Psychopathological recreation or involuntary recurring memories is a psychological phenomenon in which a person experiences sudden, usually strong, repeated experiences of a past experience or its elements. Repetitions can be happy, sad, exciting, or some other [1] . The term is used, in particular, when the memories are repeated involuntarily and (or) when they are so intense that the person “relives” the experience.
Among drug users, the experiences of bright moments associated with the use of psychoactive substances were called “ flashback ” ( English flashback ). In ICD-10, flashback is indicated by the code F1x.70, where x is the designation of a group of substances. For example, a flashback associated with the use of hallucinogens is encoded as F16.70.
Content
History
Psychopathological experiences - "personal experiences involuntarily intruding into consciousness, without a deliberate attempt to restore them in memory" [2] . These experiences sometimes have little to do with what is happening. Psychopathological repetition of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can cause serious harm, affecting daily life [2] .
Memory includes functioning independently conscious (arbitrary), which are in consciousness, and unconscious (involuntary), which are in the unconscious, processes, [1] . Theoretical studies of memory were first begun by G. Ebbinghaus studying the processes of memorizing “meaningless syllables” [1] . He distinguished three separate classes of memory: sensory, short-term and long-term [3] . Sensory memory consists of a short-term storage of information (sensory registers) (the line that we see if we quickly move the Bengal fire into the field of view, it creates it) [3] . Short-term memory contains information that is currently used to perform direct tasks [3] . Long-term memory consists of systems that store information for extended periods of time. She makes it possible to recall what happened 2 days ago at noon, or who called last night [4] .
J. A. Miller (1920-2012) argued that one should not study such subtle things as involuntary memories. Apparently, this position of Miller was the reason why so far few studies of psychopathological experiences have been carried out in cognitive psychology . However, their study was carried out within the framework of clinical disciplines as symptoms of many disorders, in particular, PTSD.
Theoretical Approaches
Due to the elusive nature of involuntary repeated memories, very little is known about the subjective experience of psychopathological experiences. However, theoretical researchers agree that this phenomenon depends in part on the way in which memories of special events are coded (or recorded), organized in memory, and how the individual remembers such events [5] . In general, theoretical explanations of the phenomenon of psychopathological resurgence can be divided into two groups. The former are based on the fact that there is a special mechanism for recalling traumatic events, and are clinically based on the fact that involuntary psychopathological reproductive events arise as a result of traumatic events. Another point of view about the “basic mechanism” is more based on experiments on the study of memory and claims that traumatic memories are limited by the same parameters as everyday ones. Both points of view agree that involuntary recurring memories arise from rare abnormal, traumatic events.
These rare events cause strong emotional reactions of the individual, which sharply violate the usual expectations [6] . According to the point of view about the “special mechanism”, these events lead to fragmented random memory coding (in the sense that only certain isolated parts of the event are recorded), thus the subsequent conscious memory recovery is significantly complicated. On the other hand, involuntary repeated memories are more accessible when processing newly received information and are triggered by external stimuli. In contrast to this point of view, the point of view about the “main mechanism” asserts that traumatic events lead to an enhanced and related coding of events in memory and this makes involuntary and arbitrary memories for the subsequent challenge [7] .
At the moment, the subject of controversy is the basis for determining the criteria for the components of involuntary memory. Until recently, researchers believed that involuntary memories are the result of traumatic events experienced by an individual in a particular place and time, the temporal and spatial characteristics of which are lost during an involuntary memory episode. In other words, people suffering from psychopathological resentment lose their sense of place and time, feeling that they are experiencing rather than remembering an event [8] . This is consistent with the point of view of the “special mechanism” in that involuntary (unintentional) memory is based on a different mechanism than its arbitrary (intentional) counterpart. In addition, the emotions experienced during fixation in the memory are also re-experienced during an episode of psychopathic sympathies, and that can be especially unpleasant when the memory is about a traumatic event. In addition, it was shown that the nature of the psychopathological recreation experienced by individuals is static, maintaining the same shape with each invasion [9] . This happens even when a person received new information, which directly contradicts the information stored in obsessive memories [10] .
