Can you forget traumatic events?
Today, I read an article in the newspaper in which a professor, who is specialized in memory and legal psychology, said that victims of sexual abuse tend to pretend to have memory loss (in other words, lie about it), because the experience is too painful to talk about it. From personal experience, I can tell you that recalling the horrific memory, can call out a flood of emotions (fear, guilt, horror, disgust, anger, self-hate, etc.) that makes the brain unable to function normally. When it was necessary for me to forget about it and act normally in order to survive, I did not remember anything until I got in a safe enough place to recall it. For example, if your life is in the hands of the camp leader and he sexually abused you, it is possible for you to forget about the experience during the whole month there. Especially in the situation, when you have no means to reach the outside world (confiscated mobile phones) and your basic needs like food, sleep, and the people around you, can...
