Ptsd And Effects On Memory

[Mark JT]

I have unfortunately found out that I cannot remember significant events that I have been a part of. I am putting this down to the effects of PTSD on memory. I am trying to educate myself on the effects of trauma on the hippocampus but it is all pretty technical stuff...well for me it is!

Question: Are the memories I am looking for just not there? or are they there but just suppressed?

Anyone got any experiance on this one?

Regards all.

Mark.

 

[Wounded Scribe]

Great question, and thanks for asking. :tup: I honestly can't give you technical answers other than to say, yes, the memories are there, and this is something I am dealing with myself. I know a metaphorical curtain was lowered during some very dark moments in my life. I know they are there, because I can almost remember the moment when the curtain literally started to drop.

I also own sensations in my body, without recollections of how they came about burned into my body. I personally, am deeply worried about starting therapy this week, with the intention of lifting these curtains, and having a glance behind them.

 

[SpikeBall]

Hmm, I'm not sure if this is accurate, but someone put forth the thought to me that I have a hard time with remembering because the hippocampus is repressing (not really, I know it happened, but it's pushing it away from my conscious so I can function) the traumatic memory, but it's not advanced enough to make specifications, so alot of my other memories get pushed down as well.
Some of them I can remember, but if you weren't paying attention in the first place you don't form a memory. I also didn't pay attention for years.

 

[Seagreen]

Im glad someone has asked this. I dont have the answer but have some input for consideration anyway. My experience is that there have been some traumatic events which ive been able to recall very clearly at first. But as time has gone by large gaps have formed. Since they were significant life events and I think about them often, its unlikely they were just simply forgotten. I dont think they have been removed completely, just stored away because I cant process them at this time. Ive heard of people accessing memory through hypnosis which supports this idea. I also have a problem with my short term memory which ive been told may be related to my ptsd Id like to explore that too.

 

[Mark JT]

Cheers all. Hey Wounded Scribe, the very best of luck for you therapy sessions this week. I have CBT exposure therapy so know what it is like to be nervous before sessions!

SpikeBall: Excellent point about not paying attention but I have squared away the memories that i cant remember through not paying attention and im good with that, its the others that I know i paid attention to and ive got nothing.

Seagreen, i like the idea that they are still there, kind of like i need to clear my brain of all the rubbish to get to them.

 

[Wounded Scribe]

@Seagreen with regard to your short term memory loss, has this been a progressive thing? and if so, has it translated into all short term memory deficits? I've been looking for information on this but everything I read, is in regard to memory loss and the trauma. I'm finding I am losing my short term memory. Just this weekend, I did laundry for my two little boys, and I lost their clothes. My wife tried to cheer me up, but I was anxious and frustrated because I think this is a serious matter if my short term memory is going. I found the clothes but it was obvious to me, I wasn't there when I headed up stairs to put them away. From the time I left the dryer, climbed the stairs, I had gotten distracted and put the clothes back in with dirty clothes and covered them up as I continued to clean, and I had no memory of doing so. I know the symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have gotten markedly worse over the past two years, and in particular the last 12 months.

Great conversation, I appreciate everyone's input here, and I hope to learn...

 

[WillyKat]

I've been working on a book, part of which includes a brief description about the roles of the hippocampus and amygdala. Here it is:

Memories of traumatic events are neither stored nor accessed like normal memories. While in a dissociative state, the victim isn't recording the event in the same way they would record a pleasant memory like their first trip to a national park or even something not so pleasant like a trip to the dentist. Evidence suggests that the area of the brain that records experiences in sequence and context (the hippocampus, which looks like a goop covered seahorse) is operating at a much reduced level during trauma, walled off from the event, and that another brain area that manages fear and emotion (amygdala, more of an enlarged rabbit turd) operates at a much higher level.

And here's a relatively straightforward article that explains it better than I can: Metcalfe, Janet and W.J. Jacobs, “A ‘Hot-System/Cool-System’ View of Memory Under Stress” PTSD Research Quarterly 7:2, Spring 1996.

While the trauma may occur as sequential actions and words, the cool system barely records it while the hot system is fully aware of the confusion, terror, and pain. Moreover, the hot system doesn't have much of a mechanism for storing the sequential actions and words of the trauma into the nice, tidy categories the cool system has. It retains the confusion, terror, and pain in active memory.

For me, I blocked out all memory of my trauma for 15 years. Over thirty years later, I only started recovering a bit more over the past year.

Hope that helps.

 

[Smile]

Love this thread @Mark JT & hope you find the memories you need to find!
@Seagreen , you mention using hypnosis to access memories. Do you know if this is factual based? What I mean is that when bringing up hypnosis to my T's they have always said its a good idea to stay away from it because it's too easy for the hypnotist to mistakenly input false memories...

 

[Seagreen]

@Smile Probably not... I don't think there is much evidence to suggest it works. I wasn't recommending it at all and personally find it controversial.

@Wounded Scribe Your story about the washing is a good example. I find myself in a similar predicament often. My short term memory loss seems to worsen when I am experiencing increased ptsd symptoms or stress. I've been pulled up on it a lot lately and feel very self conscious.

 

[Mark JT]

@Smile no probs mate. I have found the whole PTSD experiance a facinating one to go through, albeit not a nice one, in fact as you will all no doubt agree, a horrible experiance but the question i posed is just another step in the experiance for me. We can all learn so much from each other and already via this thread, it has my mind working in a good way which will hopefully stop the catalogue of flashbacks i have when its snooze time!! Thank you all.

 

[Lionheart]

From what a trauma therapist once told me; "The memories will come as you are ready to process them and not until."

It seems our brains are hardwired to protect us from being totally overwhelmed by our experiences. (I don't know much about the amygdala's and the hippo-campus role in this...) however......

.......As we gain positive coping skills and get lots of support and reassurance, we then become more ready to process the memories............then they return to our conscious mind where we can deal with them from a position of relative strength.

I used to have nothing but dark memories of my childhood and lots of time where I had no memories at all....however as I became more able to deal with the memories, they returned to the forefront.

The good thing is that, when I recovered and processed the negative experiences of my childhood, I was gifted with good memories that had also been repressed. I still have some blank spots or "holes" in my memory, but I think it is not an excessive amount anymore.

 

[Mark JT]

@Lionheart777 That is certaintly a hope for me (and others of course) what you have written. Like that massive. Cheers.