Recovered Memories of Childhood Abuse

<h1>Recovered Memories of Childhood Abuse</h1>Author: <a title="Jane Rowan" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/jane-rowan/42584.htm">Jane Rowan</a> Why are memories of abuse so often hidden? This is a really hard question for people in recovery from abuse, for therapists, and for researchers. In my case, I didn’t recognize one of my early childhood memories as a memory of abuse until I was in my fifties. Then physical memories started to come back to me, memories that led me to know my father had sexually abused me. How could such a big betrayal remain hidden in the back corners of a psyche for years and years? Can we really believe memories that have been hidden so long?

It’s very common for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to suppress the memories. (Studies say from 30% to 60% of survivors experience loss of memories of abuse.) When the memories come back up, they are often in fragmentary form—a touch, a feeling of nausea, a smell, a fraction of a scene. This fragmentation has a physiological cause. The stress hormones released during frightening events suppress the hippocampus, a part of the brain vital for integrating memories. And of course, we don't get social reinforcement for recalling such things—in fact, we are forbidden to speak of them and to make them real through sharing.

The book that helped me the most with the question of recovered memories was Betrayal Trauma, by Jennifer Freyd. Freyd explains that forgetting is functional for the child because it enables her to remain in contact with the family that is essential for her survival. The closer the relationship with the abuser, the more important it is to forget the abuse in order to keep that relationship working, problematic though it is. Freyd found clear scientific data showing that kids whose abuse was reported to authorities often forgot it for years. The closer the relationship to the abuser (father vs. cousin, for example), the more likely the forgetting.

Isn’t that stunning? Yet it makes total sense. I had to keep eating cornflakes every morning opposite my father and relying on him for food, learning—and yes, love. I could not allow myself to remember the abuse in the night.

Over time, I’ve come to believe the memories brought to me by my inner child more and more firmly. They are not as clear as “Kodak moments,” but they are true.

About the Author: <a href="http://janerowan.com/"> JANE ROWAN </a> is a survivor of childhood trauma and betrayal, and is passionate about sharing her healing experiences, including Inner Child work. Jane is the author of the booklet <a href="http://janerowan.com/ChildBooklet.htm"> Caring for the Child Within--A Manual for Grownups </a>, a concise, powerful guide to nurturing your Inner Child, available through her website. Her memoir-in-progress about her healing from sexual abuse is tentatively titled Writing on the Water.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/recovered-memories-of-childhood-abuse-375531.html" title="Recovered Memories of Childhood Abuse">Recovered Memories of Childhood Abuse</a>

Why are memories of abuse so often hidden? This is a really hard question for people in recovery from abuse, for therapists, and for researchers. In my case, I didn’t recognize one of my early childhood memories as a memory of abuse until I was in my fifties. Then physical memories started to come back to me, memories that led me to know my father had sexually abused me. How could such a big betrayal remain hidden in the back corners of a psyche for years and years? Can we really believe memories that have been hidden so long?

It’s very common for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to suppress the memories. (Studies say from 30% to 60% of survivors experience loss of memories of abuse.) When the memories come back up, they are often in fragmentary form—a touch, a feeling of nausea, a smell, a fraction of a scene. This fragmentation has a physiological cause. The stress hormones released during frightening events suppress the hippocampus, a part of the brain vital for integrating memories. And of course, we don't get social reinforcement for recalling such things—in fact, we are forbidden to speak of them and to make them real through sharing.

The book that helped me the most with the question of recovered memories was Betrayal Trauma, by Jennifer Freyd. Freyd explains that forgetting is functional for the child because it enables her to remain in contact with the family that is essential for her survival. The closer the relationship with the abuser, the more important it is to forget the abuse in order to keep that relationship working, problematic though it is. Freyd found clear scientific data showing that kids whose abuse was reported to authorities often forgot it for years. The closer the relationship to the abuser (father vs. cousin, for example), the more likely the forgetting.

Isn’t that stunning? Yet it makes total sense. I had to keep eating cornflakes every morning opposite my father and relying on him for food, learning—and yes, love. I could not allow myself to remember the abuse in the night.

Over time, I’ve come to believe the memories brought to me by my inner child more and more firmly. They are not as clear as “Kodak moments,” but they are true.

JANE ROWAN is a survivor of childhood trauma and betrayal, and is passionate about sharing her healing experiences, including Inner Child work. Jane is the author of the booklet Caring for the Child Within--A Manual for Grownups , a concise, powerful guide to nurturing your Inner Child, available through her website. Her memoir-in-progress about her healing from sexual abuse is tentatively titled Writing on the Water.

