New research has come out of the University of Iowa regarding memory and emotion. Doctoral student Justin Feinstein has shown how persons, suffering from a specific type of amnesia that inhibits short-term memory retention, can retain the emotional connection to an event even after they've forgotten the event. He showed them clips from such movies as When Harry Met Sally and Forrest Gump then asked them questions pertaining to the movies and what feelings they were experiencing after the clips were over. Even though they couldn't recall the movies they watched, they still maintained feelings of sadness or happiness from how the clips made them feel. He concludes that even though a memory leaves, the emotion associated w/ the event is retained for a little longer. In a interview w/ him on Iowa Public Radio today, he elaborated that the feeling of sadness was retained for 30 minutes while the happy feeling remained for about 15 minutes. I find that immensely relevant for me as I'm going through this grieving process, and perhaps this also explains why the happy memories of Mom are fleeting while the sadness lingers longer. I'm hoping this will change as time goes by. Kind of like when you break-up w/ someone over something you didn't like about him, but as time passes you forget what you didn't like and only remember the stuff you did like.
Feinstein was also trying to determine if by removing a memory, can the suffering associated w/ the memory also be removed? This could prove helpful for persons suffering from such problems as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Remove the memory of the event that caused the suffering and cure the disorder. I have to disagree w/ this. I don't think any memory, good or bad, happy or sad, should be removed. We have to learn to work through all of them, and if we only keep the memories that leave us feeling happy then we are no longer human. We'll be like the woman who perpetually uses Botox and eventually loses the ability to show ANY emotion. Even though recalling memories of Mom makes me sad, I don't want those memories to be removed. Sorting through all my memories of her serves a purpose b/c at the end of grief is enrichment. For example, last night's post took a lot out of me emotionally, but I feel stronger and more complete as a result. I may have mentioned this before, but in the study of theatre, we call that catharsis, an emotional purging that leaves an audience feeling refreshed when the production is over. I think grief is about sorting through our memories, remembering how we felt during those times so that we can retain them. Sometimes these posts make us cry and sometimes make us laugh, but in the end we all come out better for having gone through it.
It's so nice to read well-cited and well-paraphrased material. I've almost forgotten what it's like. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the importance of retaining memories with one exception, Alzheimers. It's interesting seeing which memories that Alzheimers patients retain and which they lose. As a result, some patients are chronically content and others are chronically sad. It's the sad ones for whom I think this work would be most significant. They've already lost much of their memories and mental functions. They can never regain them. Better that they can be happy in their ignorance than sad.