You may have heard of someone who says they have repressed memories with a sense of “blankness” about childhood, strong emotional reactions without a clear source, or a sense of disconnect between their feelings and their remembered history.
Some people do experience significant gaps for traumatic events, but “repressed memories” in the classic sense are controversial, and there is no simple way to know on your own whether you have them.
What can be assessed is your current symptoms, your known history of trauma and dissociation, and whether you meet criteria for conditions like dissociative amnesia that involve trauma-related memory loss.
A central question many ask in therapy or in private is, “Do I have repressed memories of trauma?” This is a psychologically charged topic, and in this article, I highlight the science and controversy among clinicians and provide insights into the relationship between memory and trauma.
What “Repressed Memories” Means
In the classic Freudian psychoanalytic view, the idea of repression is that it is a defense mechanism that unconsciously banishes distressing memories to protect the psyche.
The mind automatically pushes unbearable traumatic memories out of awareness, sometimes for years, only for them to be “recovered” later.
Modern trauma science instead talks more about dissociative amnesia and fragmented encoding of trauma, where memories are stored as fragments, not a linear progression. However, they are inaccessible or only available as body sensations, images, or fragments rather than a coherent narrative.
Overall, the concept of repressed memory is considered scientifically weak, but trauma-related memory gaps and later recall clearly occur in some people. The term “repressed memories” has entered mainstream culture—often implying a complete, intact memory of a traumatic event hidden away in a mental vault, waiting to be discovered fully formed.
It’s important to clarify the key difference between:
- Repression (theoretical) as an unconscious process of forgetting as a defense mechanism.
- Ordinary forgetting, which is the natural fading of memories.
- Dissociative amnesia (a clinical diagnosis) is the psychological inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be ordinary forgetfulness [1].
The Science and the Firestorm: What Research Tells Us
Since the 1960s, there has been a polarized debate among clinicians and researchers. [2]
The skeptical perspective, primarily from experimental psychologists, highlights the malleability and reconstructive nature of memory. We don’t retrieve memories like files; we rebuild them each time.
Reports highlight the role of suggestion from hypnotists or some psychotherapists in inducing false memories with leading questions, therapy techniques, or suggestive influences to create vivid, yet inaccurate, “memories.” This has been exposed in several high-profile cases, leading to retracted theories [3].
The trauma perspective, developed in the past 20 years by trauma researchers and clinicians, acknowledges that trauma can severely disrupt normal memory encoding and recall [4].
Trauma affects the brain. In simple terms, high stress (releasing cortisol/adrenaline) can impair the hippocampus (the memory center) while heightening amygdala (the emotional center) activity.
This can lead to fragmented, sensory-laden memories (smells, sounds, flashes, body sensations) rather than a coherent narrative. It’s less about a “hidden video” and more about a “shattered mirror.”
Most modern experts agree that completely blocking out detailed memories is uncommon and hard to show, but having gaps in memory and struggling to remember traumatic events is a well-known fact [5].
What the Evidence Says About Recovered Memories
Studies comparing continuous and later-recovered abuse memories indicate that, when independent corroboration exists (records, witnesses, etc.), both types can be about equally accurate at the “gist” level.
At the same time, memory is inherently reconstructive, and it is possible to develop confidently held but inaccurate or distorted memories, especially when suggestive techniques are used.
Most experts now agree that:
- Some delayed or recovered trauma memories are substantially accurate.
- Some are partially or largely false.
- There is no way to tell accuracy purely from how vivid, emotional, or “certain” the memory feels.
7 Signs That May Point to Trauma-Related Amnesia
This is not a diagnostic checklist but a description of common experiences associated with unresolved trauma or memory gaps. These signs do not prove “repressed memories,” but they can suggest trauma-related memory disturbance that merits clinical evaluation. Potential indicators include:
- Unexplained Symptoms: Persistent anxiety, depression, or PTSD-like symptoms (hypervigilance, flashbacks) without a clear origin.
- Triggers and Reactions: Intense, disproportionate emotional or physical reactions to specific sounds, places, smells, or types of interpersonal dynamics.
- Clear, puzzling gaps: These occur in autobiographical memory (for example, not remembering major chunks of childhood or specific multi-year periods) and seem different from ordinary forgetting, appearing blank or blurry. These may happen especially while knowing you were in a stressful environment.
- Body Memories: Marked by chronic pain, unexplained somatic issues, or bodily sensations that lack a clear medical cause.
- Strong trauma-type symptoms may show as nightmares, startle, triggers, body memories, and emotional flashbacks. These often occur without a clear memory or a sense of “something bad happened.”
- Disconnection: This presents as chronic feelings of numbness and detachment from self or emotions (depersonalization/derealization).
- A history of significant dissociation, such as losing time, feeling unreal or detached, finding evidence you did things you don’t recall, or being told about behaviors you can’t remember.
A thorough assessment by a licensed trauma-informed clinician is required to differentiate trauma-related dissociative amnesia from ordinary forgetting, medical conditions, substance effects, or other explanations.
How To Approach Concerns About Repressed Trauma
Rather than trying to force memories to emerge through exercises on your own, seek trauma-informed therapy. The risk of false or distorted memories is increased by forcing recall or using highly suggestive methods [3].
Therapy focuses first on safety, grounding, emotion regulation, and present-day functioning. If memories emerge, they can be processed gradually in that safer context.
It is usually more clinically useful to work with current symptoms, relational patterns, and body responses than to try to establish certainty about exact historical details, which may never be perfectly knowable.
What to Do (and What Not to Do) If You’re Questioning
The “Don’ts”
- Don’t obsessively hunt for memories or scour the internet for “proof.”
- Don’t use hypnosis or “memory recovery” techniques. They are likely highly suggestive.
- Pressuring family members to confirm memories can lead to conflict and unreliable stories.
The “Dos”
- Seek a qualified mental health professional. Look for a trauma-informed therapist who understands memory complexity and is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic therapy, or Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) [4].
- Focus on the current impact. The goal is to heal current symptoms (anxiety, relationship issues), regardless of the precise origin story.
- Do grounding exercises and practice self-care to help manage present distress.
- To identify patterns, not to “recover” past events, but to keep a journal of feelings, triggers, and current experiences.
Finding Support for Healing at Corner Canyon
Treatment for mental health conditions and trauma is available in Utah. Are you or a loved one looking for a compassionate space to heal from anxiety, trauma, PTSD, CPTSD, other mental health conditions, or addictions? Our licensed trauma-informed professional therapists and counselors at Corner Canyon Health Centers can provide compassionate help using a range of therapeutic and holistic techniques.
Reach out to our Admissions team now at Corner Canyon. We’re in a peaceful setting bordered by the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.
Sources
[1] Leong, S., et al. (2006). Dissociative Amnesia and DSM-IV-TR Cluster C Personality Traits. Psychiatry
[2] Dodier, O., et al. (2023). Recovered memories of trauma as a special (or not so special) form of involuntary autobiographical memories. Frontiers in psychology, 14,
[3] Lego S. Repressed memory and false memory. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 1996 Apr;10(2):110-5.
[4] Dissociative Identity Disorder Research. nd. Accuracy of Recovered Memories.
[5] Boland M. 2022. Is It Possible to Repress Trauma? PsychCentral.com