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Traumatic Memories (traumatic + memory)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	75%
Medical Sciences	18%

Selected Abstracts

Persistence of Traumatic Memories in World War II Prisoners of War

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 12 2009
(See editorial comments by Dr. Jules Rosen, 2347), on pp 234
OBJECTIVES: To assess the long-term effects of the prisoner of war (POW) experience on U.S. World War II (WWII) veterans. DESIGN: Exploratory study. SETTING: Participants were recruited through the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital; a POW reunion in Orlando, Florida; and the WWII veterans periodical, "The QUAN." PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty-seven American military veterans who were former WWII POWs. MEASURMENTS: Participants completed a mailed survey describing their POW experiences, POW effects on subsequent psychological and physical well-being, and ways in which these experiences shaped major decisions in their lives. RESULTS: Participants from the European and Pacific theaters reported that their captivity during WWII affected their long-term emotional well-being. Both groups reported high rates of reflection, dreaming, and flashbacks pertaining to their POW experiences, but Pacific theater POWs did so at higher rates in the present than in the past. Large portions of both groups reported greater rumination on POW experiences after retirement. Finally, 16.6% of participants met the requirements of a current, clinical diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on the Mississippi PTSD scale, with PTSD rates in Pacific theater POWs (34%) three times those of European theater POWs (12%). CONCLUSION: Traumatic memories and clinical levels of PTSD persist for WWII POWs as long as 65 years after their captivity. Additionally, rumination about these experiences, including flashbacks and persistent nightmares, may increase after retirement, particularly for those held in the Pacific theater. These findings inform the current therapeutic needs of this elderly population and future generations of POWs from other military conflicts. [source]

Education and the Dangerous Memories of Historical Trauma: Narratives of Pain, Narratives of Hope

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2008
MICHALINOS ZEMBYLAS
ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to explore the meanings and implications of dangerous memories in two different sites of past traumatic memories: one in Israel and the other in Cyprus. Dangerous memories are defined as those memories that are disruptive to the status quo, that is, the hegemonic culture of strengthening and perpetuating existing group-based identities. Our effort is to outline some insights from this endeavor,insights that may help educators recognize the potential of dangerous memories to ease pain and offer hope. First, a discussion on memory, history and identity sets the ground for discussing the meaning and significance of dangerous memories in the history curriculum. Next, we narrate two stories from our longitudinal ethnographic studies on trauma and memory in Israel and Cyprus; these stories are interpreted through the lens of dangerous memories and their workings in relation to the hegemonic powers that aim to sustain collective memories. The two different stories suggest that collective memories of historical trauma are not simply "transmitted" in any simple way down the generations,although there are powerful workings that support this transmission. Rather, there seems to be much ambivalence in the workings of memories that under some circumstances may create openings for new identities. The final section discusses the possibilities of developing a pedagogy of dangerous memories by highlighting educational implications that focus on the notion of creating new solidarities without forgetting past traumas. This last section employs dangerous memories as a critical category for pedagogy in the context of our general concern about the implications of memory, history and identity in educational contexts. [source]

A 2-year-old child's memory of hospitalization during early infancy

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008
Aletha Solter
Abstract A child who had had surgery at 5 months of age, and who had been treated at the time for post-traumatic symptoms (reported in a previous paper by the author), was interviewed 2 years later and almost 3 years later to test for possible verbal recall of his hospitalization. He appeared to have some memories of the experience at 29 months of age, and he was able to superimpose verbal labels onto the preverbal memories. At 40 months of age, however, the memories were no longer verbally accessible. The results are discussed in the context of different theories of encoding, storage, retrieval, and loss of early memories. The findings from this study support other findings indicating that there appears to be some form of long-term memory in place early in life, at least for highly salient, traumatic events. There may be one memory system for traumatic memories, fully functional at birth, and a later developing, different system for neutral memories. It is further hypothesized that there may be a sensitive period around 2,3 years of age for the recall of early traumatic memories, and that verbal recall is more likely to be present in verbally precocious children during that period. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