Further research found that involuntary memories are usually triggered either by an irritant (that is, everything that leads to a change in behavior) that occurred at the beginning of the traumatic event, or by a stimulus that contains strong emotional significance for the individual simply because he was closely connected with time injury [11] . These stimuli become evocative signals that, if met again, evoke memories. This concept is called the hypothesis of the calling signal. For example, a person experiences psychopathological repetition when he sees sunspots on his lawn. This is because he associates with the sunspots the headlights of the car with which he collided, which caused a terrible accident . According to A. Ehlers and D. Clark, traumatic memories are more likely to cause psychopathological resentment due to incorrect encoding because the individual does not take contextual information into account, as well as information about time and place, which is usually associated with everyday memories [10 ] . These people become more sensitive to the stimuli that they associate with the traumatic event, which then serve as triggers for psychopathological resurgence (although the context accompanying the stimulus may not be related to it, for example, sunspots are not connected with headlights). These triggers may cause an adaptive reaction during a traumatic experience, but they will soon become maladaptive if a person continues to react in the same way in situations where there is no danger [8] .
The viewpoint about the “special mechanism” complements the assumption that these triggers activate trauma memory fragments , but protective cognitive mechanisms act to suppress the memory of a traumatic event [12] . The dual representation theory reinforces this idea by proposing two separate mechanisms that make up arbitrary and involuntary memories, the first of which is called the verbal memory system, and the second the situational memory system [13] .
In contrast to the above, theories belonging to the point of view of the main mechanism believe that there are no separate mechanisms that make up arbitrary and involuntary memories. Recalls of stressful events do not differ for involuntary and voluntary memories. Instead, a different search mechanism for each type of call. With involuntary memories, an external trigger creates an uncontrolled distribution of memory activation, whereas with an arbitrary call, this activation is strictly controlled and targeted [12] .
Neurophysiology
Anatomy
Several areas of the brain are associated with the neurological substrate of reproduction. Most often, medial temporal lobes, anterior crust, anterior cingulate gyrus, and anterior frontal cortex are associated with the location of involuntary memories (see Bark of the big hemispheres ) [14] .
Medial temporal lobes are usually associated with memory [15] . More specifically, they are associated with episodic (descriptive) memory, therefore, their violation leads to failures in its work [15] . The hippocampus, located in the area of the medial temporal lobes, is also closely associated with memory processes [15] . It has many features; they also include aspects of memory fusion [15] . Studies on neuroimaging have shown that psychopathological reproduction activates sites associated with the return of memories [14] . The anterior wedge located in the superior parietal lobe and the posterior cingulate gyrus are also involved in these processes [14] . In addition, studies have shown activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex during re-emergence [14] .
Thus, the medial temporal lobes, the pre-wedge, the upper parietal lobe and the posterior cuscus are associated with psychopathological sympathies according to their roles in memory restoration.
Long-Term Memory
Memory is usually divided into sensory, short-term and long-term [15] . According to A. Rasmusin and D. Bernstein (2009), “long-term memory processes can be the core of spontaneous thoughts” [14] . Thus, the processes of memory related to psychopathological recreation are processes of long-term memory. In addition, studies by A. Rasmusin and D. Bernshtein in 2009 showed that long-term memory is also susceptible to external factors, such as the effect of successive positions , when activation of repetitions is readily available [14] . Compared to arbitrary memory, involuntary memory is extracted faster and requires less cognitive effort. Finally, involuntary memory arises due to automatic processing of data independent of high-level cognitive tracking, or executive control of this processing. Arbitrary memory is usually associated with context-sensitive information that allows a connection between time and place, which is unnatural for psychopathological experiences. According to K. Brevin, R. Lanius, and their co-authors, psychopathological reproach is separated from contextual information, that is, from place and time [16] .
Clinical studies
At the moment there are no specific signs of psychopathological reproachings. Several studies suggest various likely factors. N. Gunasekaran and other researchers in 2009 indicate that there may be a connection between food deprivation and stress and the frequency of psychopathological reproductions [17] . Neurologists argue that convulsions associated with the temporal lobes also have a certain relation to them [15] .
