Wednesday, August 12, 2009

False Memory or Confabulation Disorder

Today there are still countless men and women whose lives have been ruined by the most recent modern day witch hunt or Inquisition. Priding ourselves on being civilized we fail to see the equivalences of our own behaviour to that of our ancestors. Falsely accused of being sex offenders of children based on the testimonies of those, too often doing so for profit or malice, individuals in the tens of thousands, were sent to prison by the failure of our own judicial system. Once imprisoned with false labels these humans were subjected to killing and maiming and atrocities encouraged in the lowest ranks of criminal humans, murderers and rapists seeking a hierarchal scapegoat.
Research has overwelmingly confirmed 'false memories'.http://www.fmsfonline.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory_syndrome
The courts have indeed acknowledged their decades of error by the demand for testimonies to be taped to ensure that bullying and bias were removed. This has been identified in the now fully established Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchausen_syndrome_by_proxy
Specialized training of pediatricians and forensic psychiatrists and residencies for such have been established because of the recognition of the horrendous harm done for decades by ignorance and hysteria. The greatest harm has been done to the children themselves. The survivors of these years of tyrrany are now coming of age and seeking therapy for the horrible wrongs that they have been unwittingly obliged to take part in. Admitting to their confusion and error they are desperately in need of therapy often to undo the the therapy they once received. The other great harm is that the true pedophiles and psychopaths who are now the few among the many innoscent are quickest to claim their innoscence and use the already tainted judicial process to gain their freedom. There are those even more unfortunate who are truly innocent but believing themselves worthless for reasons of their own abuse have given up wholly on this world retreating into their own cells or insaniety.

In 12 step programs, alcoholics and addicts, make amends. Recognising the lies and false beliefs they held while drunk and stoned, in sobriety they come forward and make amends. They tell the truth as 'rigorous honesty' is the cornerstone of this program. They admit to their errors and make amends to those who they falsely accused. They acknowledge their own part in the negative events of their lives realizing that while drinking and drugging they were critics and blamers. Now in recovery they right the wrong. This is one of the processes that is occurring to correct the terrible perversity of our age. The churches and synagogues are involved in similiar processes of soul searching.

In time the state and courts will grant anonymity to those who now would come forward to tell the truth and undo the devastation of 'false memory syndrome."

In psychiatry 'factitious disorders' have long been known however increasingly because of the politics of psychiatry and the fear of law suits, doctors are obliged to 'hold their opinion to themselves' since they mostly consider 'do not harm' to apply directly to their patient alone and the responsibilities of the society at large are the state's, courts and public health.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is important to update yourself on your information. There are scores of studies which prove the existence of the repression of trauma. There has never been a proven case of the so-called "False Memory Syndrome" nor is there any scientific research to back it up. The FMSF was founded by people accused of sexual abuse and a man who thinks that pedophilia is a normal part of God's will. The repression of memory is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. FMS is not.

haykind said...

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/05/confabulatory_hypermnesia_or_severe_false_memory_syndrome.php

This 2009 study is just one of many "update"s.
I appreciate your comments. And yes you're probably right about the limits of the term "False Memory Syndrome". Just as "multipersonality disorder' is now called "dissociative disorder' there is a need for an update term for what is the central concern. Confabulatory Disorder would probably be more appropriate and would include those cases which concern me. I certainly don't in anyway support pedophilia and don't believe it's God's will. The repression of memory is as well documented as is the innacuracy of memory itself.

haykind said...

Sexual abuse of children is horrid and I appreciate your concern. What concerns me also though are the falsely accused. I am for justice and order but I am horrified as I see more cases of psychopaths and sociopaths who have lied in courts, know of counsellors motivated by profit and having horrid conflicts of interest. The truth is no longer what it used to be especially since the 'swearing on the Bible' and 'your truth' and 'my truth' became de rigour. I see cases of children now whose lives were devastated by these divorce wars. I see the recovered alcoholics and addicts who tell me the stories of their confabulations. I see those who want pay for testifying in these court cases as 'witnesses' believing 'solidarity'. I worked in a place treating the victims of pedophilia where the courthouse had been paid for by a famous pedophile. What concerns me are the 'falsely accused'. From the dozens of cases I've seen where the allegations have been 'proven' false in no way negating the dozens of other cases proven true I would extrapolate that if I've seen it then there are that many other clinicians who've seen it as well. What concerns me further is that the media doesn't report the number of false accusations/to proven true cases of this in the courts resulting in the many more serious 'false impressions'.

haykind said...

This further is an extension of my study of memory and it's limits and uses. Daniel Gardner's book "Science of Fear" deliniates many recent studies that pertain to this matter.