Most people might think that false memories are harmless, but in reality, they can be potentially life threatening. Before DNA testing technologies were available, many people were falsely imprisoned because of an eyewitness that was a victim of a false memory. Also, many people are put away because of a false memory that was "recovered" by a therapist. Many of these memories consist of sexual and childhood abuse. But why would a therapist want a patient to create these memories? Why would they suggest such things if there is not one shred of evidence suggesting it in the first place?
It's as if they want their patients to have painful pasts. It's as if they think that every person seeking psychiatric help was abused at one point or another. This is of course untrue: most people that are abused rarely seek help, and those people who do seek help do so because of problems that they know are there. Therapists are meant to help people, not to implant false memories that will then cause them to develop mental problems, keeping them coming back to therapy for many years after.
Of course, sometimes they can be harmless. False memories affect a great percentage of people daily and they do not ever realize it. But the one thing people need to realize is that anyone can fall victim to this phenomena.
Why Would You Do That? (make-up blog)
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This is such a scary phenomena. I would never want false memories implanted into my brain, and I feel very sorry for those whose lives have been ruined because of this. I think it is already difficult in real life trying to figure out what is truly real and what isn't. I still wonder to this day whether or not a few childhood memories I have are legit or just part of a dream I had once. There is just no real way to ever know what actually happened, but at least this makes life more interesting.
I think this is just one of many realities that we're being opened to in this class. Implanting false memories is a serious technique that I think should not be used lightly at all. I agree with your view of psychiatrists making patients create such horrific events in their minds, but could it be that we don't understand their side? Psychiatrists might think that they're helping put a criminal away and helping someone move past a tragic event. They've always said that burying things inside is never good for you...
First off, love the photo of the men in black. Great movie. This is a really interesting topic though. The fact that some of the memories we have may not even be true is really intimidating to me. I also like how you brought in the ethics and moral issues with psychologists purposely planting false memories into patients. I agree with you when you say that it is unnecessary as well as morally wrong.
I think that false memories can be dangerous as well. Like the story of the girls who claimed they were raped by their father, and it became so extreme that he believed he himself did it as well. It can be a scary thing, because the memories we have now may as well be false - there's no solid proof to prove us otherwise. It makes for quite the unusual phenomena.