Essay On False Memory Syndrome

“False Memory Syndrome” or FMS is a term created by a FMS support and advocacy group called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Inc. as a way to label the phenomenon in which a person account of past events are drastically differs from the truth. Although FMS is not a legitimate medical diagnosis, Todd Stark, the writer of “ What is ‘False Memory Syndrome?”, believes that this condition strongly affects many people such as pedophiles, children, and people who feel they have been falsely accused of child abuse. According to the article, a false memory if often created when “under conditions of therapy, a child’s (person’s) recollection of past events may be distorted, even radically, and that convincing evidence of psychological trauma and detailed false testimony against an innocent person may be manufactured by the (unwitting) facilitation of a therapist, who is motivated to find abuse.” In other words, people, or more specifically children being examined for abuse, can be coaxed into having a

For example, a child can develop a false memory of being abused by their father when told about situations which their father abused him or her by their mother, siblings, other trusted family member, or even their therapist. Another example used in this article is how through hypnosis, a patient is more susceptible to creating a false memory such as being abducted by an UFO. This is because under hypnosis the patient is more motivated to reconstruct a memory at the request of the therapist, regardless of lacking sufficient information to recall the events accurately. As Todd Stark explains in his article, “Vividly imagined images under hypnosis can be difficult or impossible to distinguish from real life.” With the line between imagination and reality blurred, it is easier for a person to whole-heartedly believe in their false