What should be done to lose memory. Is it possible to deliberately lose memory and how to do it? Why memory lapses happen

There are situations when memory loss seems the only way get rid of unwanted memories. Asking the question "How to lose memory?" remember that this condition radically changes a person's life and can cause the complete destruction of a person's personality.

Types of amnesia and their causes

Regardless of the causes of occurrence, the state of amnesia has many types, each of which has its own characteristics.

Anterograde amnesia

In most cases, the cause of anterograde amnesia is a traumatic brain injury or severe stress. A feature of this type is the preservation of memories of events preceding the disease. At the same time, newly incoming information is not stored in memory at all.

retrograde amnesia

Signs of retrograde amnesia are completely opposite to anterograde. With a clear perception of reality, the patient cannot remember the events that happened to him before the onset of amnesia.

traumatic amnesia

The state of traumatic amnesia is temporary and occurs as a result of various head injuries (falling on the head of a heavy object, blow). Its duration depends on the strength of the blow.

hysterical amnesia

This type of amnesia is a reaction of flight from the memory of an event that the brain is not able to cope with. Loss can be such an impetus. loved one, sexual violence, man-made disaster, participation in hostilities or terrorist acts, and so on. In this case, a person loses not only memories of the past, but also personal identification. In most cases, the memory returns, but the memories that caused the emotional shock can be erased from memory forever.

How to intentionally lose your memory

It is possible to artificially induce organic amnesia by taking a number of medicines: tranquilizers, cyclic antidepressants, antiadrenergic and antiprogestogen drugs.

Another radical way to lose memory is a head injury. You should not ask strangers about this, since criminal liability is provided for such an action.

Alcohol abuse, as well as the use of hallucinogenic drugs (henbane, dope, some types of mushrooms, synthetic compounds) can lead to partial memory loss.

The safest way to get rid of unwanted memories is a course of hypnosis. An experienced doctor will help erase unpleasant moments from memory in a few sessions.

Thinking about how to lose your memory, you should not experience the methods described. Remember that curing amnesia is much more difficult than acquiring it.

Human memory cannot be represented as some kind of “barn book”, in which everything that a person has ever seen, heard and experienced is recorded once and for all. Memory is a living phenomenon; nerve connections in the cerebral cortex arise and disappear. First of all, those connections that are too rarely activated or not activated at all break down - that is why a person forgets the information that he does not use.

In some cases, forgetting plays the role of a protective mechanism: memory gets rid of traumatic information associated with negative emotions. This is especially often associated with a strong fright, while the consequences of stress in the form of a nervous breakdown remain. So, in the Middle Ages, legends were born about the abduction of people by elves, wood goblins and other fantastic creatures, and now about abduction by aliens.

The problem of artificial forgetting is related to the need to help people suffering from negative memories. To a certain extent, hypnosis provides such an opportunity. In such experiments, people, at the command of a hypnotist, even forgot their own name for several minutes. Some of the results are amazing. For example, one hypnotist made the patient forget about ... allergies. During the next flowering of herbs, this man really did not feel the usual painful symptoms for him. However, the possibilities of hypnosis in this regard are limited: memories do not disappear, but are blocked, and something can bring them back to life. The mentioned patient had an allergy again after talking about it with the doctor.

Memory can be influenced chemically, for example, by blocking the action of the protein kinase enzyme. A group of scientists from the University of California, led by D. Glanzman, proved the possibility of blocking negative memories in this way. True, the object of research was the snail, its nervous system is incomparable with the human one, and no one can say how selective forgetting will be in humans.

Similar "memory pills" that weaken neural connections are also being developed by Russian scientists led by K. Anokhin. This drug is supposed to be used against the background of the patient's active recall of those episodes that he would like to forget. But we are not talking about practical application yet. According to K. Anokhin, "brain chemistry is much easier to break than to improve."

Genuine memories can be partially blocked by the creation of false ones. To do this, it is enough to give the installation. For example, in one experiment, subjects were asked if they had met Bunny the Rabbit at Disneyland. People remembered such a meeting, despite the fact that this character is not in Disneyland. Sometimes the setting is given by the prevailing moods in society. For example, in the 70s. 20th century many American women "remembered" sexual abuse by their father, uncle, or older brother, allegedly taking place in childhood. It is also possible to deliberately introduce false memories to a specific person, especially if he is distinguished by increased suggestibility.

In general, scientists are reserved about the idea of selective memory erasure. Even if this becomes technically possible in the future, no one can say how the forgetting of negative episodes from the past will affect the patient's memory and his mental life as a whole.

