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Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. A

repressed memory is one that is retained in the sub conscious mind, where

one is not aware of it but where it can still affect both conscious thoughts

and behavior.



When memory is distorted or confabulated, the result can be what has been

called the False Memory Syndrome: a condition in which a person's identity

and interpersonal relationships are entered around a memory of traumatic

experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly

believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as

such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be

diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the

individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts

of other adaptive behaviors. The analogy to personality disorder is

intentional. False memory syndrome is especially destructive because the

person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might

challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and

resistant to correction. The person may become so focused on the memory that

he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with real problems in

his or her life.



-- John F. Kihlstrom, Ph.D.



There are many models which try to explain how memory works. Nevertheless,

we do not know exactly how memory works. One of the most questionable models

of memory is the one which assumes that every experience a person has had is

'recorded' in memory and that some of these memories are of traumatic events

too...