Question

Do you believe that repressed memories are valid (i.e. true or accurate)?

Answer 1

Repressed memories are the memories which stored unconsciously due to the memory being associated with high level of stress or trauma and these memories emerge outside in later stages in to conscious state.

The repressed memories are very controversial topic in psychology. According to me it’s depend on the situation of patient or person and how he recalled the repressed memory.

Reports from American Psychological Association suggested that it is not possible to distinguish between repressed memories from false one without factorial evidence. Repression is hypothesized that individuals use it to cope with traumatic memories.

Repressed memories are proves true in many of sexual abused or sexual trauma in child age. At that age these too painful or difficult to face things tucked in the form of repressed memories. Many women after 10 to 30 years of sexual abuse they are recalled the things went to court and own the case.

The women who recalled this after so long time whether it was true or false depend on her present psychological stability because unbearable memories are undergo as repressed memories in childhood but at this adult age she can handle it very perfectly and psychologically strong. While seeing any of similar situations in her life it is possible to recall repressed memories then it will be true or accurate also.  

In some cases misremembering may result from confusion of perceived memories and imaged events or overlapping between stored information and imaged events. In one study women victims documented child abuse who re-interviewed many years later denied the same. It seems no reliability on the repressed memory.

The mechanism by which repressed memories are recovering are also important thing in reliability of that. If hypnosis used to recover the repressed memory there is a chance of implanting false memories.

So according to me repressed memories may be true or false depend on psychological condition of the person or how the recall of repressed memory happened.