EMDR: A putative neurobiological mechanism of action

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002
Robert Stickgold
Numerous studies have provided evidence for the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including recent studies showing it to be more efficient than therapist-directed flooding. But few theoretical explanations of how EMDR might work have been offered. Shapiro, in her original description of EMDR, proposed that its directed eye movements mimic the saccades of rapid eye movement sleep (REM), but provided no clear explanation of how such mimicry might lead to clinical improvement. We now revisit her original proposal and present a complete model for how EMDR could lead to specific improvement in PTSD and related conditions. We propose that the repetitive redirecting of attention in EMDR induces a neurobiological state, similar to that of REM sleep, which is optimally configured to support the cortical integration of traumatic memories into general semantic networks. We suggest that this integration can then lead to a reduction in the strength of hippocampally mediated episodic memories of the traumatic event as well as the memories' associated, amygdala-dependent, negative affect. Experimental data in support of this model are reviewed and possible tests of the model are suggested. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 61,75, 2002. [source]

Dissociation: An insufficiently recognized major feature of complex posttraumatic stress disorder

JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 5 2005
Onno van der Hart
The role of dissociation in (complex) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been insufficiently recognized for at least two reasons: the view that dissociation is a peripheral, not a central feature of PTSD, and existing confusion regarding the nature of dissociation. In this conceptual article, the authors address both issues by postulating that traumatization essentially involves some degree of division or dissociation of psychobiological systems that constitute personality. One or more dissociative parts of the personality avoid traumatic memories and perform functions in daily life, while one or more other parts remain fixated in traumatic experiences and defensive actions. Dissociative parts manifest in negative and positive dissociative symptoms that should be distinguished from alterations of consciousness. Complex PTSD involves a more complex structural dissociation than simple PTSD. [source]

Cognitive strategies and the resolution of acute stress disorder,

JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 1 2001
Richard A. Bryant
Abstract Information processing theories propose that resolution of posttraumatic stress is mediated by activation of traumatic memories and modification of threat-based beliefs. It is argued that this adaptive response is associated with reduced cognitive avoidance. Thought control strategies were assessed in civilian trauma survivors with acute stress disorder (N = 45) prior to and following either cognitive behavior therapy or supportive counseling. Participants completed the Acute Stress Disorder Interview, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Thought Control Questionnaire within 2 weeks of their trauma and 6 months following treatment. Receiving cognitive behavior therapy was associated with reductions in the use of punishment and worry, and increases in the use of reappraisal and social control strategies. Further, reduced posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with increased use of social control strategies and reappraisal strategies, and decreased use of worry. Findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive strategies that may mediate acute posttraumatic stress. [source]

Polysomnography in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 3 2010
Sinan Yetkin MD
Aims:, The purpose of the present study was to investigate sleep structure in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients with and without any psychiatric comorbidities. The relationship between sleep variables and measurements of clinical symptom severity were also investigated. Methods:, Sleep patterns of 24 non-medicated male PTSD patients and 16 age- and sex-matched normal controls were investigated on polysomnography on two consecutive nights. Six PTSD-only patients and 15 PTSD patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were also compared to normal controls. Sleep variables were correlated with PTSD symptoms. Results:, Compared to the normal controls, the PTSD patients with MDD had difficulty initiating sleep, poor sleep efficiency, decreased total sleep time, decreased slow wave sleep (SWS), and a reduced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency. The PTSD patients without any comorbid psychiatric disorders had moderately significant disturbances of sleep continuity, and decreased SWS, but no abnormalities of REM sleep. REM sleep latency was inversely proportional to the severity of startle response. SWS was found to be inversely correlated with the severity of psychogenic amnesia. Conclusions:, PTSD patients have disturbance of sleep continuity, and SWS deficit, without the impact of comorbid depression on sleep. The relationship between SWS and the inability to recall an important aspect of trauma may indicate the role of sleep in the consolidation of traumatic memories. The relationship between the severity of the startle response and REM latency may suggest that REM sleep physiology shares common substrates with the symptoms of PTSD. [source]

Language use predicts phenomenological properties of Holocaust memories and health

