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Subscribe to RSSWhat if you could take a pill and erase painful memories? Most of us would probably choose not to lose parts of our past, but for those with post-traumatic stress disorder, such a pill might bring welcome relief.
In a study that sounds very much like a scene from the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” researchers have shown that the right medication might actually help rub out wrenching remembrances.
For the new study, researchers rounded up 33 university students and asked them to watch a video presentation that told the story of a little girl who has a horrible accident while visiting with her grandparents. While the girl and her grandfather are constructing a birdhouse, one of the little girl’s hands gets caught in a saw. One of the pictures shown to the study volunteers is of her mangled hand.
Though the girl’s hand is eventually saved at the hospital and the story ends fine, the presentation is tough to sit through and tends to cause viewers emotional distress, explains the study’s lead author Marie-France Marin, a doctoral student at The Center for Studies on Human Stress at the University of Montreal. “It’s not fun to watch,” she says. “It induces a lot of emotion.”
Before the video, Marin had instructed the volunteers to watch and listen very carefully to the presentation. Afterwards, she and her colleagues collected saliva samples to measure levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Then the 33 were sent on their way.
Three days later, the study volunteers were brought back in to the lab. Some were given a placebo, while the rest were given one of two doses of a drug that knocks back the amount of cortisol coursing through the body.
The theory is that cortisol is somehow involved in preserving memories, especially emotionally charged ones, Marin explains. Cut back on cortisol and maybe you’ll be able to mess with a memory -- even after it’s already been created and stashed away in the brain.
When Marin asked the volunteers to try to recall the video presentation, those who were given the cortisol-damping drug had a harder time recalling the more wrenching details. The higher the dose, the harder it was for them to remember.
Four days later the volunteers were asked to once again come back to the lab. Surprisingly, the drug’s impact on memory was still apparent: volunteers who took it still had trouble recalling the emotionally charged scenes.
Marin hopes that the study, published in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, might one day help people suffering from PTSD. She suspects that, in the right setting, the drug might help diminish the power of the traumatic event that kicked off the condition. The idea is that a patient would review the event with a psychotherapist after having taken the drug.
One of the most intriguing findings of the study is the fact that memories aren’t quite as indelible as we like to think. Each time we review them in our minds, there seems to be a chance for editing to occur, Marin says.
And that might lead to other interesting lines of research. “It might be that we can actually change them and create false memories,” she explains. “It’s a question that should be investigated. Using this paradigm, can memories still change once they’re formed? If they can, that raises some ethical questions when it comes to legal testimony.”
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I have PTSD and that explains why alot of us that have PTSD are pretty round (FAT) even though we still excerise. How can we get some theses drugs to help us? Or what are the names of them some we can ask our doctors. Thank You
I thought the same thing. I also have PTSD. I have been heavy set pretty much all my life. I have had PTSD since I was a little girl. Being fat is just one of the symptoms. I really wish I could take this pill. I want to forget.... and, I want to be thin! I hardly even eat, and I cook all my food. I don't even eat fast food.....
I suffer from PTSD. The memories I have are of events so horrendous that I struggle under their weight it seems no matter what I do. This would be wonderful if it works. I would so love to leave the trauma behind me. I feel that the people who abused me win when I cannot function well because of the damage they caused. I feel like I win when I live life to the fullest and do not allow the past to influence the now or future. I know the tremendous evil man can do. I would prefer to not remember.
I have long thought a type of amnesia would help me move beyond. But i wonder, many of my flashbacks are of monets i had repressed. Watching a horrible film is way different then living through it. I wonder if hidding the memory would only cause the unconcious mind to dwell on what our concious mind cant recall (wich is the case with most the terrible night terrors i have). It needs to be tested on people with the tramatic event not witnesses to a film. Our mind natually do what the pill does, block the more severe and painful parts. But the eventually surface when triggering the memory. Also will this pill hinder the recall of the intense moments of joy we have too? I never wnat to forget the surge of joy and love i felt when my children where born. I used to wish for a pill such as this. My PTSD and related ailments are so bad, i cant work, i am concidered unemployable. The pain and terror of what i recall is something I would rather forget. I just worry that it will be a temperray forget and the triggering will still bring up these painful memories.
