psychology/amnesia question

[Tabris]

Let's say you have a character who awakens in the hospital all battered. He has no memory of what happened to him, but he was in a car accident.

Would it be reasonable to assume that this character would have an aversion toward cars/riding in a car/ recreating whatever situation led to the accident that he cannot remember?

I know I had aversions to sitting at stop lights after an accident I *did* remember. And I had a skull fracture once with amnesia for the five or so minutes before the skull fracture happened, but I never seemed to have an aversion to the situation that caused it.

So...would it be possible? Highly likely?

---

Okay, so I found some information that in both repressed memories and psychogenic amnesia, the information is actually stored in long-term memory. And particularly with abuse survivors, the memories can be triggered by sensory stimuli that remind the person of the trauma. So I'm thinking the answer is yes...? 

[newday11]

  I'm not a shrink but I don't think so. newday11

[MaryL]

Ask Archetype in a pm. You could also go to her website where she has articles for writers who need the answers to questions just like this.  You can search her out under the "members" button near the top of this page. 

[Tabris]

I know there are other psychologists on this board, though. I didn't want to bother her specifically. 

I'm thinking there's a technical term for avoidance of things that are repressed or blanked out, like unconscious aversion. But I can't find it and my google-fu skills are turning up short.

[laurabdiamond]

This is a great question, Tabris.

From my experience, it can be difficult to say exactly what an individual's response to trauma will be. However, there are certain risk factors and enviromental factors that could help identify potential for the development of avoidance.

For example, if the person does not recall the trauma, they are less likely to develop symptoms of acute stress disorder (symptoms of numbing, emotional instability, avoiding, detachment from one day after the event up to 30 days) or PTSD (symptoms of avoiding, numbing, hypervigilence, anxiety, nightmares/flashbacks 30+ days after event). If they do recall the event, then it (the memory) is more likely to be there in their face, so to speak, and may contribute to more symptoms.  The issue of "retrieved memories" where a person states they recover memories of trauma or abuse in the distant past is more likely to have some sort of distortion associated with it and must be treated more carefully (meaning: places, specific events, and people involved can be open to interpretation and the memory itself can be considered inaccurate and is termed "false memory").

Repression specifically is a type of a defense mechanism (developed by Sigmund and Anna Freud) where a person unconsciously does not recall a certain event. Suppresssion is another type of defense mechanism where a person consciously "puts aside" a particular thought or memory in order to cope with what's happening around them in the moment--something like someone witnesses a horrible accident, but still functions in trying to help a victim to safety; or a family member dies and the person is responsible for contacting the funeral home, etc.

As far as a specific term for "unconscious aversion?" Keep looking, and maybe someone has other ideas, but I think terms like amnesia, repression, blocking out suffice. Of course, denial is a very strong factor as well.

Regarding triggers, yes, any type of sensory stimuli can trigger a flashback or intrusive memory.

So, for you car accident fella--if he remembers the accident, I would say yes he could be aversed to riding in cars. If he doesn't, well, he'd be less likely to be upset in a car. Does that make sense?

BTW, if he had a close family member or friend die in the accident too, his risk of symptoms described above goes up again. Loss is a very strong stressor. And if he's "at fault," oh boy, another layer is added with grief and guilt.

Just my 2 cents.

Laura

[DHE]

Ooh, let us know the answer if you find it.  I'd be really interested to know, just because I'm a psychology geek.  It sounds like Laura knows what she's talking about, but I'd double check with Archetype.  From what I understand about amnesia (and keep in mind, I only have an academic knowledge rather than a practical one as the therapists among us might), you're right that if the amnesia is repression related and not due to physical injury, the lost memories are stored in long term memory, which is why people often remember them at some point.  There are different kinds of memory storage, as well, and what gets lost in amnesia is the episodic memory (the ability to recall the event). But other types stick around in amnesia--someone who forgot a year while in school can still remember everything they learned even if they can't recall when or how they learned it.  I wouldn't say it would be a leap to assume emotions might recorded, so to speak, on a different level than the episodic memory of the event. 

Also, with anterograde amnesia (where, post-event, a person loses the ability to form NEW memories, like the movie 50 First Dates...except that all patients are more like "10 second Tom" and no one would remember anything for more than a couple minutes, and even that's a stretch) there have been many cases where someone brings up the patient's spouse who has died and the patient starts crying even though they don't know why.  If you ask them why they're crying, they have no clue...in their mind, since they're not forming new memories, their spouse will always be in the same physical state they were in at the time the anterograde amnesia began in the patient.  It's a different kind of amnesia but that is proof that there is something being recorded on an emotional level, even though, with anterograde, episodic memories never even make it to long-term memory.

There are also people with long-term retrograde amnesia where they have avoidance/emotional issues about things they don't remember.  I remember a story about a Holocaust survivor who blocked it out, can't remember it, but has a terrible fear of going hungry and never leaves the house without food even though she can not remember ever going hungry.  But then, her sister confirmed that they were hungry, so it's hard to tell if that fed into that fear, but it does seem to be based on a true experience that she can't remember.

For emotions relating to a single-event trauma?  I don't know, but it's a great question!  I'd love to know what you find!

[Tabris]

Thank you, Laura.

I did a little light reading on psychogenic amnesia, and that seemed to fit the bill: single traumatic event, witnessed by others (so there wouldn't be any question about whether the person had false memories or was making it up) but no memory of the event itself.

I did find that victims of abuse may in future years shy away from situations like unto the ones where they got abused, but without knowing why. (ie, a very strong aversion to certain smells, panic reactions in certain situations, etc). that's after long-term abuse in a child, though, not in an adult.

The human brain is fascinating. Our defense mechanisms are amazing.

[archetype]

Hey there,

You're never bothering me with a question like this -- I wouldn't have set up the Archetype site and offered (in general) to answer questions if I didn't enjoy doing it.

Looks to me like you're in good hands with Laura, though. (DHE, Laura's a psychological professional, too!)  If there's anything I can do along the way to help, though, I'm always happy to!

[DHE]

Oh yay!  Looks like Laura steered you right!  I assumed she knew what she was talking about, I just thought I'd add the little I knew in case it helped at all.  That's fantastic we have so many psychologists running around here!  Now I have to think of all the questions I'd like to ask.   

[archetype]

LOL -- I had to karma you for that, DHE!

[Chandara]

I didn't read all the other posts but I believe it happens with post traumatic stress.  We tend to think of this happening to veterans but anything traumatic can spark a defense mechanism in our brains to trigger forgetting and fearing.  It also happens with victims of violence etc.  It is plausible.  I've worked with people with severe mental illness and I have met very interesting characters in that line of work. 

Good luck.   

[karaokecrush]

it sounds a bit like a stress induced phobia ... kind of like when you get bitten by a dog and then you're afraid of them from that time on.  As for someone who has no recollection of what happened to them and still has some degree of fear ... I have heard of similar things happening to drug addicts and alcoholics during a black out.  They have no recollection of what they did but, on some occaisions, they will come away with a new fear or a new dislike for something that used to not affect them: certain sounds, smells, situations (like walking down stairs or rainy sidewalks, etc.) ...
Perhaps if you look for similar cases in the field of addictions or other maladies where folks black out, even seizure disorders, you might find what you are looking for.   

Sorry I can't help more ... I'm a med school drop out.  What can i say?