Some people, especially those with acting talent, may pretend to have amnesia in order to play pranks on friends and have a laugh together. Maybe you like doing unexpected things and seeing people's reactions, or maybe you just want to try your hand at being an actor. Regardless of the cause, a person can mimic amnesia for a while.

Steps

Part 1

General information about amnesia

Decide what type of amnesia you will mimic. This is what your future behavior depends on. You can pretend to have short-term amnesia, where you remember the president's name, this year, and other information, but can't remember what you ate for breakfast or what TV show you watched an hour ago (anterograde amnesia). You can also pretend that you have forgotten your entire life after a certain point (retrograde amnesia).

Examine the symptoms of the chosen type of amnesia. Despite the rare cases of the disease, amnesia is well researched. There is a wealth of information available about symptoms and causes, which means you can be well prepared. Cases of amnesia are divided into two main types:

Anterograde amnesia - you remember events from the past that happened before the injury (usually physical injuries to the head), but have lost the ability to turn short-term memory into long-term memory. New information just doesn't stay in your brain.
Retrograde amnesia - you do not remember personal details from the past between a certain point in life and the event that triggered the amnesia. For example, you remember basic information about the world around you (how to use a fork), but you don't remember your friends or when you moved into your current apartment.

Come up with a compelling story about the origin of amnesia. In some cases of amnesia, people do not remember how it came about, while in others they may have some hunches. The most common treatment for amnesia begins with a psychiatric evaluation to determine the cause (unless a blow to the head is the cause).

Have fun in moderation. If you pretend too long and don't tell anyone, then your loved ones may get angry at you or start to worry. Don't forget that this is a joke that can't last long. You absolutely do not need such a prank to negatively affect your relationships with others. You should always know the measure.

Part 3

How to make your game more convincing

Plan ahead. Convincingly imitate amnesia - not an easy task so it's best to prepare ahead of time. To get started, ask yourself a few questions:

How did you get amnesia and how are you going to talk about it? If it's a head injury, then people will want to see the bump. If it is a disease, then you should choose a very likely disease and simulate some symptoms. In the case of emotional trauma, you need to come up with a good backstory.
How severe is your memory loss? You need to figure out what information you don't remember before you start your prank. If you're going to pretend to forget the names of your roommates, then you can mistakenly give the real name and you'll get caught. You can try to keep a secret diary in which you write down the "forgotten" and "known" facts.
When will your memory return? Try to plan ahead for how long the amnesia will last and how you are going to end the prank. If you want to pretend that you have regained your memory, then you should come up with a reliable event that will provoke such a reaction, especially if your amnesia "happened" after a traumatic event. It should also be remembered that with head injuries, temporary amnesia usually occurs, and memory gradually returns.

Warnings

If you want to fake amnesia, keep your prank short and funny. The longer you pretend, the more problems you may have.

Memory is considered one of the many phenomena that is still not fully understood. Each of us is familiar with situations when you forget your keys to the house, a scheduled meeting flies out of your head, etc. Everyone has small memory lapses, but if they happen too often, there is reason to think. This may be a symptom of a serious illness. Memory loss is seen in both young and old people. The second option is more common and popular. Unfortunately, close relatives and friends of older people often do not attach due importance to memory lapses.

Memory loss: what is it called and what is it?

We can distinguish four processes into which memory is divided: memorization, preservation, reproduction and forgetting. In this article, we will talk about the last of them. In medicine, memory loss is called amnesia. There are two main types: partial and complete. The first option is a completely normal situation, because every person is prone to forgetting something insignificant. As for the second kind, it represents the loss of memories completely. However, it should be noted that amnesia in this form is treatable.

Loss of memories is seen mainly in the elderly. Close people need to make every effort to protect their friend or relative aged from such an ailment. Even if there are no obvious reasons for unrest, it is still worth carefully monitoring the situation. As you know, everything happens from small to big: from forgetting your affairs two days ago to complete amnesia.

Short-term type of memory loss

Short-term memory loss is common among old people. It is characterized by the loss of vivid memories of events that occurred several days or months ago. This syndrome lasts for a couple of minutes, it cannot last for years.

The causes of this disease can be head injuries, medication, infectious diseases. Sometimes short-term memory loss occurs when trying to lose weight through hunger strikes and strict diets. For older people, the most common source of the problem is medication. Experts in the field of medicine call this syndrome "forgetfulness of the elderly." It can be cured with certain medicines, principles proper nutrition and some tips for improving brain activity.