Personally, this seems like another answer to people (and I do NOT mean the suffering here) not wanting to do their jobs. OMG. REALLY a pill for the all end all. AND the timing ummm all the military coming home only this time we are talking about the issues, we are SCARED of them its true but we are talking. BUT really a PILL. more ADHD social candy? STOP yourselves. I do NOT think so.
@Shocked and sickened -- Who are the people not wanting to do their jobs? Is it the 'job' of all the people who suffer from PTSD to continue reliving the traumatic event(s) until YOU decide they're over it? The point of this pill in the context of PTSD is NOT to shut up soldiers so we don't have to hear about what they have had to go through, but to make it that much easier for them to function normally in their lives. It's hard enough for them to adjust to civilian life again, do you want to prevent them from getting something that will help make that process easier? Who is it that you're commanding to STOP themselves, the people who would be interested in taking a pill like this (people who suffer PTSD) or the scientists interested in how a pill like this would work? What do you do read all scientific journals that exist and then YOU decide what science is good for people and what science is 'ADHD social candy'? I do NOT think so.
Yet another trap is introduced and testimony supports laying necks on the block. This is a seed article. Positive spin for a dreadful idea. PTSD what a marvelous introductory opportunity. Just pass the cyanide Marge.
I read about this a while back. The medication they are referring to is in a class of drugs called Beta blockers. They are a blood pressure medication whose side effect is to block the flight or flight response in your body. Your heart will not race, your vision will not become a tunnel, your breathing will not quicken. You will not start to perspire. Your body won't involuntarily tremble. All of those responses will not occur.
Musicians, performers, actors, lawyers, public speakers, use these so they can do their jobs without having a panic attack or losing control. It is very effective. However the article I read did not seem to indicate it would be helpful in erasing past memories (like from your childhood). Maybe that belief has changed.
Part of the reason the article I read said they thought it might work was because those physical changes your body experiences somehow make the memories more sticky. If you don't feel anything when you experience a bad event, you don't remember it as well. Makes sense to me.
The commonly prescribed brand is called Inderal or Propranolol (generic). People take 20-40 mg about an hour or so before the event they think will trigger anxiety and this insures they remain calm and can focus. I have heard people call it a miracle drug. I don't know. For me I am no sure it works that great but maybe my dosage is too low. I have clinical anxiety. Bad. I did notice once that someone called me to speak in front of an audience unexpectedly. I swear I could feel my heart WANT to start racing, but it literally couldn't.
It won't do anything for your mental state at the moment. Just the physical which probably makes the mental stuff less of an issue. Hope that helps.
You can read more about Propranolol and it's uses here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propranolol
PS
It's really really cheap. I think you can get it at Wal-Mart for 4 bucks.
.
They will likely make you fat as they slow your metabolism down and may make exercising little tougher because you get winded easier. They are beta blockers.
I think it's more important to focus on how we perceive traumatic images and events in the first place. It upsets me that modern psychiatric studies are looking into a "quick fix" for psychiatric disorders. it's akin to a "quick fix" for weight loss (which has become the easiest bandwagon to jump on in the USA, sadly).
There is no quick fix for mental trauma. All it takes is a little time spent re-telling the traumatic story and how someone relates to it. Re-frame the story, meditate, go to the gym, and put in the little bits of effort to redirect toxic thoughts. Although in some cases I understand medical intervention may be necessary; however, this seems like yet another psychiatric drug that doctors can make money off of. No more crazy pills, please.
While it sounds wonderful that people with PTSD could find some relief, this drug could so easily be abused by criminals. Imagine someone perpetrating a violent crime and forcing this drug on a victim to prevent them from recalling the details in court. We've already seen, as with the Elizabeth Smart case, low-life defense attornies trying to argue that because the victim recovered emotionally from her trauma, her attacker should receive a lighter sentence. Imagine the fun they'd have arguing that a traumatic crime could be simply erased by a drug, so therefore the criminal should go free. No thanks.
Then again if the criminal says take the drug and live or I'll just keep you from testifying by killing you....
Personally I don't like the idea of messing with memories. It is way to scary of the wrongs that can be used. Can false memories be implanted? Impressions, likes, dislikes...where would the abilities end? could you imagine companies using such a thing to get you to 'like' their products in the future.
Yes, I agree with C Wood. But you know what, if people want to mess with their minds like that that's their problem. There's a reason for memories and if we erase them then we've unlearned something and set ourselves up to repeat them.
How can they control what membories are removed with a pill. Not enough time has been spent testing and there's no guarantee that it only isolates a specific memory and could be damaging an entire section of a person's brain.
Well said. Either work on making events not occur or learn how to make the offenders' pay. The best medicine is being able to take negative events and turn them into positive and get control back and win over the past situation.
Drugging out a section of our society is very fascists. Not relief, because it gives offenders and war to continue on with abandoned acts of horror and taking of lives.
Playing with our memories is a slippery slope. And since we are the some total of experiences, playing with our memories could also mean playing with our persona.
Nope, to Orwellian for me.
Also does it target just the traumatic memory, or is it more indiscriminate, and just take out whatever it contacts?
Would an accidental overdose result in permanent amnesia?
This is some weird territory...
If a pill could erase the memory of watching the movie Contact, or Star Trek V, The Final Frontier, I'm all for it.
Lol, I'm still traumatized by those 2 movies....
I'd like to forget some crazy ex-girlfriends. Other than that...
It could be a loophole for some defense attorney to use to get a criminal off the hook if they can prove that a witness had used this drug and convince a jury that use of the drug makes a witness testimony unreliable.
Won't result in permanent amnesia and is really limited as to what it "erases". I think the better term is you can remember the event but not the feelings associated with them, which make them easier to forget. An overdose will result in a dangerous drop in blood pressure and possibly death. It a blood pressure medication being used off-label in order to prevent stage fright, or control the fight or flight response.
Come on now, erasing traumatic crimes because the victim isn't traumatized? That's like saying murder isn't murder if the victim didn't suffer. My heart goes out to all PTSD patients. I have seen the havoc this condition wrecks on its victims. This isn't a one-time flashback. This recurs continually for the victim, possibly for the rest of his/her life. I am 100% behind anything that can ease PTSD for people. God bless them.....
Thank-You! It has been a severe struggle my entire life. I wish the boys in middle school didn't make it even worse. They had no idea what I was going through in my home life. Now, times the pain by 300% and imagine how much of a wreck I am. It's been a hard life. A very hard life. I am still struggling with abuse, and I can't seem to find it in me to get out., . why, why??????? PTSD will ruin a human being. It has ruined every aspect of my life. I lost my insurance, so I havn't had medication for a number of years. And, "sliding -scale" clinics are just crap. Anything ran by the Government sucks, and no one really gives a damn about you, not at all. They're Just there to get a check.
People do give a damn about you! they are just few and far between.....never give up hope thats what I've learned I dont have that condition but know several people who do and they suffer. Its REAl not imaginary, If a pill could work on just the painful memory I'm all for it, I dont know though how a drug could be made to be so specific to just take care of the painful memories?I agree with what has been said by many, more research but careful research!
It's a strange new world.
Ashley
maybe suffering is the point after all. Everyone has PTS.
could this be used in Alzheimer studies?
Could what be used?
LOL!
It is crucial to "remember" that memory is a malleable, individualized record of an event: more like a sketch that is redrawn each time it is thought about, not like a video tape. We all edit memories all the time, PTSD is when the editing is maintaining the trauma rather than editing it out. Best outcome after treatment is to be able to remember the key facts without the emotions. Several medications are being studied to try to do this. Would be great if they get it right.
I wonder if that would help me quit smoking? Perhaps in conjunction with another medication or something that could be combined to make me forget that I actually started smoking?
If your smoking causes you emotional trauma, it will help you forget that you smoke.
This sounds dangerous.
Dangerous isn't the word. Despicable is the word. Heinous fits also. As usual the sheep will drag us all along like the goats tell them to.
Can it erase the painful memory of Obama and Pelosi getting voted in?
Ding Ding Ding...
And we have a winner folks,
First person to make a completely unconnected, lame, partisan, political jab,
in a totally unrelated, completely NON-politcal article/commentary.
You may be the first, but surely won't be the last in a long line of lameness...
Congrats on winning/losing
Whatever V - if that is your real name ;)
V
Non-political? Have you no reasoning ability at all? No need to pill the mooks, eh? The danger is political, always.
Your paranoia does not create the necessary logical bridge across the conversational chasm between an alleged pill to remove PTSD painful memories, and Obama/Pelosi bashing.
People like Greenwood can take an article about bacon or schoolbuses, and turn it into a partisan political Hatfields vs McCoys verbal feud. There are plenty of articles RELATED to politics that those comments would be more welcomed on.
Everything is political and who died and made you boss? Can I decide what and where your comments are relevant?
