Christen Smith

Repressed Memory Versus Dissociative Amnesia in Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Started Feb. 1, 2022

Abstract or project description

Dissociative identity disorder is most often singnaturised by the existence of plural consciousnesses within a single person and the recurrent memory gaps caused by said consciousnesses. These alternative consciousnesses(alters) often cause what is referred to as interidentity amnesia as [each identity withholds the memories that they experience from other identities], causing other identities to be supposedly amnesic to information they themselves did not learn or events they did not experience. Within the community of interidentity amnesia research, there is debate surrounding whether these alternative consciousnesses are legitimately amnesic or, rather, have repressed the memories. In this review, we will summarise the research that has been done to support both sides of this debate.