Written by Colter Bloxom, LPC
Colter is a licensed psychotherapist and the owner and founder of Thrive Therapy. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety, OCD, pornography addiction, identity issues, and more.
If you’ve ever experienced trauma, then you might find that it’s difficult for you to remember the details of what happened. You know that it happened, and you remember the general details, but it’s too painful to recall the exact memories. You may even find it impossible to remember – you can’t recall the details of the event, even when you try to.
You’re not alone. Memory loss is a common experience among trauma survivors (as well as other mental health problems like depression). In many ways, it’s a way that your brain tries to protect you from the painful emotions that are associated.
The good news is that you can heal from trauma and its effects with the right mental health treatment. You can remember the event in a way that’s emotionally safe and allows you to process and take back control of your memories.
If you’re dealing with the effects of trauma, including memory loss, this article will explain the science behind it and what you can do to move forward.
Does trauma cause memory loss?
Research shows that experiencing trauma can lead to memory loss, which is diagnosed as dissociative amnesia. One 2022 review of asylum seekers in the U.S. found that a majority of the met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, and 20% of them experienced memory loss.
Trauma can affect memory in two main ways.
- First, it can affect your memory of the traumatic event it self. Memory loss is so closely associated with trauma that it’s recognized as a symptom of PTSD. Many people with PTSD can’t remember details about the traumatic event.
- Second, experiencing trauma can affect memory and learning overall, making it difficult for you to remember new information and learn new tasks. You could find that you’re more forgetful or distracted after trauma.
Part of the reason why we can’t remember – or avoid remembering – traumatic experiences themselves is because the brain is trying to protect itself. Some experiences are so severely traumatic that they completely surpass the human brain’s ability to understand or cope. As a defense mechanism, the brain may block or “forget” unwanted memories from coming up.
This doesn’t mean that you’ve lost the memories forever – just that they’re hidden away until you’re ready to confront them.
Can emotional trauma cause memory loss?
Trauma doesn’t need to be physical to cause memory loss. Any type of trauma, especially when it’s prolonged, can cause your brain to protect itself through memory loss. Emotional trauma, like psychological abuse during childhood or within an abusive intimate relationship, can have the same effects as any other type of trauma, including memory loss for some people.
Are repressed memories real?
You may have heard of “repressed memories,” or the idea that our brains can so completely block out traumatic memories that we completely forget that the events happened to us at all. Although it was a widely-held belief by early psychoanalytic therapists (like Freud and his followers), there’s actually little to no evidence suggesting that repressed memories are real.
In most cases, studies have found that recovered “repressed” memories were actually false memories (sometimes as a result of therapist suggestion). Today, most psychological experts agree that there’s no such thing as repressed memories. Even if you aren’t able to (or prefer not to) remember the vivid details of an event, you can remember that it happened.
The science behind trauma and memory loss
A large part of the explanation on why trauma can cause memory loss can be found in the way trauma physically affects the brain.
There are a few different areas of the brain that play a role in storing and retrieving memories, including the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hippothalamus. Experiencing trauma – especially prolonged trauma – can cause structural changes in these areas of the brain, which could explain why people affected by trauma are more likely to experience memory problems.
Memory can be divided into 4 different types: semantic memory, episodic memory, emotional memory, and procedural memory. Unfortunately, experiencing trauma can affect all 4 types.
- Semantic memory helps you remember general knowledge and information – for example, you might understand what a car is or what the color yellow looks like. Experiencing trauma can sometimes prevent information from different parts of the brain to come together to help you form a semantic memory and learn new information.
- Episodic memory is what helps you remember the “story” of what happened, including the who, what, when, and where. Trauma survivors often have an especially difficult time with this type of memory, and can become unable to remember the full sequence of events.
- Emotional memory is the memory of the emotions you experienced during an event (rather than the facts). If you’ve experienced trauma, the associated emotions can come up often even without context. For example, if you were abused by a bearded man, you may feel fear every time you see another bearded man – but the emotions can come up at any other time as well.
- Procedural memory helps us remember how to perform certain tasks – like how to ride a bike. Experiencing trauma can impact your ability to form procedural memories.
How to fix memory loss from trauma
Even though it can feel overwhelming to deal with, it’s possible to heal from trauma and its effects (like memory loss). What happened in your past doesn’t need to define you forever. With the right support, you can find new meaning and build a happy and fulfilling life.
Most people don’t move past trauma on their own. A therapist can help you explore how trauma-related memory loss has affected you. When you’re ready, they can guide you in getting to the root of the traumatic event and remembering it in a way that’s emotionally safe for you.
Traumatic memories can hold a lot of emotional charge, and can also be associated with core beliefs that affect your everyday life (things like “I am not lovable”). A therapist can help you process these memories and undo these unhelpful thinking patterns that may have resulted from what you went through.
Trying to revisit traumatic memories on your own can be frightening and even dangerous, so it’s important to do this with the support of a qualified provider.
At Thrive, we are dedicated to supporting you in your healing journey as you navigate life after trauma. We’re here to help you get your life back. Our expert team of therapists offers individual trauma therapy, group therapy (including our popular Trauma 101 and Trauma 202 groups), and an intensive outpatient program for PTSD.
Get in touch with us by filling out our online form, and one of our team members will get back to you within 48 hours.
