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Repressed Memory

Repressed Memory

Repressed memories are a psychological phenomenon where memories of traumatic events are unconsciously blocked from a person's awareness. This process occurs as a defense mechanism, protecting the mind from the emotional impact of distressing or painful experiences. For example, a person who has experienced childhood trauma may grow up with no conscious recollection of the event. In such cases, the memories are thought to be buried deep within the subconscious, inaccessible to the conscious...

Traumatic Memory

Traumatic Memory

Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual...

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False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information...

Interference and Decay

Interference and Decay

Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
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Dissociative Amnesia

Dissociative Amnesia

Dissociative amnesia is a complex psychological condition that manifests as an inability to recall personal information, often tied to traumatic or stressful events. Unlike general amnesia, individuals with this condition retain the ability to perform routine activities and procedural tasks, such as operating a phone or navigating public transportation, yet experience profound gaps in autobiographical memory. These lapses may encompass significant life events, such as suicide attempts or...

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition that arises following exposure to traumatic events such as natural disasters, forced displacement, or severe accidents. It significantly impairs individuals' ability to cope with daily activities and disrupts their emotional and psychological equilibrium.
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A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Published on: March 8, 2018

Hitting the Rewind Button: Imagining Analogue Trauma Memories in Reverse Reduces Distressing Intrusions.

Julina A Rattel¹, Sarah Danböck¹, Stephan F Miedl¹

¹Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.

Cognitive Therapy and Research

|September 27, 2024

Summary

Rewinding, a novel treatment, may reduce intrusive trauma re-experiencing. Mentally replaying trauma fast-backward significantly lowered intrusion load compared to passive control, suggesting its potential as an intervention.

Keywords:

Cognitive therapy Imagery rescripting Imaginal exposure PTSD Trauma film

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Neuroscience
Trauma Studies

Background:

Intrusive re-experiencing is a hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Rewinding, a new therapeutic approach, aims to reduce these intrusions by leveraging reconsolidation-updating through backward mental replay of traumatic memories.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the efficacy of the 'rewinding' technique in a controlled laboratory setting.
To determine if mentally replaying aversive memories in a fast-backward manner reduces subsequent intrusive experiences.

Main Methods:

An analogue study involving 115 healthy women who watched an aversive film.
Participants reporting intrusions were randomized to a fast-backward rewinding intervention, a fast-forward active control, or a passive control group.
Intervention involved reactivating trauma memory followed by repeated mental replay of the film, either fast-backward or fast-forward.

Main Results:

The fast-backward rewinding group showed a significant reduction in intrusion load (frequency weighted by distress) compared to the passive control group.
The fast-forward condition did not yield a significant reduction in intrusion load compared to the passive control.
No significant differences in intrusion load were found between the fast-backward and fast-forward conditions.

Conclusions:

Findings support 'rewinding' as a potentially effective intervention for reducing trauma-related intrusions.
The study provides initial controlled evidence for the therapeutic potential of backward memory replay in managing PTSD symptoms.