The term False Memory Syndrome (FMS) is a controversial term that first appeared to characterize an unresolved psychological phenomenon in the 1990s and was widely popular among the US population due to the result of recovered memory therapy. It refers to the creation of false memories.
False memory syndrome (FMS), also known as recovered memory, pseudo memory, and memory distortion, is the sensation of seemingly recalling past events that never actually happened, typically in the setting of adult psychotherapy. Particularly when they depict acts of abuse or violence the individual experienced as a child, these pseudo memories are frequently highly vivid and intensely emotive.
Many times, suggestions by therapists, the media, or other sources trigger or encourage these false memories, leading people to believe in completely made-up occurrences. The phrase was first used by Peter J. Freyd to explain what he claimed was a false charge of sexual abuse made against him by his daughter Jennifer Freyd, and it was later made more widely known by his False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF).
Causes of False Memories:
1. Suggestibility:
People are capable of incorporating information or suggestions that disagree with their preexisting memories or beliefs into their recollections, which can result in the production of false memories.
2. Deception Effect:
It happens when people are exposed to false or deceptive information about an event, and this information later affects how they remember the event.
3. Source Confusion:
Source confusion occurs when people can’t tell where their memories came from. This may cause details from one context to be incorporated into another, creating misleading memories.
4. Imagination Inflation:
When people envision or visualize something repeatedly, it might boost their belief that it actually happened. People may find it challenging to discern between actual memories and imagined ones as a result of this process.
5. Memory Distortion:
Memories can inevitably fade and change over time. When people try to remember things that happened in the distant past, they could unintentionally fill in the blanks with information that sounds believable but isn’t necessarily true.
6. Trauma and Stress:
People may have dissociation or memory gaps after experiencing trauma or extremely stressful situations. In order to make sense of the experience, the brain may fill in these gaps and construct or modify memories, which could result in false recollections.
7. Mood and Emotion:
Emotions can affect how memories are encoded and retrieved. Emotions connected to a specific experience, whether positive or unpleasant, can help memory consolidation, but they can also skew how we remember the event, possibly creating false memories.
History of False Memory Syndrome:
During the early 1990s, it became an emerging trend among US females to blame their father or brother regarding child or sexual abuse. They became the victims of false memories that were generated due to the malpractice of suggestibility during the recovered memory therapy served by psychologists and psychiatrists. This trend was countered by the research work of Elizabeth Loftus on recovered memory testimonies during court trials leading to the disposal of malpractice and the greater requirement of evidence.
Those who doubt the accuracy of previously dissociated memories coined the term “recovered memory therapy” to label the therapeutic procedures and techniques that, in their opinion, generate false memories and false memory syndrome. Hypnosis, sedatives, journaling, probing questions, group therapy, examining childhood photographs, and any psychoanalytically oriented therapy, especially when the therapist attributes the client’s problems to repressed memories of traumatic events, constitute these techniques.
Various approaches such as guided imagery, hypnosis, and suggestions by others can produce human memory, making it extremely suggestible and capable of generating a wide range of harmless, humiliating, and terrifying recollections. Even though not everyone subjected to these procedures develops memories, research shows that a sizable portion of people do, and they will vigorously deny the events ever happened, even if told they were fake and purposefully implanted.
A Deep Dive into Recovered Memory Cases
Based on the spread of attributable memories of childhood sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, and evil ritual abuse, numerous lawsuits were successfully brought against psychiatrists and psychologists in the United States throughout the late 1990s, or these professionals reached out-of-court settlements and, people, who later claimed that their recollections of sexual assault or evil ritual abuse were false, filed some of these lawsuits.
The American Psychological Association (APA) issued a recommendation in 1995 cautioning people seeking psychotherapy to be wary of therapists who immediately accept or discard accounts of childhood abuse in response to debates that arose in the mid-1990s over recovered memory and allegations of abuse.
Impacts of False Memory Syndrome:
1. Personal and Family Impact:
False recollections can have ruinous consequences on individuals and their families. Allegations of abuse grounded on false memories can lead to broken connections, legal battles, and emotional trauma.
2. Ethical Concerns:
The disputation girding false memory syndrome raised ethical interests about the practices of some therapists who were using suggestive ways to recover recollections. It also stressed the significance of ethical guidelines in remedy and the need for responsible remedial practices.
3. Legal Reforms:
In response to the legal counteraccusations of FMS, some authorities enforced reforms in the running of cases involving repressed memories. These reforms included lesser scrutiny of the attestation and expert evidence regarding the trust ability of recovered memories.
4. Scientific Understanding:
False memory syndrome contributed to a better understanding of memory processes. It stressed the vulnerability of memory to suggestion and the significance of corroborating documentation in cases involving repressed memories.
5. Debate and Scepticism:
The debate girding FMS also sparked ongoing debates within the field of psychology about the nature of memory, suggestibility, and the trustability of viewer evidence.
Note: Both the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) do not recognize the False Memory Syndrome (FMS) notion because it is debatable.
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