Repressed Memories - Tumblr Posts
I really wonder if I have repressed memories. I have a bad memory in general so it could just be that, but I don’t remember much of my childhood. I have random moments that I remember but I don’t know what is normal to remember in terms of how much. My psychiatrist said my symptoms sound like PTSD but the only traumatic thing I can recall is medical trauma. Medical trauma is very real and can cause PTSD and I do think it could be from that but it also feels like something is missing, there’s just a lot of things that make me wonder.
How To Write Supressed Memories
From @differentnighttale we have a new ask: "How do I write a character who becomes a murderer without knowing while dealing with his repressed or surpressed memories?"
The condition that causes "repressed memories" is called dissociative amnesia.
A) Dissociative Amnesia
Dissociative Amnesia is caused when a traumatic or stressful event is so emotionally overwhelming that the brain builds walls surrounding the memories. This either blocks out severe or long-term trauma.
In most cases, the person still has the memories but they're just kept seperate from the everyday consciousness. Ultimately, dissociative amnesia is one of many different kinds of coping mechanisms that the brains adopts whenever a situation is so deeply traumatic and life-altering that the brain needs to shove it away.
However, despite the fact that the consciousness can't actively recall the memories, the traumatic event would still impact their behavior subconsciously.
For example:
giving them a phobia with seemingly no beginning
a refusal to enter in locations for no obvious reason
an avoidance of certain types of people
flashbacks
nightmares
Most people aren't aware of their missing memories until outside circumstances remind them. For example, military men with PTSD might forget the days following the return until someone mentions it.
This time can stretch from days after the trauma to months to even years.
B) Can Murder Be Traumatizing?
Answer: it depends
If the person is murdering people with a cold-hearted attitude and generally fine with murder, then they probably wont be traumatized.
However, if these murders were commited by a person when the tensions were high then it might result in dissociative amnesia.
Another contributing factor in this hyperspecific scenario might be the person's own internal beliefs of themselves! If someone is so convinced they are a great person, then they might shove down memories where they weren't a good person.
First thing you see after you zoom in is how you die
How you dying 👀
How do you expect me to build my future without the foundation of my past?