MEMORY MANIPULATION

Memory Manipulation

Memory Manipulation

Introduction

The formation and recall of memories are fundamental aspects of life and help preserve the complex collection of experiences that provide us with a sense of identity and autonomy. Research investigation is underway regarding the pharmacological agents that inhibit or “dampen” the strength of memory formation and recall. These memory-dampening agents used by the patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Perrin, 2006). Currently, these agents are being tested in multicenter clinical trials and will likely soon be approved for the treatment of PTSD. Accessibility to these agents will inevitably affect one's sense of identity and also one's sense of autonomy (Mizey, 2007).

Discussion

Considerable changes to the diagnostic criteria for PTSD were introduced in these revisions. One striking difference was in the nature of the trauma that had to be experienced to receive this diagnosis. The trauma criteria in DSM-IV-TR now specify that the affected person had to experience, witness, or be confronted with an event(s) that involved actual or threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others (Madill, 2006). The person also had to experience intense fear, helplessness, and/or horror in response to the traumatic event or events.

These changes have considerably broadened the types of events that can be considered as precipitants to PTSD since the traumatic event did not have to be directly experienced by the individual with PTSD symptoms or be highly unusual or statistically infrequent (Loftus, 2007). Consequently, PTSD has now been claimed to result after a variety of events, including a difficult labor (even with a healthy baby), a miscarriage, watching a traumatic event on TV, the shock of receiving even inaccurate bad news from a doctor, learning that one's child has a chronic disease such as diabetes, and completing work duties as a policeman or fireman. Of particular relevance to forensic psychologists is the determination that PTSD can also occur as a result of automobile accidents or workplace injuries and even in response to hearing sexual jokes or experiencing verbal harassment. Compensation for traumatic symptoms resulting from these types of events is now routinely being sought through legal channels (Goodman, 2008).

The symptom criteria for PTSD in DSM-IV-TR were also changed. To receive the diagnosis, the traumatized person is now required to report at least one reexperiencing symptom, three or more avoidant/ numbing symptoms, and two or more symptoms of hyperarousal as a response to the traumatizing event. Moreover, according to the DSM-IV-TR, the traumatized individual has to experience these symptoms for at least 1 month, which is considerably less than the 6 months required for the PTSD diagnosis as specified in the DSM-III (Clancy, 2006).

Another noteworthy addition is that PTSD is one of the few DSM-IV-TR diagnoses in which malingering is specifically identified as a necessary component of the differential diagnosis. Malingering has been defined as the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated symptoms, as a result of external incentives. Therefore, clinicians assessing PTSD need to be able to rule out malingering as a ...