On the other hand, several ideas, in the sense of provoking reprisals by these phenomena, are no longer taken into account. R. Tim and other researchers include in this list the use of drugs and other substances, hallucinations , including Charles Bonnet, palynopsia , dissociative disorders , and depersonalization [18] .
It was carried out, by conducting a survey , a study of traumatic memories existing in prisoners of war [19] during World War II , their degree and strength. The study concluded that the existence of serious autobiographical traumatic memories can last over 65 years. Until recently, the study of psychopathological experiences was limited by participants who had already transferred them, for example, suffering from PTSD, limiting scientists to observation-based and diagnostic rather than experimental studies [19] .
Neuroimaging based studies
To study psychopathological resurgence, neuroimaging technology is used. Using it, researchers are trying to uncover the structural and functional differences in the anatomy of the brain in people suffering from repressions, compared with those who do not suffer from them. Neuroimaging includes a combination of technologies, including CT , PET , MRI (including functional - fMRI ) and MEG . These studies are based on modern psychological theories, including one of them, according to which there is a difference between apparent and hidden memory. This difference determines whether conscious or unconscious memories occur [20] .
These methods are mainly based on subtractive (associated with the subtraction of elements) reasoning, in which the patient consciously reproduces the memories, and then reproduces them unconsciously. Unconscious memories (or repressions) evoke in a research participant by reading him an emotionally colored text created especially for this purpose in patients with PTSD. Researchers record areas of the brain that are active in these states, and then subtract them. All that remains is the supposed basis for the difference between states [20] .
Mental Illness or Drug Use Conditions
Psychopathological repression is often associated with mental illness , as it is a symptom and leading diagnostic criterion for PTSD , acute stress response, and OCD [21] . They are also often seen with normal and agitated depression , nostalgia , near-death experiences , epilepsy, or drug overdose . Some researchers argue that the use of certain drugs [22] [23] can lead to psychopathological repressions. LSD users sometimes report so-called “acid flashbacks”. At the same time, other scientists argue that using drugs, especially cannabinoids , can reduce flashbacks in people with PTSD [24] .
In popular culture
This psychological phenomenon is often portrayed in cinema and on television . Among the most accurate media images of psychopathic discomfort, we can mention those related to the period of wartime , as well as those associated with PTSD caused by injuries and stresses of war [1] . One of the earliest screen portraits is the 1945 film Mildred Pierce [25] .
See also
- Post traumatic stress disorder
- Involuntary memory
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Bernsten D. & Rubin, D. Emotionally Charged Autobiographical Memories Across the Life Span: The Recall of Happy, Sad, Traumatic, and Involuntary Memories (Eng.) // Psychology and Aging. - 2002 . - No. 17 (4) . - p . 636-652 . )
- 2 1 2 Ball C., Little J., Kahook MY, & Saed D. A Comparison of Involuntary Autobiographical Memory Retrievals (Eng.) // Applied Cognitive Psychology. - 2006 . - No. 20 - P. 1167-1179 . )
- ↑ 1 2 3 Baddeley A., Eysneck, M., Anderson M. Memory. - New York : Psychology Press, 2009 .
