False Memories
False memory syndrome (FMS), as defined by John F. Kihlstrom (psychology professor at the University of California, San Francisco) and utilized by the False Memory Foundation, is a condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are centered on a memory of a traumatic experience that is objectively false, but one that the person strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such. Almost everyone has memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all
sorts of other adaptive behavior. The analogy to personality disorder is intentional. False memory syndrome is especially destructive because the person diligently avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus, it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and resistant to correction. The person may become so focused on that memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with the real problems in his or her life.
False memories are often of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) or satanic ritual abuse (SRA). The syndrome has been reported since the late 1980s; at that time, psychotherapeutic use of hypnosis and the concept of recovered memories were also becoming widely publicized. Persons with FMS typically report that they have suddenly remembered events of past abuse and, thus, feel compelled to confront their alleged perpetrators. The memories of the alleged abuse are typically reported to have been awakened during the course of some form of therapy. The response of the accused perpetrator is generally one of shock and disbelief, followed by adamant denial of its occurrence, and of the accusation. Adult children with FMS who accuse parents or other relatives (or other persons formerly close to them) often become estranged from their families. The accusers sometimes seek lawyers and the involvement of the legal system.
There is a cluster of characteristics associated with the development of FMS. Clients are typically adult females who seek psychotherapy because of significant negative life stressors, including relationship difficulties or dissolution, job dissatisfaction or loss, birth or death in the immediate family, addiction, or eating disorders. The nature of the presenting symptoms often prompts the therapist to search for memory of a childhood, or early life, trauma that could have acted as a catalyst for the current symptoms, generally at the expense of dealing with "real-time" problems while focusing on (real or imagined) past events. Patients experiencing FMS generally blame all current difficulties on the remembered past abuse, and adapt their identities to those of abuse survivors. They typically become increasingly dependent on the therapist, who professes belief in their abuse allegations, and they estrange themselves from those who either disagree with their new self-identification or attempt to prove them wrong.
One reported abuse survivor confronted her family with memories of repeated instances of incest occurring between the ages of three and eight with her father as the alleged perpetrator. She further asserted that the sexual abuse occurred in the attic of their home. She claimed she was taken to the attic via a back stairway. Her parents responded to the accusations by insisting that the home they lived in during that time had only one floor, no attic, and no staircase. They offered to bring the client (and the therapist) to the former home, to show her that the memory was incorrect. The daughter refused and cut off all further contact with her parents.
From a forensic psychiatry perspective, the issue of FMS is a challenging one. It is virtually impossible to distinguish between real and recovered or false or imagined memories, and it is difficult to validate early childhood memories via the use of objective data. Plus, it is difficult to base a legal or criminal case on recovered memory data as a result. The cost (both emotional and financial), when the memory is actually false, can be enormous, to the individual with FMS, to the accused family member (or other former close associate), and to the legal system.