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 9 2009
Adriel Boals
Twenty Holocaust survivors gave extensive interviews about their experiences in the Holocaust and their lives since. This study affords a rare opportunity to explore language use and trauma using a within-subjects design. Consistent with past research which has shown that cognitive word use typically increases when describing stressful experiences, participants used a higher percentage of cognitive words when describing their Holocaust experiences, in comparison to describing non-Holocaust experiences. Four years after the interviews, participants completed memory questionnaires in relation to their Holocaust experiences and measures of physical health and cognitive functioning. The extent to which participants used an elevated use of insight words when describing their Holocaust experiences 4 years earlier was related to lower ratings of visceral emotional reactions, less avoidance and better lifetime physical health. The results are discussed in terms of how use of cognitive words when describing traumatic memories reflects adaptive psychological and coping processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Reliving, emotions, and fragmentation in the autobiographical memories of veterans diagnosed with PTSD

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
David C. Rubin
Fifty veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) each recalled four autobiographical memories: one from the 2 years before service, one non-combat memory from the time in service, one from combat, and one from service that had often come as an intrusive memory. For each memory, they provided 21 ratings about reliving, belief, sensory properties, reexperiencing emotions, visceral emotional responses, fragmentation, and narrative coherence. We used these ratings to examine three claims about traumatic memories: a separation of cognitive and visceral aspects of emotion, an increased sense of reliving, and increased fragmentation. There was evidence for a partial separation of cognitive judgments of reexperiencing an emotion and reports of visceral symptoms of the emotion, with visceral symptoms correlating more consistently with scores on PTSD tests. Reliving, but not fragmentation of the memories, increased with increases in the trauma relatedness of the event and with increases in scores on standardized tests of PTSD severity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Shame as a traumatic memory,

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2010
Marcela Matos
Abstract Background: This study explores the premise that shame episodes can have the properties of traumatic memories, involving intrusions, flashbacks, strong emotional avoidance, hyper arousal, fragmented states of mind and dissociation. Method: A battery of self-report questionnaires was used to assess shame, shame traumatic memory and depression in 811 participants from general population (481 undergraduate students and 330 subjects from normal population). Results: Results show that early shame experiences do indeed reveal traumatic memory characteristics. Moreover, these experiences are associated with current feelings of internal and external shame in adulthood. We also found that current shame and depression are significantly related. Key to our findings is that those individuals whose shame memories display more traumatic characteristics show more depressive symptoms. A moderator analysis suggested an effect of shame traumatic memory on the relationship between shame and depression. Limitations: The transversal nature of our study design, the use of self-reports questionnaires, the possibility of selective memories in participants' retrospective reports and the use of a general community sample, are some methodological limitations that should be considered in our investigation. Conclusion: Our study presents novel perspectives on the nature of shame and its relation to psychopathology, empirically supporting the proposal that shame memories have traumatic memory characteristics, that not only affect shame in adulthood but also seem to moderate the impact of shame on depression. Therefore, these considerations emphasize the importance of assessing and intervening on shame memories in a therapeutic context.,Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Early shame experiences reveal traumatic memory characteristics and are related to current shame and to psychopathology. Individuals whose shame memories have more traumatic characteristics are those who show more depressive symptoms. Shame traumatic memories moderate the relationship between shame and depression, hence to the same shame, individuals who experienced shame as more traumatic are the ones who show more depressive symptoms. Therapy for shame-based problems needs to incorporate strategies to assess and address individuals shame traumatic memories. [source]

Splintered memories or vivid landmarks?

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
Qualities, organization of traumatic memories with, without PTSD
One hundred and eighty-one students answered a standardized questionnaire on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): 25 reported trauma(s) and indicated a pattern of after-effects that matched a PTSD symptom profile, whereas 88 indicated trauma(s) but no PTSD symptom profile. Both groups answered a questionnaire addressing the recollective quality, integration and coherence of the traumatic memory that currently affected them most. Participants with a PTSD symptom profile reported more vivid recollection of emotion and sensory impressions. They reported more observer perspective in the memory (seeing themselves ,from the outside'), but no more fragmentation. They also agreed more with the statement that the trauma had become part of their identity, and perceived more thematic connections between the trauma and current events in their lives. The two groups showed different patterns of correlations which indicated different coping styles. Overall, the findings suggest that traumas form dysfunctional reference points for the organization of other personal memories in people with PTSD symptoms, leading to fluctuations between vivid intrusions and avoidance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]