Traumatic memories "stickier" than happy ones

Feb 22, 2007 — TORONTO (Reuters) - Memories of traumatic events are not suppressed by the people who experienced them but can be recalled clearly, according to Canadian researchers.

Sigmund Freud developed a theory that victims of horrific events repressed difficult memories in order to cope with what happened to them.

But scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax found in a five-year study that pleasant events were more difficult to recall than unhappy ones.

"We were frankly blown away," lead author Stephen Porter said in an interview.

"We were surprised at how consistent (the traumatic memories) were relative to the good memories in life which had deteriorated dramatically and looked nothing like the reports that we heard about years ago."