Repressed memories

[Snowflake]

Have you had a repressed memory come to surface? How did you know?

 

[zoie33]

I have they usually are revealed either in flashback images or one of my others finally get up the nerve to tell me what happened. My last one that came back was revealed in tiny pieces over the course of about a month when it was all over I realize that I actually do remember the beginning and I remember the end but she filled in all the missing pieces from the middle. I had another one revealed this morning to me but I'm kind of in denial about it I don't know. It'll take some time I have to decide if I really believe that one. This was a memory from being a baby so I really have trouble believing this one but the first one yes I totally believe it. It's difficult and you have to make the decision for yourself about what really happened unless you have people witnesses that can back up the story. EMDR is what triggered most of my repressed memories.

 

[EmmaOwl]

I dreamed. A lot. I had chronic nightmares. One time I woke up with an immediate, weird feeling/mood. The first flashback was there, but only a tiny part, several more seconds.

Then I dreamt a second bit, another time. And so on. Very slow way to piece things together.

 

[repressed memories]

Yes. I had (have) repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse. Then I repressed the behavior I engaged or participated in. Some of my earliest memories are sexual. I had the memories, I could see things but I "thought they meant something else." I thought my way out of it. I made excuses. I was totally disassociated, I was more than one person.

Then, as explained in Judith Herman's book "Trauma and recovery" when I was in my forties, the walls I had built that kept everything hidden started to break down. We used to call it a mid life crisis I think.

Now I live in the aftermath of all that.

 

[EmmaOwl]

@Snowflake, what about you? Are you dealing with repressed memories, or uncertainty about memories?

I didn't fully believe mine, as they did come to me via dreams/post-nightmares....although I think I knew...but it was important to me when I confirmed with the actual person responsible. He also gave me some extra details which, believe it or not, helped me to know. Answered a couple of questions for me. Gave me something tangible to move forward with, maybe.
Rough stuff. :(

 

[Deleted member 37474]

My whole ptsd is from repressed memories that happened 25 years ago. I had a memory of the outline of my rape, I always knew I had been raped. Never thought much about it, very causal in my head. I would say, "oh, my college rapist" like it was nothing. Then work stress and daughters coming of age started sending me pictures of a very horrible crime. It has been 8 months of reliving this horror. I will start emdr in the end of June. The cbt T wasn't working. Some of the images I knew with out a doubt happened, some parts I am mostly sure about. I can feel and hear them happening. I just can't believe that happened to me. Part of it, I still can't access.

 

[Roslie22]

Have you had a repressed memory come to surface? How did you know?

Yes definitely,

I won't go into detail here, but at first it just briefly touched my conscious enough for me to walk around calling the person a certain kind of perpetrator without knowing why.
Then during psychotherapy between sessions I had a enormous flashback and it came to the surface.

 

[Snowflake]

@Snowflake, what about you? Are you dealing with repressed memories, or uncertainty...

I think so. I buried my mom a month ago and saw an older brother-Something triggered me. Now dreams, depression.

 

[EmmaOwl]

I think so. I buried my mom a month ago and saw an older brother-Something triggered me. Now dreams,...

I'm sorry. That sucks.
It is SO confusing , these feelings and senses and ideas.

 

[Be Braver]

My repressed memory surfaced about 2 years after the initial symptoms. I still can't remember all of it. I remembered in a dream, I had been having a lot of nightmares at the time. Something about it seemed very familiar and then I asked my mom if my dream really happened. She confirmed it.

 

[Leighlee87]

I had an incident after emdr where I saw an image of my dad doing something horribly physically abusive. Then all the memories of it actually happening came flooding back. It wasn't like I was "being told something new", but sorta like when someone says, "Remember when?" and you go, "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that until now." How I forgot about it, I don't know, because it happened frequently as a child. Not to mention, I've had reoccurring nightmares of it happening for years and never connected the dream to the actual event. I mentioned the memory to my mom, and she admitted that she'd seen him do it at least once or twice which is incredibly messed up.

 

[Cannottakethis]

I had repressed memories resurface first during an in depth conversation with a SO back in my early 20s; then while going to counseling for that, more memories came back. Since then even more have come back. I think I'm finally done.