No it isn't... unless YOU make it so.
No one died... however it's written in the...
Recommended Guidelines for Newsvine Members: Comment Moderation -
"Users are expected to be the first line of moderation, depending on staff to make judgement calls on borderline cases and in dealing with repeat offenders."
Of course you can... That would be your freedom of speech, and your sense of community working together to create a better enviornment.
Now, perhaps I should apologize for the tone of my initial response... It's a bit over the top, overly sarcastic, and snarky... So, my bad there...
But that doesn't lessen the annoyance factor experienced by myself and many other posters, whenever we see someone take a completely non-political article and use it as a venue to bash Obama, or Bush, or even Palin... there are plenty of places for that already...
PTSD= Not being able to accept life and all that comes with it. We have sugar coated life and when bad things happen people flip out instead of accepting the horrors that life can throw at you. At 13 we moved to India and according to today's world I should have PTSD but I don't. My brother and I watched many people die but the one that got to us was the Untouchable who took a drink of water from a public fountain and was beat to death in front of us. It was a bloody scene that I still see today and that was 50 years ago. What made us accept what we saw? We were always taught that life is not a bed of roses and people in different parts of the world live different lives, it is their way. Many bad things have happened in my 63 years but one must go on, for if you let it get to you you are useless to yourself and anyone around you. In other words: Kick it aside and keep on going, it's life.
Everybody reacts differently to situations.
You think your a weak minded person for having PTSD? What a fool. Try having been molested all your life by your step brothers, and even worse, being raped 3 times. And, lets not forget the gang rape in 1986. No, life is not a bunch of roses, hoever, how dare you imply that people with PTSD are weak in any fasion. You're just a bitch. Get over yourself honey!
..or try forgetting your war buddies getting blown to smithereens by IUDs .. err, I mean IEDs. How insensitive of you.
Ashley, Do you really have PTSD? I think not for you freely talk about your life and know it was wrong. If you have come this far then you have kicked it in the butt. I'm proud of you, it's the ones that run from reality that have the problem. Hang in there you are your own medicine.
Sandungo, I understand, I saw some of those same horrors. Remember this: You control your mind and you can heal it. Life sucks but we can't let it tear us apart for what kind of life is it when you live in fear.
I wouldn't say he's insensitive per se, more along the lines of he's been conditioned to 'deal' with a harsher way of life.
BillBodine, I'm female and you are correct I was conditioned to deal with a harsher way of life and we should be conditioning all children for that way of life. You never know when things will go bad.
I agree with Shawn. My father visited me in Vladikavkaz, Russia and I took him to the city main market. I was in store for a second and he was outside when the Islamic Terrorist bomber detonated. I saw my father die in front of me but I did not fall into PTSD. I overcame it and instead devote my life to fighting against Terrorism and fundamentalism. Life is hard people die in wars, genocides and thousands of other violent acts the human mind can think of.
@SHAWN-1387469
PTSD= A REAL Clinical disorder, not a choice
Yes, you are extremely fortunate that you were able to accept the horrors of your childhood and move on, but it is a shame that after you were able to survive your ordeals apparently unscathed you have absolutely no compassion for others who have not, nor do you have a basic understanding of the fact that each human brain is unique. How a person’s brain is able to process traumatic memories is unique to each person and is not all about the choice to “kick it aside.” You might be surprised to learn that most people with debilitating PTSD who have had their lives destroyed by it wish more than anything that they could just get over it and “keep on going” with life.
But unfortunately a person cannot “heal” their own brain – we cannot erase PTSD anymore than we can eliminate a brain tumor on our own without medical attention. PTSD is a REAL clinical disorder that has physiological, genetic, and physical factors. Just because it is an invisible wound does not make it any less authentic than a physical wound/disability.
There are countless examples like yours – where large groups of people have witnessed the exact same events but only some are affected. That does not mean that the ones who are severely traumatized from it are weak or useless.
Surely you would not post the same theory if both you and your brother grew up together in the same environment yet only one of you developed a "real" medical disorder or a disease such as Cancer? Would it then be the fault of the one diagnosed with Cancer that they did not “kick aside” the bad things in life?