Rate this Article:

5 / 5 stars - 1 vote(s)

Re-Publish

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/recovered-memories-of-childhood-abuse-375531.html

Article Tags: Sexual Abuse, Childhood Abuse, Recovered Memories

Related Videos
Related Articles
Ask / Related Q&A

Play

Leadership Assassins | Abuse of Power

Play

How to Bake The Screwball Cake

Play

Domestic Abuse: The Problem with Promises

Play

What's in a name?

Play

Diagnosis an Abusive Relationship

Latest Mental Health Articles
More from Jane Rowan

5 Common Symptoms Of A Panic Attack

By: Rachel Willson | 15/11/2009
Did you know that many people mistake their first panic attack as a heart attack? If you have recently had an experience that your doctor confirmed was not caused by a physical condition, then you need to know what the symptoms of a panic attack are.

Treatments Of Autism - Getting Your Autistic Child to Socialize With Others

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
It is difficult for parents to hear their child has Autism. But as the arguing goes "We've arrive a long way". In the endure 30 years since Autism has kept on on the rise, much research and awareness has been made in this field. There undoubtedly is more article going on as larger amount of information is discovered and research uncovered. The Social Treatments are many and personalized to each particular child.

Autism Teaching Tools - Tips for Teaching Autistic Children Reading Skills

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
Teaching autistic children reading through skills can be a daunting task. Some children might never read, but many better functioning children can learn to some extent and can end up being happy readers.

Autism Teaching Strategies - Increasing Success in Your Autistic Child

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
As you may can identify there are several autism intervention strategies on hand to you. However, multi can be a simple fad that may have seemed to directed among one or two children, but because of the references and the would like of parents to want to "cure" such a child, properties may try roughly anything.

Autism And Communication - Teaching Children With Autism Better Verbal Communication Skills

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
Children with autism commonly have to deal with problems amongst verbal communication. This is typically due to the frequent speech and gobbledygook problems associated with the disorder. Though the actual reason who such problems are faced by autistic children is unknown, many experts believe which properties are the result of several conditions occurring before, during, or once the child's birth such a hold had an impact on the development of the brain.

Therapy For Autism - Swing Therapy For Autistic Children

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
Most of us experience no issue combining all our senses. For autistic children (and grownups) however, it is a mighty challenging task. Processing stimuli out of the senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, taste, balance and body is overwhelming. Those going through from autism should often withdraw to avoid over stimulation, or try to sort out the input from the senses with self-developed soothing mechanisms and repetitive behaviours.

Autism Asperger Syndrome - Alternative Treatments For Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Autism Herbs

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
Asperger's Disorder (commonly misspelled as asberger's) is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder. Both Asperger's Disorder and Autistic Disorder are in occurence subgroups of a large diagnostic category. This larger category is referred to as either Autistic Spectrum Disorders or Pervasive Developmental Disorders ("PDD").

Occupational Therapy Autism - Does it Really Help Autistics?

By: Autism Advisor | 15/11/2009
Neuroscientist and autism survivor, Jean Genet, has referred to as crystalline residence in the neural pathway that act as if developmental switches that connect the brain/computer to its mental, physical, emotional, and speech software.

Creativity and the Inner Child

By: Jane Rowan | 14/10/2009 | Self Improvement
Getting in touch with the inner child is a process. Much of what the child needs to tell us is buried in the unconscious. Art and other creative activities are great ways to access unconscious material. Whether it’s making a visual representation of a monster that came in a dream (thus giving it shape and validating the experience) or messing around with clay to see what emerges, art provides a medium that goes beyond words and allows more metaphorical, less logical, processing.

Healing From Abuse is Not the Same as Confrontation

By: Jane Rowan | 13/10/2009 | Psychology
A lot of survivors of sexual and physical abuse feel they need to confront someone about it. Such confrontations could be empowering or they could be dangerous. I contend that the most important confrontation is with oneself--that is the one that leads to deep healing.

The Inner Critic and the Inner Child

By: Jane Rowan | 01/04/2008 | Non-Fiction
Most writers have to wrestle with their inner critics to get past negative thoughts and keep writing. The inner critic voices are given to us as children and remain with us for life. Being kind to our inner children can help combat the insidious influence of the inner critic.

Spirituality and the Inner Child

By: Jane Rowan | 28/12/2007 | Spirituality
Getting in touch with your inner child and caring for that inner Child of Light is a way to greater spirituality.

Soothing your Inner Child

By: Jane Rowan | 28/12/2007 | Self Help
It’s not always easy to get in touch with our inner children, the parts of us that were split off at a young age because of abuse, fear, neglect, or misunderstanding. These young parts were not allowed to express their overwhelming feelings. When we invite these lost inner children back into our lives, we have to be ready for them to express a lot of distress. But what do we do then? How do we soothe the inner child?