You, like everyone, have memories that can affect how you feel. You can remember a happy memory and feel a bit of the happy emotion. Just as you can remember a sad memory and feel the sadness.
There is obviously a close connection between our emotions and memories. Almost as if the emotion is part of the memory. Our memories are always in our minds so it makes sense that the emotions in our memories can constantly have an effect on how we feel.
This can cause psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress and depression. It can also cause more basic disruption in your life like fears, phobias and high stress.
The most popular way to deal with these sorts of problems is prescription medication. But, medication only tries to help the 'symptoms' instead of treating the 'cause'. Long term results are usually just long term symptom management.
The key to long term help with these issues would appear to be the emotional association with the memory. What would happen if that association could be erased, reduced or even changed?
There is research using a medication called propranolol that can be used as an "amnesia drug". The purpose is to directly disrupt the connection between our memories and the emotions they are associated with.
Described in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, they talk about psychiatrists at McGill University and Harvard University using the drug to disrupt the memories of trauma victims. The drug reduces the emotional connection with the memory while leaving the conscious part of the memory.
With this process, people still have the memory, but the emotion is reduced or detached. The potential problems with this process, such as permanence or side effects, are not known.
There are other ways to reduce and change the emotion connected to memories. Other processes that are well tested, well established and without side-effects.
In particular, hypnosis. Hypnosis seems better suited for this process since, when in hypnosis, you are using the emotional part of your mind. This is very evident when working with traumatic memories from childhood. When re-experiencing memories from childhood a person often 'feels' younger than their current age. You tend to experience memories with the same age of mind that you originally experienced the situation.
When using modern hypnosis to re-experience a traumatic memory, the hypnotist needs to be properly trained for the process to be quick and effective. When these conditions are met, the client can experience the memory with the perspective of adulthood. This alone will often reduce or negate the emotions involved.
Addressing issues in this is about gaining real, inner perspective on your past. When this is done, it creates a sense of distance from the memory. A memory that no longer influences how you feel. - 31857
There is obviously a close connection between our emotions and memories. Almost as if the emotion is part of the memory. Our memories are always in our minds so it makes sense that the emotions in our memories can constantly have an effect on how we feel.
This can cause psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress and depression. It can also cause more basic disruption in your life like fears, phobias and high stress.
The most popular way to deal with these sorts of problems is prescription medication. But, medication only tries to help the 'symptoms' instead of treating the 'cause'. Long term results are usually just long term symptom management.
The key to long term help with these issues would appear to be the emotional association with the memory. What would happen if that association could be erased, reduced or even changed?
There is research using a medication called propranolol that can be used as an "amnesia drug". The purpose is to directly disrupt the connection between our memories and the emotions they are associated with.
Described in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, they talk about psychiatrists at McGill University and Harvard University using the drug to disrupt the memories of trauma victims. The drug reduces the emotional connection with the memory while leaving the conscious part of the memory.
With this process, people still have the memory, but the emotion is reduced or detached. The potential problems with this process, such as permanence or side effects, are not known.
There are other ways to reduce and change the emotion connected to memories. Other processes that are well tested, well established and without side-effects.
In particular, hypnosis. Hypnosis seems better suited for this process since, when in hypnosis, you are using the emotional part of your mind. This is very evident when working with traumatic memories from childhood. When re-experiencing memories from childhood a person often 'feels' younger than their current age. You tend to experience memories with the same age of mind that you originally experienced the situation.
When using modern hypnosis to re-experience a traumatic memory, the hypnotist needs to be properly trained for the process to be quick and effective. When these conditions are met, the client can experience the memory with the perspective of adulthood. This alone will often reduce or negate the emotions involved.
Addressing issues in this is about gaining real, inner perspective on your past. When this is done, it creates a sense of distance from the memory. A memory that no longer influences how you feel. - 31857