- ↑ Brewin C., Gregory J., Lipton M., Burgess N. Intrusive Images in Psychological Disorders: Characteristics, Neural Mechanisms, and Treatment Implications (Eng.) // Psychological Review. - 2010 . - No. 117 (1) . - P. 210-232 . )
- Ehlers A., Hackmann A., Michael T. Intrusive Re-Experiencing in post-traumatic stress disorder: Phenomenology, theory and therapy (Engl.) // Memory. - 2004 . - No. 12 (4) . - P. 403-415 . )
- ↑ Rubin D., Boals A., Berntsen D. Memory in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Properties of Voluntary and Involuntary, Traumatic and Non-traumatic Autobiographical Memories in People With and Without Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (English) // Journal of Experimental Psychology . - 2008 . - No. 137 (4) . - P. 591-614 . )
- ↑ Hall NM, Berntsen D. The effect of emotional stress on involuntary and voluntary conscious memories (Eng.) // Memory. - 2008 . - No. 16 . - P. 48-57 . )
- ↑ 1 2 Ehlers A., Hackmann A., Michael T. Intrusive Re-Experiencing in post-traumatic stress disorder: Phenomenology, theory and therapy (Engl.) // Memory. - 2004. - No. 12 (4) . - P. 403-415 . )
- Der van der Kolk BA, van der Hart O. The American Imago. - 1991 . - No. 48 . - P. 425–454 . )
- ↑ 1 2 Ehlers A., Clark DM A cognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder (Eng.) // Behaviour Research and Therapy. - 1991 . - No. 38 - p . 319-345 . )
- ↑ Ehlers A., Hackmann A., Steil R., Clohessy S., Wenninger K., Winter H. The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: The warning signal hypothesis (Eng.) // Behavior and Research Therapy. - 2002. - No. 40 . - P. 1021-1028 . )
- ↑ 1 2 Rubin D., Boals A., Berntsen D. Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Properties of Voluntary and Involuntary, Traumatic and Nontraumatic Autobiographical Memories in People With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (Eng.) // Journal of Experimental Psychology . - 2008. - No. 137 (4) . - P. 591-614 .
- ↑ Brewin CR, Dalgleish T., Joseph S. A dual field theory of post-traumatic stress disorder (Eng.) // Psychological Review. - 1996 . - No. 103 (4) . - P. 670–686 .
- 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rasmuseen A., Berntsen D. The Possible Functions of Involuntary Autobiographical Memories (Engl.) // Applied Cognitive Psychology. - 2009. - No. 23 . - P. 1137-1152 . )
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pinel J. Biopsyschology. - Boston : Pearson, 2009.
- ↑ Brenwin C., Lanius R., Novac A., Schnyder U., Galea S. Reformulating PTSD for DSM-V: Life After Criterion A (Eng.) // Journal of Traumatic Stress. - 2009. - No. 22 (5) . - P. 366-373 . )
- ↑ Gunasekaran N., Long L., Dawson B., Hansen G., Richardson D., Li K., Arnold J., McGregor I. Reintoxication: the release of fat-stored D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) into blood is enhanced by food deprivation or ACTH exposure // British Journal of Pharmacology. - 2009. - No. 158 . - P. 1330-1337 . )
- ↑ Tym R., Beaumont P., Lioulios T. Two Persisting Pathophysiological Visual Phenomena Following Psychological Trauma and Their Elimination With Rapid Eye Movements: A Possible Refinement of Construct of PTSD and Its Visual State Marker exposure (Eng.) // Traumatology. - 2009. - No. 15 . - P. 23 . )
- ↑ 1 2 Rintamaki LS, Weaver FM, Elbaum PL, Klama EM, Miskevics SA Persistence of traumatic memories in World War II prisoners of war (Eng.) // Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. - December 2009. - No. 57 (12) . - P. 2257-2262 . - DOI : 10.1111 / j.1532-5415.2009.02608.x .
- ↑ 1 2 Mace, JH Involuntary Memory. - Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, 2007 .
- ↑ Brewin C., Gregory J., Lipton M. & Burgess N. Intrusive Images in Psychological Disorders: Characteristics, Neural Mechanisms, and Treatment Implications (Eng.) // Psychological Review. - 2010 . - No. 117 (1) . - P. 210-232 . )
- Hi Ribhi H., Cadet JL, Kahook MY, & Saed D. Ocular Manifestations of Crystal Methamphetamine Use. Neurotoxicity Research (Eng.) // Psychological Review. - January 2009 . - No. 15 (2) . - P. 187-191 . - DOI : 10.1007 / s12640-009-9019-z .
- ↑ Suzuki J., Halpern JH, Passie T., & Huertas PE Pharmacology and treatment of substance abuse: Evidence- and outcome-based perspectives. - 2009.
- Ser Fraser GA cannabinoid in the management of treatment-resistant nightmares in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neurotoxicity Research (Eng.) // CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics. - spring 2009. - No. 15 (1) . - P. 84-88 . )
- ↑ Tim Dirks. Mildred Pierce (1945 ) . Greatest Films . Filmworks. - Comments on the movie Mildred Pierce. Date of treatment June 22, 2011. Archived February 18, 2012.