Repressed memories are traumatic memories that were supposedly more likely to be forgotten, like those of sexual abuse or witnessing a horrifically violent act

Washington State University at Tri-Cities

This myth suggests that memories of traumatic events can be repressed and that hypnosis is a valuable psychological tool for retrieving those memories

Pop Psychology Myth: Hypnosis is useful for retrieving repressed memories

Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2009). 50 great myths of popular psychology : Shattering widespread misconceptions about human behavior.

50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology

What are repressed memories?

Hypnosis is a dubious psychological tool where a therapist puts a patient into a hypnotic trance and then asks then questions in order to determine root causes of psychological issues.

What is hypnosis?

- In the late 80s and early 90s, therapists using hypnosis began "recovering" memories from adults who were "remembering" witnessing or being victims of terrible crimes in their childhoods
- This was the advent of Repressed Memory Therapy which purported to bring up lost memories of traumatic events and was used to attempt prosecution against the perpetrators of the traumatic events

How are hypnosis and repressed memories linked?

The myth that repressed memories can be retrieved by hypnosis is still prevalent in college students, academics, laypeople, pop culture, and even mental health practitioners 

Prevalence of repressed memory myth

The accuracy of memories retrieved under hypnosis is variable under normal circumstances

Accuracy of repressed memories retrieved under hypnosis

The memories retrieved through hypnosis are in large majority traumatic in nature but the science does not support the notion that traumatic memories are repressed by the brain

Can traumatic memories be repressed?

There are other hypotheses that attempt to explain the possible outcomes of using hypnosis to retrieve repressed memories

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