Repressed memories: some clinical data contributing toward its elucidation.
This article offers two case reports that strongly support the clinical notion that under certain circumstances some persons can dissociate from their executive ego traumatic memories of sexual abuse. The patients had absolutely no conscious memory of their childhood abusive experiences and in both cases I obtained definite and clear-cut independent corroboration of the realities of the abuse. I think that a series of several well-documented case reports, like the ones reported in this article, could represent persuasive preliminary evidence for the existence of dissociative memories, at least in some specific cases. I hope that the publication of these two cases will stimulate other clinicians or researchers to report, in as much detail as possible, other similar experiences. Only through the publication of clear-cut cases can the debate about repressed memories be settled in an empirical way.
Martínez-Taboas
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Puerto Rico Institute of Psychology, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00927.
D000328:Adult; D000648:Amnesia, Retrograde / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D009105:Dissociative Identity Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology