• Question: Hey, is it possible that you can forget something that is traumatic, but isn\'t amnesia?

    Asked by twenty7 to Louisa, Heather, Ben, Andrew on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Louisa Chard

      Louisa Chard answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Amnesia is a broad term that means loss or disruption of memory so any time you forget something traumatic it can be defined as amnesia

    • Photo: Heather McKee

      Heather McKee answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      yes it is possible, the brain is a very powerful thing however in this case it is time that will be the most powerful! Over time the ‘freshness’ of thoughts become less and less- hence why when you grandad recalls stories of when you were younger that sometimes the details are a bit hazy!!In reference to traumatic events its to do with cues if there are things surrounding you that remind you of the event then it is harder to forget, the greater amount of things the harder it becomes. The best way to deal with these things and thus begin to forget is to try and get on with life as much as possible-psychologists often get those that have suffered a traumatic event to everytime they start thinking about it counteract the thoughts with those of a happy or life affirming event!
      hope this helps,xx

    • Photo: Andrew McKinley

      Andrew McKinley answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      I believe I’m right in saying that we’re quite good at forgetting extreme pain – we’ll know something hurts, but are quite bad at remembering how much it hurts.

    • Photo: Ben Still

      Ben Still answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      The mind is a wonderful place and I think that there are many dark corners to which people banish some memories. I think that it is most definitely possible that you can forget something traumatic as a natural way of protecting your own sanity.

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