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Would you want to forget bad experiences?
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Anonymous
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I was curious to know how many people would take a pill that would wipe out the memory of the most awful experience in our lives.
My friend says that she would not because, though painful, the experience helped her grow. Any opinions? By the way, the military is experimenting with just such a drug. |
Anonymous
| I would not. But I did think 'the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind' was a great meditation on this theme. terrific movie! |
Anonymous
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I agree with your friend. I have had many painful, terrible things happen in my life, and it is what has made me the person I am today. I wouldn't trade any of it.
I know that in the UK, they give a medication that makes you forget a treatment, or painful procedure. When popping an arm back in it's socket, they give you this pill, and you don't remember a thing. I knew a woman who's child was given this, when she was really sick and needed to have a spinal tap done. They went so far as drugged her for a few days, so she wouldn't remember the trauma of being so sick, and nearly dying. |
Anonymous
If hte military were actually experimenting with this, you would not know about it any more than you would know about the ufo in my back yard. 
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Anonymous
| I like the idea but maybe it is a lesson we need to learn so we don't make the same mistake again. |
Anonymous
| I think it depends on whether the bad experience made you stronger or just gave you more baggage. |
Anonymous
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I'd like a pill that took away the pain while I was going through the experience, but left the memory so that I still had the benefit of learning from it
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Anonymous
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From someone who had a terribly traumatic incident, I would have loved to be given the option.
My experience did not help me grow, it left me with almost 20 years of unmanagable, illogical fears and anxieties. I don't think it has made me who I am, it is more like a shell of who I was. Having said that, I also know that everyone who has a serious trauma does not get affected the same way or go on to develop PTSD. What has caused me so many problems could make someone else stronger. |
Anonymous
| How can a medication take away the memory of just one experience....... |
Anonymous
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/60minutes/main2205629.shtml
It has to do with the role adrenaline plays in burning memories into our brains. |
zumbamama
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| no way. that pill doesn't make it go away, it masks your memory. Better to deal with it, learn from it, let it go, forgive and move on. Easier said than done, I know, but at least your not playing tricks on your brain. I have plenty of bad exp. in my memory, but wouldn't trade them in because sometimes bad exp. lead to something good down the road. They are learning experiences, to me at least. |
Anonymous
| I'd take it. I'm OCD in some respects and am constantly beating myself up over my failures. I'd be happier if I "forgot" about them, and it would boost my confidence. |
clarabow
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| I don't know if I'd take it myself. But, having watched my one year old get catheterized last night, I would have given it to him in a heartbeat. He can't possibly process that experience in any useful way at his age. I know they say most kids don't keep memories from birth to about age 3, but I think even somewhat older than that, children probably have a hard time contextualizing a bad experience. |
Anonymous
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It doesn't make you forget it completely. When something very traumatic happens that causes feeling of helplessness, horror and fear for your own or someone else's life, your brain creates a very detailed memory of it. Speaking from experience, the memory is more like a full sensory experience than a memory. I have a hard time recalling my trauma without actually experiencing the sounds, smells and fear that I was about to die. I think the point of the medication is to prevent the brain from replaying all the sensory aspects of the experience and just store it away like your other memories.
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