The theoretical basis of the use of recovered memories in psychotherapy will be critically examined.
Method:
Literature will be reviewed on the nature of normal memory, and on the relationship of trauma to memory.
Results:
Normal memories are surprisingly inaccurate. There is little evidence that normal memories can be repressed. There is no evidence that trauma makes repression more likely.
Conclusions:
“Recovery” of repressed memories is not consistent with the findings of empirical research.
BrowneAFinkelhorD. Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the literature. Psychol Bull1986;99:66–77.
2.
Malinovsky-RummellRHansenDJ. Long-term consequences of physical abuse. Psychol Bull1993;114:68–79.
3.
FinkelhorDHotalingGLewisIASmithC. Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence characteristics and risk factors. Child Abuse Negl1990;14:19–28.
4.
HermanJ. Father-daughter incest. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press; 1981.
5.
HermanJ. Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic; 1992.
6.
BartlettFC, Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1932.
7.
BowersKSHilgardER. Some complexities in understanding memory. In: PettinatiHM, editor. Hypnosis and memory. New York: Guilford; 1988. p 3–17.
PettinatiHM. Hypnosis and memory: Integrative summary and future directions. In: PettinatiHM, editor. Hypnosis and memory. New York: Guilford; 1988. p 277–92.
10.
LoftusE. Eyewitness testimony. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press; 1979.
11.
SchachterDL. Implicit knowledge: New perspectives on unconscious processes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A1992:89:11113–7.
12.
van der KolkBA. The body keeps the score: Memory and the evolving psychobiology of posttraumatic stress. Harvard Review of Psychiatry1994;1:253–65.
13.
LoftusEF. The reality of repressed memories. Am Psychol1993;48:518–37.
14.
LaurenceJRPerryC. Hypnotically created memory among highly hypnotizable subjects. Science1983;222:523–4.
15.
OrneMTWhitehouseWGDingesDFOrneEC. Reconstructing memory through hypnosis: Forensic and clinical implications. In: PettinatiHM, editor. Hypnosis and memory. New York: Guilford; 1988. p 21–54.
16.
BarnierAJMcConkeyKM. Reports of real and false memories: The relevance of hypnosis, hypnotizability, and the context of memory test. J Abnorm Psychol1992;101:512–27.
17.
SpanosNP. Hypnotic behavior: A cognitive social psychological perspective. Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry, Behaviour1982;7:199–213.
18.
TerrLC. Childhood traumas: An outline and an overview. Am J Psychiatry1991;148:10–20.
19.
BreuerJFreudS. Studies on hysteria. In: StracheyJ, editor. The standard edition of the psychological works of Sigmund Freud. Volume 2. London: Hogarth Press; 1955.
20.
FreudS. The aetiology of hysteria. In: StracheyJ, editor. The standard edition of the psychological works of Sigmund Freud. Volume 3. London: Hogarth Press; 1962. p 191–224.
21.
StoneEM, editor. American Psychiatric Glossary. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1988.
22.
HorowitzM. Stress-response syndromes. In: WilsonJPRaphaelB, editors. International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes. New York: Plenum; 1993. p 49–60.
23.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed.Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1994.
24.
HolmesD. The evidence for repression: An examination of sixty years of research. In: SingerJ, editor. Repression and dissociation: Implications for personality theory, psychopathology, and health. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1990. p 85–102.
25.
BowerGH. Awareness, the unconscious, and repression. In: SingerJ, editor. Repression and dissociation: Implications for personality theory, psychopathology, and health. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1990. p 209–31.
26.
PopeHGHudsonJI. Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed?Psychol Med1995;25:121–6.
27.
Meyer-WilliamsL. Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women's memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin Psychol1994;62:1167–76.
28.
FeminaDDYeagerCALewisDO. Child abuse: Adolescent record vs adult recall. Child Abuse Negl1990;145:227–31.
29.
TerrLC. What happens to early memories of trauma?J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry1988;27:96–104.
30.
SpiegelDCárdenaE. Disintegrated experience: The dissociative disorders revisited. J Abnorm Psychol1991;100:366–78.
31.
JanetP. The major symptoms of hysteria. New York: MacMillan; 1907.
32.
BernsteinEMPutnamFW. Development, reliability and validity of a dissociation scale. J Nerv Ment Dis1986;174:727–34.
33.
CarlsonEB. Measuring dissociation with the dissociative experiences scale. In: SpiegelD, editor. Dissociation: Culture, mind and body. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1994. p 41–58.
34.
YoungA. Harmony of illusions. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press. 1995.
35.
McFarlaneAC. PTSD: Synthesis of research and clinical studies. In: WilsonJPRaphaelB, editors. International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes. New York: Plenum; 1993. p 421–9.
36.
YehudaRMcFarlaneAC. Conflict between current knowledge about posttraumatic stress disorder and its original conceptual basis. Am J Psychiatry1995;152:1705–13.
37.
FlachF. The resilience hypothesis and post-traumatic stress disorder. In: WolfMEMosnaimAD, editors. Post-traumatic stress disorder: Etiology, phenomenology, and treatment. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1990. p 37–45.
38.
TrueWRRiceJEisenSAHeathACGoldbergJLyonsMJNowakJ. A twin study of genetic and environmental contributions to liability for post-traumatic stress symptoms. Arch Gen Psychiatry1993;50:257–64.
39.
NashMRHulselyTLSextonMCHarralsonTLLambertW. Long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse: Perceived family environment, psychopathology, and dissociation. J Consult Clin Psychol1993;61:276–83.
40.
TillmanJGNashMRLernerPM. Does trauma cause dissociative pathology? In: LynnSJRhueJW, editors. Dissociation: Clinical and theoretical perspectives. New York: Guilford; 1994. p 395–514.
41.
HermanJLPerryJCvan der KolkBA. Childhood trauma in borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry1989;146:490–5.
42.
van der KolkBAPerryJCHermanJL. Childhood origins of self-destructive behavior. Am J Psychiatry1991;148:1665–71.
43.
Zweig-FrankHParisJGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for dissociation and self-mutilation in female patients with personality disorders. Can J Psychiatry1994;39:259–65.
44.
Zweig-FrankHParisJGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for dissociation in female patients with borderline and non-borderline personality disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders1994;8:203–9.
45.
OgataSNSilkKRGoodrichSLohrNEWestenDHillEM. Childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry1990;147:1008–13.
46.
PutnamFW. Diagnosis and treatment of multiple personality disorder. New York: Guilford; 1989.
47.
BassEDavisL. The courage to heal. New York: Harper and Row; 1988.
48.
ParisJZweig-FrankHGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for borderline personality disorder in female patients. Compr Psychiatry1994;35:301–5.
49.
ParisJZweig-FrankHGuzderJ. Risk factors for borderline personality in male outpatients. J Nerv Ment Dis1994;182:375–80.
50.
MerskeyH. The manufacture of personalities. Br J Psychiatry1992;160:327–40.
51.
FrankelFH. Adult reconstructions of childhood events in the multiple personality literature. Am J Psychiatry1993;150:954–8.
52.
LafontaineJS. The extent and nature of organized and ritual sexual abuse of children: Research findings. London: Department of Health, HMSO; 1994.