Shawn, I do not believe that you understand PTSD. I have it, and I discuss my childhood rapes and I know that they were wrong. I work through my pain daily and I am making progress, but that doesn't mean that it just magically goes away. I was in a meeting this morning and without warning I had a flashback. I have no control over when they occur or what they will be about. I was able to calm myself down due to the skills that I have learned, but they still occur. My heart races, my palms get sweaty, there is a crushing pressure in my chest, and my mouth goes dry - all due to the anxiety. I understand what is happening and I have various techniques to deal with it, but they don't always work. Sometimes I must reluctantly turn to medication.
Freely talking about your trauma and knowing that what was done to you was wrong in no way means that the PTSD disappears. To suggest so is an insult to Ashley and those of us who have to deal with PTSD on a regular basis. I can no more control what images flash in my mind than I can control whether or not my stomach digests a sandwich. I find it offensive that you suggest that PTSD is due to being weak minded. I am glad that you do not suffer from it with all that you have seen. Not everyone does, but please do not assume that everyone experiences trauma as you did. We all handle things differently.
Peace.
Ashley,
Kudos to you for being a strong survivor. I don't know if you have every tried EMDR therapy, but it has been known to help a great deal with the flashbacks. It was not very effective for me, but there were other factors that hindered it. I know a great deal of survivors that have had quite a bit of success with it.
I wish you well on your healing journey. Stay strong!
It's not that you are weak minded it's that you where never taught to deal with life's terrors. And yes, you are the one who controls it, kick it aside and keep on going. Life is to precious to let anything or person take you down.
There is a high rate of success for those that begin therapy very soon after an event, but it does become more difficult to overcome as time goes by. PTSD can be managed and overcome, but to suggest that a seven year old child should have learned to handle three years of violent rapes by men is callous. To have PTSD is not letting something take you down - it is your mind's way of dealing with the emotion that you could not deal with at the time. There are events that NO ONE can learn to deal with ahead of time. Not everyone who experiences a trauma suffers from PTSD at all, but for those of us who do the healing journey is long and arduous.
Shawn, I am very happy that you have never experienced it. I really am. I just wish that you would not further stigmatize survivors of trauma by making it seem like their condition is all their fault. PTSD is treatable, but unfortunately not everyone can afford it. It also can take some time. I have been in treatment for almost 5 years, and for the most part, I am symptom-free, but on occasions like this morning it can sneak up out of the blue. We are all different and what works for some people does not work for others. I would not presume to advise a cancer patient how to deal with chemo after-affects as I have no idea what it's like to receive chemo. I would respectfully request that you refrain from suggesting that we all just have to "kick it aside and keep going". I'm sorry, but it is insulting.
Peace to you.
I know a woman that had gasoline thrown on her and threatened to be set on fire by her husband at the time. She got away from that man and moved to Kentucky. There she started a program from battered women. She never remarried after that guy. She stayed single and raised her kids herself but she took that negative and used to help other women that have been abused.
Let's say she was given a drug to forget that experience. In my opinion, with those memories gone, she wouldn't have had the ambition to follow a path to help other people that have had to deal with those kinds of harsh circumstances.
In my opinion, the people that would choose to use that drug are people that want to be victims all their lives.
If you have a negative experience in your lives, be proactive and use that experience to help others. Maybe you can use it to teach someone how to avoid getting into the same circumstances you've been through. You can't do that if you've forgotten about them.
@SHAWN-1387469
I suffer from PTSD.
While I am awake I can "kick it aside and keep going"(most days)
But when I used to wake up next to my wife screaming from the nightmares,shaking uncontrollably,and unable to force myself to go back to sleep for the next 3 days from the fear of going thru that same nightmare again and again,my life became hell on earth.
I tried the medications,sleeping pills,therapies,groups even acupuncture and herbal remedies(including marijuana) and drug use. None of these have worked for me. So when you say "kick it aside and keep going" I think you need to come sleep next to me for a few nights and then state that opinion again.
If there is a drug to help me forget what happened to me.... I say I'll take a double shot.
I'm not putting you people down, I'm just trying to help you realize that you can control the pain. I can't list all that I've been through as a child but it wasn't a piece of cake. Some of my pain started at 5 and yes a child can't understand but as you get older you can begin to understand and control all that you experienced. Get mad at it and tell yourself enough is enough. And guess what it doesn't stop just last year I lost my son and that is a pain that no one should ever experience. Did I turn to drugs, NO. Drugs hide the pain and it's a cop out. Life hurts and only you can control that part of it. So, stand tough and don't let you mind control your life.
