Do repressed memories actually exist?
Repressed memories may or may not exist. Amnesia of traumatic events does appear to happen, as do false memories or pseudo-memories; however, the theory of repressed memories involves far more, as it theorizes not only that memories can become completely unavailable to the conscious mind (amnesia) but that those same memories could later be retrieved, and at the time of retrieval have the same (or greater) reliability as memories which were never unavailable to the conscious mind. Many theories of Amnesia, such as Dissociative Amnesia, involve recall. However it remains true that one must distinguish general psychological repression, amnesia, false memories or pseudo-memories, and the theory of repressed memories. They all are different concepts, each building upon different theoretical conceptions. There currently exists a great controversy among researchers, treating professionals, law professionals, and the general public as to whether repressed memories actually exist, and even mor
