Defense mechanisms and memory

One thing that has interested me lately is the idea of memory; working memory and long-term memory. The main point that is pretty clear is association of new experiences with prior knowledge or prior experience yields stronger memory storage and for later retrieval. Rehearsal memory (repetition) also works, but bring in a new idea that corresponds with something already in your long-term memory is more likely to stick, and for longer periods of time.

Now dealing with memory and traumatic events, some people develop defense mechanisms and repress the memories they had associated with them. Everyone deals with situations such as these differently, and it takes a while for us to stop thinking about that event in our life, but over time it becomes easier for us to "forget" about it. Now just because we repress a memory doesn't mean we're going to ever absolutely forget about it. At first, it may be difficult to remember details about it when we try to think about it, but if we give ourselves a little time a lot of the information we forgot seems to reveal itself once more. Spontaneous recovery is also something that could happen where all a sudden something reminds you of the traumatic event and it comes back in your memory like it was just yesterday that you were thinking of it.

The spooky thing is that we think we have gotten past, or forgotten these events, but what I'm thinking is that the more traumatic the event, the stronger the connections will be in the brain to remembering it, so that it actually makes it more difficult for us to ever run away from our memory. Yes, it may not be in consciousness every day like it would have been right after the event, but it is still there, just below the surface waiting to spring to life once more. The brain is an intricate system with trillions of neurons, which allows for billions of connections and 10^50 unique associations. Now, also considering connectionist theory, knowledge is just not just stored in one node, it is spread out throughout multiple connections throughout the brain, which to me makes it seem like it would be impossible to forget something so important in ones life. The harder we try to forget, we also reinforce the idea of that event more than what we want to, possibly making the connection even stronger. There does come a point when it starts to appear as if it's forgotten, but personally, I know that something can spring on you when you least expect it.

Another thing I am considering, but not quite sure of, is that maybe as time passes, the mental block we had in our brain starts to diminish slightly, so even though we haven't thought of a traumatic event in years, it might become easier to remember spontaneously because we're not so worried about repressing it. There comes a time when we move on and stop consciously repressing the memory, but that doesn't mean that it's forgotten or will be forgotten forever. Even though you are not increasing the connection every day, it still probably has a strong connection because it was such an influential part of your life in some way and it is distributed throughout your brain, not in one node that can be ride of right away and for good.

I haven't thought about this certain event in a few years and it came to me like I had been thinking about it often throughout this entire time. It's amazing how associations can have such an impact on memory. Now, the deciding factor is to either repress that memory again or realize that it is a part of your history and makes up who you are and will make you stronger as a person. It's hard, but I vote for the second one in this given circumstance for me. For a time I did believe that I had forgotten, and there was a time that the memories seemed hazy to me, but man was I in for a rude awakening. Everything in our life cannot be erased, it is embedded in us in some way, and embracing it is better than trying to pretend like it never existed. Yes, it might be permanently in your brain, but you can choose how you want it to effect you. We are in control of our emotions and how they affect our lives, so running away from our past is not going to help us any in the future. We are who we are, and even repression and denial cannot change our past, but our attitude about our past can help change our future.

(Some of these ideas were sparked from an article I read: http://libproxy.umflint.edu:2060/pqdweb?index=0&did=1179162911&SrchMode=2&sid=6&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1318476212&clientId=16043)