“Trauma is memorable. You wouldn’t forget incredibly traumatic events.”
“People who undergo severe trauma remember it.” - Hollida Wakefield, Harry MacLean and Ralph Underwager, in the FMSF Newsletter. [1]
“Memories of trauma are seldom, if ever, truly forgotten.” - Richard McNally. [2]
“The nature of severe trauma is that you can't forget things… the idea of someone who's 18 years old who had [a traumatic sexual] experience over four days and doesn't remember that it happened is essentially ludicrous.” - Joseph Deltito, in the FMSF Newsletter. [3]
Elizabeth Loftus – a researcher on the False Memory Syndrome Foundation’s scientific advisory board, who notably critiques the accuracy of recovered memories and argues for the existence of falsely implanted memories – has acknowledged evidence that disproves this claim. In a population of women with documented medical records of confirmed sexual abuse, Linda Meyer Williams found that “38% of women were unable to remember the abuse 17 years later” [4] and that “one in 10 women (16% of those who recalled the abuse) reported that at some time in the past they had forgotten about the abuse.” [5] In response to Williams’ study, Loftus concedes that “Extreme claims such as ‘if you were raped, you'd remember’ are disproven by these findings.” [6]
See Linda Meyer Williams’ response to Loftus’ paper here. [7]
The evidence indicates that while trauma is memorable for many people, a small group experiences dissociative amnesia and recovered memories concerning traumatic events. Scientific evidence shows that people react differently to trauma, some of whom find trauma difficult to remember.
Refutation
Citations
[1] Wakefield, H., MacLean, H., & Underwager, R. (1994, September). A Review. FMS Foundation Newsletter. 3(8), 11.
[2] McNally, R. J. (2005). Debunking Myths about Trauma and Memory. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(13), 817–822.
[3] Mikkilineni, Rupa (Producer). (2005, August 17). Nancy Grace [Television broadcast]. CNN.
Cited in Sidebar (2005, September/October) FMS Foundation Newsletter. 15(5), 2.
[4] Williams, L. M. (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1167-1176.
[5] Williams, L. M. (1995). Recovered memories of abuse in women with documented child sexual victimization histories. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 649-673.
[6] Loftus, E. F., Garry, M., & Feldman, J. (1994). Forgetting sexual trauma: What does it mean when 38% forget? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(6), 1177–1181.
[7] Williams, L. M. (1994). What does it mean to forget child sexual abuse: A Reply to Loftus, Garry, and Feldman. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1182-1186.