Acute type amnesia

This type of memory loss is very similar to the previous one. It is observed most often in older people, manifested by the fact that there is a rapid deviation from the intended goal. The simplest example: a person goes to the kitchen for water, and on the way he forgets what he wanted to do. Severe amnesia also occurs in young people. This is due to a malfunction in the functioning of the brain. From a medical point of view, a reaction occurs, similar to a mini-stroke, and the previous activity suffers from this.

Among the reasons for the appearance of such an ailment, one can single out a sharp rise from a sitting position and other similar actions. Memory loss in the elderly has more serious consequences. Therefore, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will prescribe drugs aimed at improving vascular activity, which will benefit the old people.

sudden amnesia

Here we will talk about the loss of memories, which can lead to death. This refers to cases where people leave the house to shop, and then cannot find their way back due to forgetfulness. Unfortunately, modern medicine has not yet fully studied this phenomenon, so the question remains open.

Those who have experienced sudden memory loss cannot remember their name or any other data from their past. The danger of this type of amnesia lies in the impossibility of determining the sources of the disease. It turns out that no one is immune from such a phenomenon, even all preventive measures in the world will not help. Of course, there are cases when memories are completely lost due to a head injury or an infection, but most situations cannot be rationally explained. Such patients often go missing, and if they are found, it is very difficult to determine anything. Close relatives are only rarely announced, which makes the problem even more serious.

Sclerosis: what is it?

Many people equate amnesia with however doing so is wrong. Multiple sclerosis is a complete disease in which part of the brain cells die. This development of events is associated with the accumulation of cholesterol plaques in the vessels, which interferes with the blood circulation process. Sclerosis in rare cases attacks young people, but the elderly are more affected. Let's see why:

The blood supply is disrupted a priori. It is logical that when the body ages, the vessels also age, losing their elasticity. Sclerosis in such situations is manifested by insomnia and irritability.
Cell renewal is slow. With age, the regeneration process slows down significantly, and renewal is necessary for normal life.
Degradation of the processes occurring in the body. As you know, the brain transmits impulses to nerve cells, in older people this function works worse, due to which mental and motor activity decreases.

Causes of amnesia

To determine the severity of the disease, it is necessary to study the sources. The causes of memory loss are often:

chronic diseases of any nature, strong blows and severe head injuries;
disorders of brain activity, destruction of nerve cells, disorders;
insomnia, sedentary lifestyle, metabolic disorders in the body;
lesions leading to improper circulation, depression and stress, bouts of chronic fatigue;
lethargy or overexcitation, malnutrition.

Amnesia sometimes occurs due to excessive thoughtfulness and distracted attention. Young people should carefully study their behavior in order to get rid of all preconditions. You may experience memory loss after a major shock, such as a car or plane crash.

signs

Loss of memories can act as a full-fledged disease that has its own causes and symptoms. We have reviewed the sources, now let's talk about the signs:

a person does not fulfill the promise due to forgetfulness;
often there is inattention in the conduct of affairs;
absent-mindedness, there are violations in speech;
irritability for no apparent reason, the person himself cannot explain why he is so angry;
sometimes you can track the change in handwriting;
chronic fatigue, rapid fatigue, constantly observed Bad mood not caused by any factor.

The disease of memory loss, accompanied by these symptoms, can develop in a person aged 40-50 years. If you notice such signs in your loved one, you should consult a doctor for treatment. Elderly people in any case should undergo therapy, regardless of the manifestations of the disease.

Diagnostics

Before prescribing therapy, the attending physician must conduct a study in order to identify the disease. Diagnostics involves determining the nature of amnesia, which in the future will give a complete picture for the restoration of memory processes. The most effective laboratory measures for determining the diagnosis are: EEG, computed tomography, biochemical general analysis blood, duplex scanning, etc.

The specific procedure is prescribed by the attending physician, depending on the situation. Basically, there is a study of the brain, and all its processes. Based on the results of the study, the doctor makes a diagnosis. Then the method of treatment is selected, and therapy is prescribed. It is not recommended to recover on your own, because taking certain medications will only aggravate the situation, possibly provoking a stroke or heart attack.

How to treat memory loss?

It depends primarily on the nature of the problem. There are at least two types of therapy in this situation: medical and psychological. Let's start with the first option.

Partial memory loss is treated with the following medications:

"Trental" will improve the process of blood circulation in the brain;
"Piracetam" and "Actovegin" are aimed at preventing the destruction of neurons (these are the cells of the nervous system that transmit information from the brain);
"Glycine" is used to improve memory function.

A number of other seemingly similar drugs differ in their contraindications and side effects. It is for this reason that it is forbidden to self-medicate.

