Understanding ‘False Memory Syndrome’

A woman, who had a great relationship with her parents attended a psycho-therapist because she felt she was unable to form a lasting relationship with a man.  Her first marriage collapsed, her recent affair ended, so “obviously” she had a “problem“.

The psycho-therapist decided that the reason this woman had difficulty forming long lasting relationships with men was because of ‘childhood abuse.’   The Therapist decided that the father of this woman had ‘abused her‘ when she was a child.

The woman rejected that, but after drugs and hypnotism was brought to recall the abuse.

The psycho-analyst warned her;  “Don’t say anything to your folks.  You know what you know.”

The woman did not follow that advice, confronted her parents, attacked them, and cut off all contact.

For the next five years she was the woman who had been abused as a child.  That became the centre of her conversations.

She lost most of her friends who didn’t accept the abuse stories.

Her therapist, who was making so much money, went on vacation.  She needed to see a therapist so went to the ‘fill in’, that is the psycho-therapist who was using the office and seeing the patients.

This new person did a history and said;  “I don’t see any abuse.  I see that you had such high standards that no one could fill them….”

As the words were said, this woman realised that she had never been abused as a child. That all those ‘memories’ were false.  They were created by the therapist.

This is why she had to constantly repeat them, share them, and had to keep going back to the therapist to get them validated.

The woman tried to call her parents.  Her mother wouldn’t speak to her beyond telling her that her father had died.

She subsequently hired an attorney.

Although the case seemed difficult, the attorney proved that this woman had been duped by the therapist.

As soon as this bombshell hit the news hundreds of women and men stepped forward to sue the therapist who had ruined their lives.

The creation of False Memories is not confined to the psychology department, but that is where it is most virulent.  That is where it does the most harm.  That is where a person puts themselves into the hands of another and opens themselves up to being mentally dissected.

What is False Memory Syndrome?

It has been studied extensively.  It has been the subject of many successful law suits.  The ability of a psycho-analyst to control the mind, the thoughts, the memories of a patient are real.

Many psycho-analysts have created false memories in the minds of their patients.

Events that never happened, such as the abuse, are now ‘remembered’ and so damage the life of the patient that they are actionable in court, just as if a medical doctor was negligent or incompetent.

Be careful if you attend any form of psycho-therapy not to become a victim.

This is not the memory ‘playing tricks’ such as ‘remembering’  wearing blue when you actually wore green to Pat’s wedding.   This is never having been to Pat’s wedding but ‘remembering’ it because someone beat the memory into your head.

Many studies have been done over the years to study memory;  from witness testimony to the especially dangerous sudden adult memory of childhood abuse.

One of the first investigations into false memory happened many years ago when I was at University.

When I was reading criminology, the Professor, not knowing the difference between an undergraduate and a lab rat would use the class to have various studies done.  The first was the ‘White Car.’

Without warning the Professor would run a short film of a bank robbery.  At the end of the film he broke the class into three groups. Each member of the group would be ‘interviewed’ by the ‘police’ (a post grad).

In group one, one of the ten questions was; “What colour was the get away car?”

In group two, one of the ten was: “Was he get away car blue or brown?”

In group three, the police would say; “The get away car was blue, wasn’t it?”

The answers in group one, the control; were varied.  In group two, it was either/or. In group three, the answer was ‘yes.’

At the completion of the ‘police interview’  the film would be run again, the get away car was obviously white.

There was no discussion of the film after the second presentation and the class was dismissed.

Six weeks later, on an exam, there was a question; “What colour was the get away car?”

Those in group three answered; “Blue.”

This is the power of suggestion.  The power of planting a false memory.   The fact that the eyes of all members of the class saw a white car,  was over written by the ‘police’ in Group Two and specifically directed in Group Three.   The power of the suggestion that the car was Blue was more powerful than the actual experience of seeing the white car.