodarant that I had on at the time I found out about his death... I put the deodarant in my drawers and forgot about it.. then one day I was getting ready for school and saw it in there, and sprayed it on myself - it kinda sent me into hysterics from just the smell alone... The human mind is almost designed to block parts of your memory that cause just an overload of emotion etc.. __________________ Definition of Serendipity: Good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries...

10-28-2005, 10:49 PM	#2
jna35 Offline Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: California Age: 40 Posts: 468	Hi There, I don't think you are ridiculous at all. I believe the human mind often protects us by supressing memories that may be too hard for the individual to handle at the time. Although, sometimes maybe our "perception" is different than other peoples for the same event. If you asked a dozen people to describe what happened in an accident you would get several different responses. They wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but they all viewed the same events differently. Are you afraid something bad may have happened to you? If you are concerned, I would suggest you speak with someone you can trust, your mom or dad and get some feedback from them. If that doesn't offer you any comfort or resolution then I think the next step would be to seek out a counselor. Take care.

10-29-2005, 01:22 AM	#4
habitual_loser Offline Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: pacific coast Age: 28 Posts: 54	Memory is a funny thing. You can worry and worry about something you're trying despearately to recall and never remember, and one day you'll smell something that brings it all back. I had an experience where I choked on a shard of chiken bone that had somehow made it into a can of Noodle Chicken Dinner (my favorite soup at the time.) I can remember my bloodcurdling scream and how wierd it felt to be rushed to the hospital when I could still (more or less) breathe. But to my conscious mind, I can't remember anything about the experience. Apparantly (to hear my parents tell it) I amazed some doctor with my ability to "open my throat" (make the opening wider - which IS something I can do) and made it incredibly easy to pick out some foreign object. I have some memories that contradict that story, and the entire thing makes no sense. Maybe I burnt myself on some soup and thought I was chocking and wasted the time of some poor emergency room people. Maybe I actually was sitting there with a shard of bone or something stuck in my throat. The point is, you were stressed out and you may never know what happened. You may have peices of memory that contridict what people who were there told you. This is normal. A great deal of our memory is imaginative, filling in pieces that aren't there. If there is something specific that's really important to you to find out, by all means, keep trying to remember or reason out what happened. If not, best just to move on and think of it as one of life's great mysteries.

10-29-2005, 03:11 AM	#5
TheDMan05 Offline Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: UK Gender: Male Age: 24 Posts: 32	Sometimes, quite often actually, memories of events distort. You may believe you are recalling events perfectly but some aspects of the memory are 'made up' by your subconscious to fill in gaps and make sense of things that are unfamiliar to you. This could explain why some events you remember are different to what other people remember. It could be your memory that has changed, or their's, or both. As for the 'suppressed' memories. Psychologists are now coming to the conclusion that memories cannot be suppressed, you either remember an event or you don't. Though not all pschologists believe this. The mind is one of those things that you can never truly understand.