Shawn, my sincerest condolences on the loss of your son. No parent should outlive their children and as a mom I can only imagine the grief and pain that you have experienced.
I really don't think that you are trying to put anyone down, Shawn. I think that you are trying to be helpful and sharing with us what worked for you. PTSD does not affect everyone and it did not affect you. Millions of people can go through many tragic, traumatic events and never suffer one iota from PTSD, and you are one of them. I think that's great, but you are not in a position to advise people to get mad at it and tell themselves enough is enough. That's like telling someone who has clinical depression to get over it. That is a very destructive thing to say. In essence, you are telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and soldier on, and if you don't then there is something wrong with you - you are weak minded ("don't let your mind control your life").
I don't expect to change your opinion because you are resolute that your way is the correct way. You have diagnosed everyone and meted out their treatment. How unfortunate that your comments today may have prevented someone from seeking proper treatment because they now feel that they are just not tough enough. PTSD is a very real, very debilitating problem. You don't have it so I'm not sure why you feel it necessary to tell others how they should handle it. Your hubris is astounding.
For the record, I hate taking meds. Hate it. I rarely turn to them, but on occasion when the flashbacks have been triggered intensely I have had to take a mild sedative to calm the anxiety. They have helped immensely and allow me to function normally. Do people abuse them? Of course, but to call them a cop out is ignorant. Life does hurt, and you have found a successful way to deal with your pain. I am happy for you, but please do not suggest that if what works for you does not work for others that makes them inferior. You help no one with that attitude.
I also felt a lot like you did for years. I spent 32 years denying that my abuse affected me and I couldn't understand how people could "wallow" in their misery and not just get on with life. (PTSD is not wallowing, by the way). I was strong and could face anything that life threw at me - there was no way that anything was going to take me down. Then my defense mechanisms (standing tough being one of them) slowly began to fail. It began to affect my relationships and most areas of my life. I had no clue what the he!! was happening to me. Then the PTSD kicked in and I had to seek help - which is an extremely strong and mature thing to do. So don't be surprised if your "stand tough and don't let your mind control your life" outlook is something that you hide behind. It is for many people, but then again, like you not knowing about what it's like to live with PTSD, I don't know you and I could be totally wrong as well.
Peace.
SHAWN-1387469PTSD= Not being able to accept life and all that comes with it.
Shawn, if anything you have posted were remotely true, we wouldn't have school shootings, kids killing their parents after years of abuse or people settling scores.
It is not a matter of being weak.
BTW, try saying this to a woman who was raped as a child or a boy who was severely beaten by his father on a regular basis. I would love to see what happens afterwards, and if you think I wouldn't post that on youtube, think again, because I think those listed above would get a kick out of it.
Think of the guy who killed John Geoghan in prison. Remember Geoghan? He molested young boys, and the guy who killed him was molested by a priest when he was a child. Tell him how weak he is! You don't have the balls to do it, do you?
I thought not.
From your heartless response, I gather that you must be a Republican.
As a victim of sexual abuse, I wouldn't want to seek medical refuge from my pain, but it is not my place to say whether others suffering from PTSD should or shouldn't. Every case is different.
The only people who call victims weak are bullies and the best way to heal a victim's wound is to exact revenge.
I strongly disagree with the second part of that statement. I was in high school when I was attacked, and I cried when I found out my attacker was doing jail time. He was just a kid, and he was sick. His life was ruined by what he did, and as much as I hated him for the way he hurt me, it didn't make me feel better to know that.
I hope compassion is never equated with vengeance.
Shawn -
I respect your point of view. I think you are right. At some point you learn to let these things fade into and remain in the past. Many older folks have expressed this to me. This ability to accept life as it is, complete with painful memories, I think is a learned ability that develops with age. I'm getting better at it, but I am 38 years old now. I am constantly having to remind myself, I am safe, no one can hurt me, I am loved etc. I had a very bad childhood too. It was a shadow over most of my life. It made life and relationships hard. I had severe abandonment issues and was a terrible doormat for years because I thought if I worked hard at being agreeable and always tried to do what everyone wanted, they wouldn't make me leave (I was a foster kid).
I am old enough and wise enough to realize this defense mechanism which served me well as a child, is no longer a helpful tool and also is harmful to my self-image, self-respect, and really projects an image to others that I am needy and easily manipulated. And i was.
