Everyone experiences memory lapses from time to time – occasional forgetfulness or misplacing the odd item doesn’t necessarily suggest that you’re experiencing trauma-induced memory loss. There are lots of reasons why a short-term memory lapse might occur – information overload, anxiety, mild depression or inattention can all impact your memory, for example.
If you have experienced a traumatic event, either recently or a long time ago, and are subsequently suffering from short term or long term memory loss, there is a possibility that your forgetfulness is linked to your trauma, and is in fact a coping mechanism designed to protect you from remembering and being further distressed by what traumatised you.
Traumatic events can have a profound effect on your emotional, physical, and psychological well-being. It is common for a person to experience memory loss or selective memory impairment following a traumatic event, while the brain processes and manages the experience.
Post-traumatic memory loss is a protective, instinctive reaction to trauma that helps to shield you from memory of the event itself, previous or subsequent related events, and how you feel about what happened. Finding a safe way to process what happened, how you feel, and what you need to recover, is often the best way to reverse any trauma-related memory issues and start healing.
If you, or a loved one, are experiencing memory loss after a traumatic event, or are suffering from significant stress and anxiety following a traumatic event, it is important not to rush yourself into remembering what your brain is shielding you from before you feel safe and ready to do so. We recommend seeking professional support from a specialist psychotherapist who can help you deal with the ongoing impact of the traumatic event you experienced.
Dementech’s private memory clinic in London specialises in providing expert-led memory assessments, imaging and diagnostic techniques to help you manage and recover from memory loss. Contact us to learn more ?
Neurological Effects of Trauma on Memory
Trauma can affect brain functionality and structure in various ways, and one of these ways is to change and suppress memories. Your hippocampus, the key structure that manages memory formation and retrieval, can trigger memory loss as a defence mechanism to shield you from recalling and reliving traumatic experiences.
Psychological trauma can have a profound impact on your well-being. As well as affecting memory, trauma can also trigger a stress response that leads to posttraumatic stress disorder and the development of severe anxiety, alongside trauma-induced memory loss.
In some cases, the effects of trauma can be reversed with trauma-focussed therapy, which is provided by the neurologists, psychologists, and occupational therapists at Dementech’s private memory clinic. We provide comprehensive care tailored to you and your memory recall issues, paying close attention to any traumatic memories, recent or childhood trauma that could be impacting your memory.
Types of Trauma and Memory Loss
Physical Trauma and Memory Loss
Physical trauma, such as a head injury or stroke, can be a very painful and distressing experience that sometimes causes damage to the brain and impairs memory function. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) happens when a sudden, external, physical impact damages the brain. It’s one of the most common causes of disability and death in adults, and can apply to a wide range of injuries that affect the brain.
Mild traumatic brain injury can affect your brain cells temporarily, causing short term memory loss and treatable memory problems that can be improved over time. A more serious brain injury can result in bruising, torn tissues, bleeding, and other long-term complications that affect your memory performance for a considerable period or even for life.
Physical trauma can also cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can lead to temporary memory loss. Severe injuries and physical trauma can produce PTSD, which can cause memory loss to help individuals cope with the traumatic event. The length of memory loss depends on the severity of the injury.
Emotional or Psychological Trauma and Memory Loss
Emotional or psychological trauma is a sensitive topic that can be difficult to talk about or think about. It is common for people suffering from past trauma of this kind to experience dissociative amnesia, which helps you to cope by temporarily forgetting details of the event.
It is important to understand that memory loss under these circumstances is a natural defence mechanism, and that repressed memories and PTSD, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common after experiencing emotional or psychological trauma.
Without treatment, repressed memories may resurface at any time, which is why trauma focussed therapy is so valuable and important for those suffering from emotional or psychological trauma.
Working Memory and Trauma
Your working memory is the short term memory function that allows you to hold and manipulate information in your mind for a short period. Certain traumatic events can affect your working memory, attention, and concentration, making it difficult to process information and focus.
If you are experiencing difficulty in processing and retaining information, following a traumatic event or a series of traumatic events, please know that your memory functioning issues and memory disturbances are a natural reaction to protect you from pain and discomfort.
Trauma-Induced Memory Loss: Causes and Symptoms
Trauma-induced memory loss can be caused by a variety of factors, including physical or emotional trauma, PTSD, and dissociative amnesia. Symptoms of trauma-induced memory loss can include difficulty recalling specific events or periods of time, memory gaps, and difficulty learning new information.
Trauma-induced memory loss can have a big impact on your daily life, causing impairment to your memory functioning as well as traumatic stress and anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These issues can lead to you struggling to maintain relations and perform at work or school. They can also have a negative impact on your overall mental health and well-being.
Complex PTSD and Memory Loss
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a condition that can develop after experiencing prolonged and repeated trauma. C-PTSD can cause memory difficulties and gaps, including fragmented or disjointed memories of traumatic experiences.
If you, or someone you love, is suffering with C-PTSD, you may also be experiencing avoidance behaviours, disrupted attention and concentration, and emotional distress.
Treatment for C-PTSD typically involves a combination of therapy and medication, and may include trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).
Finding Help for Trauma-Induced Memory Loss
The good news is that trauma-induced memory loss is a treatable condition, and with the right help and support, it is possible to regain memory function and improve overall mental health.
If you or someone you know is experiencing trauma-induced memory loss, don’t be afraid to seek help from a mental health professional. With the right treatment and support, it is possible to regain memory function and improve overall mental health.
Dementech’s trauma-specialist therapists can help you process and cope with traumatic experiences, and develop strategies to improve memory function. We recommend that you attend a private memory assessment at our state-of-the-art private memory clinic, during which we will use a range of advanced imaging techniques, including MRI scans, neurological evaluations and cognitive tests, to deliver an accurate assessment.From there we can then recommend the right treatments for your trauma-induced memory loss, whether this is medication, for instance antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication to help manage symptoms, or Cognitive-behavioural therapy to help you manage and control your emotional responses to trauma. There are many ways our experts can help you overcome the long lasting impacts of trauma and recover your sense of confidence, happiness and well-being. Contact us now to begin the journey.