Psychotherapy

Psychological treatment involves the restoration of the brain system with the help of classes with professionals. The most effective is complex therapy, which includes both medications and communication with psychologists. Defectologists, psychotherapists quite often limit themselves to solving riddles and puzzles, board games. Such simple methods help to activate brain activity, which will sooner or later lead to a positive result.

If there is a severe case, specialists use hypnosuggestive therapy. Hypnosis allows a person to recall many moments from life. But such treatment should only be carried out by a professional, because there is a chance of aggravating the situation.

Daily regime

How to treat memory loss in the elderly? It is not recommended to send them to special medical institutions, this will only worsen the situation. An older person will recover faster in the circle of people close to him. On the part of relatives, it is necessary to provide:

sleep of an old man at least 9 hours a day, and maybe more, depending on age;
a calm atmosphere in the house: forget about quarrels and disputes, it is advisable not to raise your voice when talking;
attention: sometimes an elderly person needs a little conversation, it is better to spend as much time as possible with him (play, walk, watch TV, etc.);
fresh air: every day you need to walk with the old man, at least an hour, preferably twice a day;
moderate physical exercise: here we mean morning exercises, if it’s hard for an elderly person, do gymnastics together.

The key word in the last factor is moderate. In no case should overload be allowed, this will worsen the general condition of a person. Exercises and the number of their performances will be prescribed by the attending physician after the examination.

Prevention

It is impossible to completely prevent the disease. The only thing that can be done is to slow the progression of the disease through preventive measures. Already at the age of 20, the process of death of brain cells begins in a person. However, this is not a sentence, if the right actions are performed, other cells with the functions of the destroyed ones will be repurposed.

Such processes occur due to a number of factors:

reading, and no matter what kind of literature: be it fiction, historical or documentary;
learning new skills, including singing, dancing, sewing, etc.;
study of foreign languages;
solving puzzles, crosswords and crossword puzzles, this slows down the process of memory loss by an average of three years;
active life with constant communication.

In addition to the above preventive measures, it is necessary to exclude the impact of negative factors. This includes alcohol and smoking. In addition, follow the daily routine: observe 8-hour daily sleep, eat right, you need to diversify the diet with vegetables and fruits.

Is it possible to erase a person's memory? This cannot be done completely, but managing your own negative memories is real. The girl Anastasia, who suffered for a long time from obsessive images from the past, managed to learn how to manage them.

How to erase from memory memories that interfere with a peaceful life?

“I have always had a lot of situations in my life in which I looked stupid from the outside. It happens that you say something wrong, you behave strangely, then you are ashamed, you remember, you digest the story. All this settles in my head for a long time, pops up at the most inopportune moment. Such an obsessive lump is spinning in the head and does not give rest.

I often had insomnia. As a result, suffering is both physical and moral oppression. I signed up for a psychologist, because I thought that in my situation this was the only way out. The constant dialogue in my head, unpleasant thoughts and memories did not allow me to calmly do business, live normally.

The psychologist advised me one exercise for intrusive memories that will help me control them. The point is to present the negative event as if it were on a movie screen. It is important to make the image large, and the format narrow and long.

Then zoom out to a small dot. After returning the image to its previous size, saturate it with color, increase the brightness. Next, remove the color completely, make it black and white. The next step is to present the frame in green, blue, and finally orange.

It is necessary to reduce the contrast of the picture so as not to distinguish between the background and the figures. Scroll the frames in reverse, stop. Look at the picture on different speed– from high to slow. Try to hear sounds.

Make it as loud as possible, then turn it down. Change the image settings back. Turn off the sound slowly, then freeze the picture. Reduce the brightness and intensity, blur the picture. Turn off the image. Leave a completely white screen. Turn it mentally into a white dot, and then into a ring of smoke. Your memory is gone.

At first it seemed difficult, but over time I brought the exercise to automatism. As soon as I have unpleasant memories, I get rid of them with this powerful method.

Forgetting as a normal memory process

Have you seen the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? This is a fantasy drama in which lovers, with the help of special program erased the memory of the person. Rather, it was done by specialists from the company providing this service.

But in life everything happens a little differently. Over time, all vivid emotions and experiences, spoken words and committed actions are erased from memory on their own, blurred, begin to seem distant and unimportant.

In this case, erasing from memory is a natural process, but it takes some time. It could be years, even decades. In this case, it is much more difficult to erase a person from memory if he played a big role in your life (beloved, beloved, close).

If a person is no longer in your life, then over time, the emotions experienced with him become dull, especially if another has come to replace him.