I work hard to turn my memories into simple pictures that have no feelings associated with them. I do not always succeed. I have to take medication and talk with people who understand. But the point is, I am getting better at recognizing my life is no longer unstable, uncertain, and I have control. I am not powerless. And those people places and things that caused me so much pain as a kid, are no longer there. They cannot hurt me. And because they are no longer there (one of my abusers is dead as well as a parent who abandoned me), they aren't even around to be angry at. So since they aren't around for me to make miserable and remind how they failed me or exact horrible revenge on, I may as well move on and get happy. My anguish and anger definitely isn't hurting anyone but me.
PTSD is real. Therapy and medication helps, but so does age, wisdom, forgiveness (of others and self), and learning to accept life on life's terms. I'd say by the time your 63 like Mr. Shawn, wasting time on the past isn't worth your time and you've lived long enough to know it and you've figured out how to let it all go.
I am sorry. MISS Shawn. My mistake and I apologize.
Soon enough there will be pills to make us forget how bad we're getting screwed over by our owners (aka: the upper 1%)...those will be the evolved forms of our current distractions such as "reality" t.v. shows and professional sports...
So basically we're getting into the Novel "Brave New World" and the drug "Soma."
Robert - that's the first thing I thought too. Soma. Not likely to happen. Giving hordes of poor and middle class people Soma to keep them docile would require money and free healthcare. They aren't going to pay for that. They MIGHT however, trick us into paying for it ourselves. You never know. :)
I have to agree with most of what I have read on here, while PTSD is a horrible thing to have to live with, I know, because I live with it everyday! In the end, we as Human Being are the sum total of what we experience and what we remember of that experience! To mess with that and try and alter it, we are Literally altering the very core of ourselves! And don't believe it if someone tells you that that this pill won't be used for nefarious purposes, something like this has the gravest of implications for misuse! The things that this pill can do, like altering memories, even implanting new memories hark-en back to the "Bad Old Days" of the CIA and the Military working together in the 1950's on their Blackest of Black Programs on drugs just like this one to create a sort of Manchurian Candidate using Mind-Control as a Military Weapon!
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This isn't going to solve the problem for people who suffer from PTSD. My husband suffers from PTSD due to endless deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and because of what he has seen and done he reacts to things very differently than he used when we were first married (before thewars started). A pill isn't going to make him react differently to his surroundings; it's only going to make him wonder WHY he reacts so strongly to certain stimuli. I would think it would make someone feel as if they are going nuts to react so strongly to certain things but not be able to remember why. Sort of like someone who suffers from an irrational fear...they don't know why they react a certain way to thier triggerbut they can't stop. Also, I have a very hard time imagining that this pill would only be able to target the intended memory and not all memories. It's not as if our brain files memories in alphabetical order and this pill can pull up just pull out "D" for deployments (or whatever). This needs to be studied very in depth and it really needs to used carefully. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means; but this really has the potential to be a bad thing.
Sounds like alzheimers in a pill.
I kicked my sexual assaults aside for many years only to have them explode in chaotic non-sensical fashion many years later when under extreme stress originating from multiple non-related angles.
The salient issue in my experience that sends us to resilience or PTSD seems to be whether we think we could or should have done something to prevent the trauma. When we are young, we think a lot of things are our fault or we could have done something to change the outcome when that is just not so. I would guess military personnel often feel unnecessarily responsible for the horrors around them.
For Shawn, possibly you felt removed from responsibility in the situations you describe and it was not happening to you - helping to eliminate the physical memory. Congratulations on your resilience.
As for the new drug, I fear that using it will echo my life, push away the memory until cortisol levels spike and one little trigger starts to unravel and mix up memories - where the lucky of us wind up in a psych ward instead of dead. I only survived due to attentive family and friends. But even with that, it was amazing how far unraveled someone can become before anyone notices anything amiss and longer before action is taken to help those now unable to help themselves. And only now, 12 years after treatment started, am I close to fully functioning. Of course after taking enough variety and quantity of pharmaceuticals to empathize with the guinee pig.
New tools are welcome, but they need to come with proper care. There are so many other issues to fix relating to mental health care. Like why insurance companies dropped me like a hot potato but my fully funded disability didn't have a clue and I was unable to file claims until now healthier, but no longer qualify.
Big deal. All kinds of folks use pills and all sorts other things to forget painful evernts. Some folks even invent painful experiences so they can do drugs.
