Memory is freedom. Consider the recent movie, I Care a Lot, where a woman creates a successful legal guardian company that cons courts into believing senior citizens are senile and unfit to care for themselves so that she can swindle their life savings. Or the classic movie, Gaslight, where a husband questions his wife’s memory and purposely moves items and dims the gaslight to the point that she questions her sanity and agrees to going to a mental hospital (giving him the opportunity to steal her family jewels). Both movie examples show how people have been successfully manipulated by having their memory called into question.
In looking at memory, it might help to realize there are multiple layers of memory that involve different parts and processes in the brain (and sensory system). Many people are familiar with the broad categorization of memory as long-term memory and short-term memory. In long-term memory, there is declarative versus non-declarative memory. (It might help to imagine Scarlett O’ Hara saying, “I do declare.”_
In declarative memory, a person can describe their experiences. This is where facts and information can be learned along with the ability to answer “what” questions and is stored in the media temporal lobe (MTL) neocortex (after going through a few areas of brain because the brain is a complicated web of processes). The hippocampal (seahorse looking part of the brain) involved in this process is often an area that receives the greatest degradation in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), which may explain how getting lost and losing other details is one of the early symptoms of AD. Interestingly, victims of long-term abuse—like gaslighting manipulation and other forms of abuse—have also been shown to have deterioration to the hippocampus. This is why getting out of abusive situations is critical and why abusive parenting, abusive partners, abusive workplaces, and abusive coping mechanisms have been shown to decrease lifespans, increase diseases, decrease immunity, and decrease resilience.
Declarative memory can be further categorized into episodic memory, which allows the recall of life events and their time and place, and semantic memories, which account for the crystallized knowledge of information, rules, and processes without necessarily remembering where or when it was learned. Interestingly, significant memory deficits were found in chronic alcoholics who tended to display disordered memories of recent events. Sergei Korsakoff found one of the dangerous effects of deleterious alcohol use resulted in critical thiamine deficiency which damaged the nerve cells, parts of the brain, and spinal cord. Korsakoff Syndrome, named after Sergei, has symptoms that involve amnesia, tremors, coma, disorientation, and vision problems, along with impacts to short and long term memory.
Sadly, there is a vicious cycle between abuse and memory impacts. For instance, many children of active alcoholics experienced higher rates of abuse and went on to adopt risky behaviors, like alcohol and drug abuse that harms memory. Of those that didn’t succumb to maladaptive drinking and drugging, many have had higher rates of anxiety, depression, abusive relationships, and career instability. Some children may have developed full blown personality disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD) (which is marked by brain alterations and symptoms of increased emotional reactivity and heightened mood shifts, excessive fear of abandonment, identity confusion, dissociation, paranoia, impulsivity, self-injury, and self-harm threats, and memory issues). This does not mean that BPD only arises in children of alcoholics yet points to the risks that can occur in children who have experienced more abuses from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood maltreatment (CM). It is also important to note some children of alcoholic parents or those with higher ACEs and CM were able to find resources and consequently grew up with more resilience and sometimes a greater capacity to experience empathy for others.
Returning to the idea that memory is freedom, while studies have shown that we cannot always trust our memories as they are biased and colored with from various sensory inputs and altered through time, being of “sound mind” can be critical for one’s freedom, self-advocacy, and health. Finding ways to secure memory retention and thrive is important. Getting out of abusive situations is one of the first steps toward freedom and a thriving life. This includes self-abuse.
Brain-abuse self-assessment: If you are reading this and concerned about the impacts of abuses on your brain and in your life, try identifying and assessing the myriad of relational influences around you. This includes your partner, family, friends, employer, group affiliations, church, community, media consumption, food and dink consumption, self-talk, body relationship. You can make a list and write abuses that have occurred or are occurring next to each are OR write a number a number between 1 and 4 next to each area where 1 equals no abuse or neglect, 2 equals little to some abuse or neglect, 3 equals some abuse or neglect, and 4 equals frequent to steady abuse or neglect. If you discover abuses and neglect, ask what you can do to negotiate a healthier relationship. Sometimes healthy attempts at repairing can be accomplished. Other times, a farewell is in order. You can process your answers through a combination of journaling, meditating and/or exercising. I also encourage you to seek a supportive counselor or therapist that you trust to help you through this process. There are great results from trauma-informed solution-focused therapy practitioners that treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 10 sessions over a period of time that are aimed to empower you, build self-trust, and that discourage dependency (which is an ethical mandate).
Additionally, a discussion about brain and memory health cannot be concluded without the very real impacts from health behaviors that you can implement right now. Get nutrition. Eat more vegetables and lower sugar fruits as the antioxidants can help combat the oxidation caused by aging and stress. Good brain fuel includes non-toxic Omega-3 sources. Watch the dangers of inflammatory substances from sugar, processed food chemicals, overcooked foods, and metal contaminants. People with autoimmune diseases need to be cautious about their food intake as gluten, corn, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and dairy can exacerbate symptoms. Get sleep. Getting a full nights sleep (7-8 hours for adults and more for adolescents and kids) helps with memory processing, brain toxin waste cleanup, stress reduction, creativity, and anti-aging. Exercise. Physical activity helps everything. It lubricates joints, improves mood, helps the heart, and burns off stress (and fat). Get in nature. Humans have an essential symbiotic relationship with nature. Some trees and botanicals emit aromatics and neurochemicals (oh, and oxygen!) that stave off depression and improve our moods. Safe sun consumption provides life promoting vitamin D, which helps a host of bodily things including memory!
Finally, I will close this post with a quote from a woman that represents the hallmark of resilience, “So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.” -Hellen Keller
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