The psychodynamics of patients with false memory syndrome (FMS)

The False Memory Syndrome (FMS) diagnosis was very much in vogue from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. It was an outgrowth of the belief held by many therapists that childhood sexual abuse was one of the most common causes of all forms of psychopathology. Although no longer in-vogue, the diagnosis is more recently being used for people who are falsely claiming that they were sexually abused by their priests. As was true in the earlier era, there were indeed many people who were sexually abused in childhood, but there were also many who were not and actually came to believe that they were, especially under the influence of therapists conducting "repressed memory therapy." Similarly, sexual abuse by priests has been a widespread phenomenon. Yet, there are still false accusers who are being led to believe by their overzealous therapists that they were indeed abused. As a psychoanalyst who has been asked to do forensic evaluations in many of these cases, I automatically ask myself questions about the psychodynamics of such falsely accusing patients. Here I describe those psychodynamic factors that I believe were operative in FMS cases, factors which in some cases apply to false sex abuse accusation against priests. Accordingly, this article is not simply of historical interest, but is still relevant and timely.