Erasing a person's memory is a strategy. You have to allow yourself to forget the specific details of the event in order to get rid of the whole memory.

This means that when the human brain tries to remember something intentionally (images, words, events), it creates a certain context. When trying to forget this context, it is rejected, so a person creates memories with difficulty, which then does not last long.

It's harder to forget something if the memory is reinforced by triggers. How to erase your memory at home? Try turning to the method of flying technology.

Flight technology: description of the method

How do you erase a person's memory? There are techniques that suppress memories, but not completely. They will help if you are wondering how to erase a person from memory.

The word "aircraft" comes from the root "summer" - it is a river of oblivion in the underworld. Flight-technical methods are used in two cases: to suppress psycho-traumatic memories (obtrusive), and to erase information that has become unnecessary.

How to erase this or that event from the memory of a person? There are several summer technical methods.

Suppression. It is more often used if intrusive negative memories are tormenting. The more diligently they try to forget and not remember, the more intrusive they become. To remove the obsessive state, you must use a special exercise called "burning letter". Its essence is that it is necessary to describe this memory on a piece of paper, mentally present it in the form of a picture. When memories are described and visualized, the person is freed from them. After the sheet with the text you need to burn, looking at the fire. It is important to understand at the same time that the events of the past crumble, turning into nothing. There is also an exercise “TV”, which helps to stop being afraid of memories.
Removal. How to erase memories from memory? There is another strategy that allows you to delete information that is no longer relevant. One of the exercises should include the “flying rag”. If some information is present in the memory in the form of images, you need to mentally take a large rag and erase the unnecessary. It is important to vividly imagine that the images are removed, disappear, dissipate and no longer exist.

How to erase a person's memory at home? Make it simple. Use the presented techniques regularly to develop a habit.

They are safe enough, so it is not difficult to get rid of the negativity in your head. If you are interested in how to erase the memory of a person, then pay attention to the deletion technique. Perhaps, one should use the author's method of forgetting S.V. Shereshevsky.

Does it make sense to erase events? The value of experience, consequences

Can a person's memory be completely erased? No, this cannot be done. But how do you erase bad memories from your mind? It is for this that special techniques are most often needed, some even use hypnosis to forget this or that situation.

The main indications for erasing memory are traumatic situations: crimes, hostilities, rapes, accidents, disasters. In this case, negative experience is not valuable, because it drives a person into depression, prevents him from living a normal life.

Memory erasure by hypnosis is necessary and is most often performed by a professional. In any case, you can also get rid of negative states on your own, but this is already psychological work. The traumatic situation must be accepted and realized.

Try to understand why it happened to you. The work is not easy. Perhaps if you survived it and remained physically intact, then this is the path to self-knowledge. Even if the situation in the past was terrible, you are alive, so it is important to realize one thing - this is a positive moment.

Comprehension of the lesson is the step that helps to get rid of negative emotions, to stop causing the events of the past. If you can’t erase memories from memory, then contact an experienced psychologist who knows certain techniques, including hypnosis.

Rarely, but it happens that memory erasure is a spontaneous phenomenon. This is a protective reaction of the body, that is, forgetting is a natural mechanism.

In this case, traumatic information is completely destroyed, including negative emotions. A similar reaction is included if a person has experienced a strong fright. However, this does not solve the problem, as a nervous breakdown will remain.

How to erase a person's memory? There are artificial methods of forgetting information, including hypnosis, chemical exposure, the creation of false memories, neurolinguistic programming.

Hypnosis. This is an artificial forgetting that is suitable for people who have not been able to cope with negative emotions on their own. In this case, memories are not removed from memory, but blocked. Memory erasing with hypnosis is effective, but not for everyone. Memories can come back if you remember them.
Chemical substances. These are pills that weaken neural connections. They help if you need to forget some episode.
False memories. Their substitution takes place, similar acts with easily suggestible people.
NLP. Influences people's memories with the help of psychological techniques (words, gestures, intonations).

It is important to understand that it is possible to delete a person from memory, an event or an episode from life, but in the end the personality will change.

Such experiments can lead to mental disorders that can no longer be cured without the help of doctors. Is memory intervention worth such sacrifices? You decide.

How to proceed?

Can memory be erased? It will not work completely. There is a very wise saying that says: "Memory can't be buried." How to erase the past from memory forever.

Perhaps it makes sense to follow this advice: "I cannot forget, but I can forgive." If a situation from the past was traumatic, let it go for your own good. You definitely won’t be able to change anything, but to improve your life due to the fact that it is no more - yes.