Erasing Bad Memories

by cameo-d 7 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  cameo-d

  Perhaps in the future, people will become more "zombie-fied" and the masses be easier to control. Less effort to put forth in mind control games.

  Study takes step toward erasing bad memories

  LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A widely available blood pressure pill could one day help people erase bad memories, perhaps treating some anxiety disorders and phobias, according to a Dutch study published on Sunday.

  The generic beta-blocker propranolol significantly weakened people's fearful memories of spiders among a group of healthy volunteers who took it, said Merel Kindt, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, who led the study.

  "We could show that the fear response went away, which suggests the memory was weakened," Kindt said in a telephone interview.

  The findings published in the journal Nature Neuroscience are important because the drug may offer another way to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems related to bad memories.

  Traditionally, therapists seek to teach people with such disorders strategies to build new associations and block bad memories. The problem, Kindt said, is the memories remain and people often relapse.

  Animal studies have shown that fear memories can change when recalled, a process known as reconsolidation. At this stage they are also vulnerable to beta-blockers like propranolol, which target neurons in the brain, the researchers said.

  Kindt and her team's experiment included 60 men and women who learned to associate pictures of spiders with a mild shock. This experience created a fearful memory, the researchers said.

  Other participants saw the same picture but did not receive an electrical shock. For these people this established a "safe" association without a fear response or bad memory.

  One day later people given the drug had a greatly decreased fear response compared with people on the placebo when shown the picture and given a mild shock, the researchers said.

  "There was no difference to the fear spider and the safe spider," Kindt said. "This shows it is possible to weaken the underlying memory by interfering with it."

  The next steps are to look at how long the drug's effects on memory last, and testing the treatment in people who actually are suffering from some kind of disorder or phobia, Kindt said. (Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox and Elizabeth Piper)
• 

  Elsewhere

  Too bad Mr. Bush didn't have access to this sooner.

  All of the Gitmo Detainees would now be talking about how much fun they had all those years.

  I can actually see some real therapeutic value in this. Imaging how many exJWs thins could help.
• 

  steve2

  Yes, an interesting article. Propranolol has been around for several years and its inadvertent role in easing people's reactions to their memories is promising. The durability of its effects, however, are yet to be ascertained; also, all medication has side-effects. In the meantime, their are validated therapies that have a high success rate in helping people live productive lives with their memories intact and without reliance on medication.
• 

  cameo-d

  Will this be the "no more sorrows" pill?
• 

  Big Tex

  Well the problem I've got with this idea is this -- you can erase bad memories, that's called repression and it does happen in real people. But those memories, and more importantly the emotion behind them, are still there.

  And really what causes anxiety and/or depression is not the memory of a trauma, it's the feelings and emotions that we give to them. The shorthand is depression is anger and sadness turned inward. But if we have no memory of the original event that caused the anger and/or sadness then we have no way to attach the feelings, and therefore it makes moving forward, that much more difficult.

  Believe me, if I could forget and permanently erase a few memories I would. But I would much much rather erase the anger (fury), shame and sadness that those memories have caused me.
• 

  Lady Lee

  I'm with BT on this one. PTSD that results from severe trauma is not an easy thing to treat. If you take the example of adults who were abused as children they have a lifetime of behaviors they have developed over the years that help them cope with their lives.

  These behaviors will not change just because the fear is medicated away. As BT said there is anger, depression and sadness along with other reactions to abuse and trauma. They will still be there

  As I am thinking about this I have to wonder if they are really erasing the memory or simply medicating a fear-response. Erasing a memory, whether it is negative, positive or neutral, is a far cry from removing an emotional response.

  And there are many things in this world that we need a healthy non-medicated fear response for.
• 

  WTWizard

  I say shutting down the Washtowel Slaveholdery. That will prevent people from getting these problems in the first place, which is always better than treating them once you get them.
• 

  donnye

  I just found your post about erasing bad memories and it is very interesting reading.

  I was suicidally depressed for years because of something bad that happened years previously, and was taking citalopram for the depression. However, I still felt fearful all the time - as if I was about to be beheaded. Eventually, the doctor said that to make the citalopram work better, he was going to prescribe me propranolol too, because it would help with the fearful feelings. It did!!!! Within 2 months I was a happy little bunny, and stopped taking the meds altogether after 6 more months. That was in 2008 and I am still smiling! I count myself a very fortunate individual indeed. :-)