Evidence of Dissociative Amnesia in Science and Literature

"Disturbances in memory for trauma are a common phenomenon."

Evidence of Dissociative Amnesia in Science and Literature: Culture-Bound Approaches to Trauma in Pope, Poliakoff, Parker, Boynes, and Hudson (2007) Rachel E. Goldsmith; Ross E. Cheit; Mary E. Wood Pages 237 - 253 Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, Volume 10 Issue 3 2009 ISSN: 1529-9740 (electronic) 1529-9732 (paper) Publisher: Routledge

Abstract
The current culture of traumatic stress studies includes research that identifies the ways in which stress and trauma impair learning and memory in both humans and animals. Yet it also contains health professionals who argue that individuals cannot forget traumatic events. Many accounts present differences among these positions as a legitimate debate despite the substantial forensic, survey, and neurological evidence that both demonstrates the capacity for people to exhibit impaired memory for trauma and highlights specific mechanisms. In a recent article, H. G. Pope, M. B. Poliakoff, M. P. Parker, M. Boynes, and J. I. Hudson (2007) hypothesized that if individuals could forget trauma, the phenomenon would appear in world literature prior to 1800. They conducted a contest to generate submissions of examples and determined that dissociative amnesia is a culture-bound syndrome.

Their report fails to provide a thorough account of all submissions and the process through which they were all rejected, offers highly questionable literary analyses, and includes several misrepresentations of the state of the science regarding memory for trauma. This response addresses methodological problems with the contest, explores examples of forgetting trauma from literature written before 1800, examines social and historical aspects of the issue, and summarizes the extensive cognitive and neurological data that Pope et al. did not consider. The present article conceptualizes the premise of the contest and the authors' conclusion as symptomatic of a culture affected by biases that include the denial of trauma and its effects....

Trauma is deeply rooted in culture. Culture impacts the type of trauma that individuals experience, the ways in which they process and understand trauma, the ways in which trauma is addressed in both science and literature, and the ways in which victims are perceived. The field of trauma studies itself has a history of denial and dissociation that mirrors individual responses to disturbing and overwhelming experiences (Herman, 1992; van der Kolk, Weisaeth, & van der Hart, 1996), portrays ambivalent reactions to trauma and victims (e.g., Olafson, Corwin, & Summit, 1993), and often reflects social and institutional biases rather than scientific processes (e.g., Campbell, 2003).

Disturbances in memory for trauma are a common phenomenon. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000) describes the "inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma" (p. 468) as a potential symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder, and many corroborated accounts exist of individuals with delayed accurate recall for trauma (Cheit, 1998; Chu, Frey, Ganzel, & Matthews, 1999; Elliott, 1997; Herman & Schatzow, 1987; Williams, 1994). A substantial literature explores the emotional, cognitive, and neurological mechanisms through which individuals may experience impaired awareness for trauma, and considerable data demonstrate the adverse effects of stress on learning and memory.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a912962184&fulltext=713240928

Brown Professor Continues Debate Over Recovered Memory July 7, 2009
In the current Journal of Trauma & Dissociation article, Cheit calls Pope's entire contest "a sham," accusing Pope's team of failing to provide a thorough account of all submissions and the process by which they were rejected, offering highly questionable literary analysis, and including several misrepresentations of the state of the science regarding memory for trauma. Cheit and his team offer additional literary examples and summarize some data that Pope and his team did not consider.

They conclude, "Literature can provide important information about human experience, but it cannot prove or disprove traumatic amnesia any more than it can prove or disprove the existence of bacteria or dragons. Literary passages and modern scientific data do reveal descriptions and data, respectively, that depict dissociative amnesia as a naturally occurring traumatic sequela."
http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/07/memory