Are memories are what teaches us to grow and makes us who we are.
If that was a question: Yes they are.
If that was a statement: Yes they are.
Painful memories keep us from repeating mistakes over again.
Some memories are seriously crippling.
Some here have yet to realize that.
I think I saw this in a movie --Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?
Carrey has done a few movies that are about topics that don't get mentioned often. Some being as fictional in appearance have solid footing in reality.. Pure genuis.
It is called a lobotomy via a pill. But hey, people are so gullible they will take a pill/vaccine for just about everything. You want it? You can have it. I'll pass.
Altering memory is a process that's often used in hypnotherapy. When properly done, it can make a huge difference in a person's life.
What Shawn fails to understand, possibly because it hasn't been explained to her, is that severe trauma can re-wire the brain. It actually has physiological affects on some people. A child who experiences rape and abuse, who then keeps it inside for years, has never been counseled (as you most likely were comforted by your parents after witnessing the trauma of others) carries psychological as well as physiological damage. A young brain can not always process what its owner has experienced properly because it has not learned to and because their emotions are not matured. So the brain, in an effort to relieve the sufferer, does things like cause the victim to look inward, to shun others in an attempt to protect themselves, brings up crippling anxiety as a warning that danger is constant and everywhere. I know this all too well, as do others here who find themselves feeling defensive because you have, for lack of a better word, attacked them for being victimized. Please do some research on the subject rather than drawing your own conclusions. And be thankful that you have not had to live for decades with the same things some of us have.
John, Watching people beat to death at 13 is very traumatic. Seeing your brother fall and almost die at 6 is also a pain that never leaves. There were other things in my childhood I wish not to repeat but as I grew I realized how, what and why. Maybe I am a stronger soul but anyone can be.
Well said, John. Not everyone gets PTSD either. Not every soldier who sees combat gets it, not every abuse survivor gets it, not every earthquake survivor gets it, not every crime victim gets it, but some do. Shawn did not get PTSD and that is great. I am so glad that she does not know what we deal with on a regular basis. Her attitude that we should just "be stronger" comes from a severe lack of education on the subject, and a refusal to see that others experience events differently than she does. We are not all the same, and everyone processes events differently. Also, as you pointed out, often times trauma victims are counseled and comforted after the event thereby lessening the chances of PTSD manifesting later.
Thank you for your insightful post, John. Hopefully others will see that PTSD is not something that "weak people" suffer from as Shawn suggests. That attitude is damaging.
Thank you, John.
I can tell you that due to my experiences, I can honestly state that while there are some I feel much compassion, there are others in this society for whom I feel no compassion at all. In fact, I laugh when they meet their day of reckoning. When I hear about the fear they felt or actually see that fear in their eyes, it's as if I have been given a new birth of freedom.
@ Shawn...Come down off of your high horse. I am truly offended that you consider yourself 'a stronger soul' than those of us who have been scarred by PTSD. I have no doubt those experiences were traumatic for you. I saw my brother almost die at age 6 also. That has not contributed to my PTSD. However I was regularly beaten by my father from the time I was a toddler. I was also physically and psychologically abused by my mother. At age 9 I was repeatedly raped by a former Marine who would hit me if I didn't comply. At age 11 I was molested nightly by a teacher at a residential school. I had no safe place as a child. I went on to become extremely self-destructive in my teen years. I survived all of this and am now an independent business man who has been married for nearly 30 years. I am also a father and a damned good one who never raises his voice, let alone a hand, to my child. What I have described above doesn't even begin to tell my whole story....still I survived it all. And you claim to have a stronger soul simply because I have residual effects due the abuse I suffered?
Your Memories, thoughts and feelings make up the person you are as a person. Anything you take away good or bad changes who you are......I wouldn't trade my pain in life for fear of losing myself.
Well said! I would not erase my memories either even if they did bring me some relief from PTSD. They are a part of who I am and I wouldn't want to lose that.
I agree, but I'm pretty sure that it kind of dampens memories, rather than erasing them altogether. I think it just takes some of the emotional pain away.
Correct, caseyjane, I misspoke. I feel that the pain that I have worked through makes me who I am today, and I have found ways to deal with it without pills. That journey helped me to grow as a person, and I don't know that I would have wanted to skip that as painful as it has been. I'm biased though - I'm not a fan of meds.
Thanks for the clarification.....sometimes my fingers are faster than my brain cells! :-)