The False Memory Debate A Reply to Otgaar

The author replies to a critique of his paper about false memories in an effort to clarify issues on which there is disagreement. A key point made is that the validity of dissociation as a phenomenon, that is, as reported symptoms, does not depend on theories about the mechanisms of dissociation. There are no proven mechanisms for any mental health symptoms or DSM-5 diagnoses including anxiety, depression, psychosis and substance use disorders.

Reversal of Amnesia for Trauma in a Sample of Psychiatric Inpatients with Dissociative Identity Disorder and Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

The authors interviewed 118 highly dissociative inpatients in a Trauma Program with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule, the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire; of the 118 participants 42 met DSM-5 criteria for dissociative identity disorder and 52 for other specified dissociative disorder. The average score on the Dissociative Experiences Scale in the sample of 118 participants was 44.7. The authors also conducted semi-structured interviews inquiring about the circumstances and triggers for reversal of amnesia for childhood trauma in the participants. Only a small minority of the reversal of amnesia took place in therapy sessions, and 24 different triggers for remembering were described. Childhood sexual abuse was by far the most common type of trauma for which amnesia was reversed. The findings are inconsistent with the view that amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is reversed primarily during psychotherapy.

False Memory Researchers Misunderstand Repression, Dissociation and Freud

Various authors have argued that dissociative amnesia is a synonym for repressed memories, recovered memories are almost always false memories, and dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder are not valid disorders. These authors commit numerous errors of logic and scholarship; they misunderstand Freud's thinking about childhood sexual abuse, dissociation and repression and blame both Freudian repression theory and Freudian therapists for an epidemic of false memories. In fact, however, Freudian repression theory is based on the assumption that the childhood sexual abuse never happened. Extreme skeptics about dissociative amnesia do not understand they are actually in agreement with Freudian repression theory. These errors and other failures of logic and scholarship are analyzed and critiqued in the present paper.

Dr James Ost's contributions to the work of the British false memory society

The British False Memory Society (BFMS) is a registered charity founded in 1993 in response to an epidemic of false claims of past childhood sexual abuse by adults in therapy. The accusers believe they have recovered unconscious memories of a hidden past, but scientific and other evidence raise the possibility of false memories or retrospective reappraisal. The BFMS aims to raise awareness about false memory and to reduce the impact of the resulting false accusations. Dr James Ost was an active member of the BFMS's Scientific and Professional Advisory Board. Three lines of his research were particularly relevant to the work of the BFMS. The first of these was his investigations of retractors. His insights provided a deeper understanding of processes involved in the formation and subsequent rejection of false memories and beliefs relating to such allegations. He also carried out experimental studies providing empirical proof that false memories can be implanted under well controlled conditions. Finally, he carried out, and produced reviews of, surveys of misconceptions about the nature of memory, thus highlighting issues that have major implications for the working of the legal system. Dr Ost also served as an expert defence witness on a number of occasions.

Recovered memories in clinical practice - a research review

The problem of recovered memories concerns not only psychiatry, psychology or psychotherapy but it is also an important legal and judicial issue. Clinicians, scientists and lawyers are in unsolved dispute, called "memory wars", concerning the credibility of these memories, especially if they were recovered following specific therapeutic techniques or using self-help books. Many cases of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse brought legal action against alleged offender. Investigations showed, however, that some of these memories were false. The aim of this article is to try to answer key questions concerning the issue if recovered memories: Is it possible not to remember traumatic experiences? In what conditions the autobiographical memories can be implanted? Is it possible to make a list of therapeutic techniques evoking false memories? What are the characteristics of a patient particularly vulnerable for false memories creation? Answers to the above questions are a ground for considerations concerning creation of favorable conditions for therapeutic work and minimizing mistakes resulting from the risk of implanting false memories.

"As Time Went On, I Just Forgot About It": Thematic Analysis of Spontaneous Disclosures of Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study was a thematic analysis of transcripts of interviews of child sexual abuse survivors discussing their experiences of recovered memories. This study included 27 English-speaking participants from 3 major Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. Seven participants identified as male and 20 as female. Participants ranged in age from 31 to 69 with a mean age of 47. The educational background of participants ranged from 9th grade to doctoral levels. Out of the sample of 27, 21 participants reported some period of amnesia for their CSA experiences. Three primary global themes emerged in the transcripts of participants describing adult emergent recovered memories: flashbacks, triggers, and denial. Three global themes emerged in the transcripts of participants describing partially discontinuous memories: dreams/nightmares as the "how" of memory recovery, triggers, and active processes of forgetting.

What Do People Believe About Memory? Implications for the Science and Pseudoscience of Clinical Practice

We examine the evidence concerning what people believe about memory. We focus on beliefs regarding the permanence of memory and whether memory can be repressed and accurately recovered. We consider beliefs about memory among the undergraduate and general population, mental health professionals, judges, jurors, and law enforcement officers to provide a broad canvass that extends to the forensic arena, as well as to psychiatry, psychology, and allied disciplines. We discuss the implications of these beliefs for the education of the general public and mental health professionals regarding the science and pseudoscience of memory and the use of suggestive procedures in psychotherapy.

Multigenerational Dissociation: A Framework for Building Narrative

This paper presents the concept of Multigenerational Dissociation (MGD), a behavior pattern that occurs in families in which violence and abuse are re-enacted from one generation to the next, accompanied by denial that the trauma occurred, or if it did, that it was destructive. While revictimization, reenactment, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma are discussed extensively in the literature, MGD helps to view them within a broad historical framework. This is useful for conceptualizing cases therapeutically, and it can also contribute to research on dissociation and recovered memories of trauma and abuse by demonstrating the value of narrative clinical data. Case material is used to illustrate how MGD occurs in people's lives and affects their memories, demonstrating how it becomes a frame within which to convey the dynamics of how traumatic experiences are remembered. This also demonstrates that when clinicians contribute their own narrative data to research on traumatic memory, the science is more accurate, relevant, and comprehensible to clinical and nonclinical researchers.