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There is not a shred of objective scientific evidence supporting the idea of repressed memory syndrome. Repressed Memory Syndrome by Jonathan Dolhenty, Ph.D.
The American "psychological industry" has been suffering setbacks recently. But don't let your guard down yet. The fight against that industry's threat to your freedoms will not be over for a long time. A jury in Napa, California, has awarded $500,000 to Gary Ramona in his suit against two "therapists" who had treated his daughter. The jury found that the two defendants, psychiatrist Dr. Richard Rose and family counselor Marche Isabella, had destroyed the father's life by implanting false memories of child abuse in his daughter's mind. According to Ramona, his wife divorced him and he was fired from his job as a winery executive after his daughter recalled in therapy that he had raped her as a child. This is called the Repressed Memory Syndrome, and is just another one of the relatively new bricks in the psychological powerhouse. Negative Impact This verdict is sure to have a negative impact, for a while at least, on some of the services performed by psychological therapists. Some are already complaining it will put the psychological industry back 25 years. The executive director of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists said the verdict will have a chilling effect on treatment. It's one of the first verdicts where a third party has won damages for treatment of someone else. Richard Harrington, attorney for Mr. Ramona, said this was a warning to psychotherapists who carelessly use the idea of recovered memories. "If they use nonsensical theories about so-called repressed memories to destroy peoples' lives," he went on to say, "they will be held accountable. No one should have to suffer the hell Gary Ramona has been through." It Can Ruin A Life This is not the first time the concept of Repressed Memory Syndrome has ruined a person's life. And it probably won't be the last. The concept itself is continuing to come under attack and a group has been formed called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Its director, Pamela Freyd, applauded the verdict in the Ramona case and said her group has received 13,000 calls since March 1992 from families suffering through similar cases. According to the head of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Ronald Fox, the scientific evidence on the validity of recovered memories is conflicting. Although one of the defendants in the Ramona case insisted that "repressed memories are a reality," it is difficult to see how one could produce evidence supporting them since it is basically a subjective experience. Terrible Injustice Is Possible I am not going to step out on a limb and say that there is definitely no such thing as a repressed memory. I will say, however, that I can't conceive of how such a phenomenon can be verified objectively. It is possible, I suppose, that a child could be raped and "repress" the memory of the act, in some sense of not being able to recall the attack. Be that as it may, my main concern is the danger in using such a subjectively based assertion in a court of law, without any objective corroboration, where someone's freedom is at stake. Marche Isabella, one of the defendants in the above case, is reported to have said that what the patient thinks is all that matters. Well, that may well be the case as far as therapeutic treatment is concerned, but if those thoughts can be used as the only basis for charges against someone in a court of law, then we are indeed in a heap of trouble. Objective evidence is what has to count in a court of law. It is what we use to determine guilt or innocence. The psychological industry must not be permitted to substitute anything else, particularly something as subjective as so-called repressed memories.
More on psychiatry and psychology by Dr. Dolhenty: Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine...
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