A Towering Debate
             Ever wondered if it is possible to forget a major event in your life and then after several years just recover that lost memory? If you have and were unable to reach a conclusion on this issue you are not alone. The reliability of repressed and recovered memories has been one of the most controversial issues in the field of Psychology during the last two decades. Even after years of researches and debates, no one could claim with certainty that repression of memory occurs or does not occur or that recovered memories are trustworthy or vice versa (Lynn and McConkey 33). Repressed memories are those memories that are "buried away from the conscious mind; [repression is] an unconscious mechanism for not remembering" (Baker 22). According to many mental health professionals, repressed memories "can linger intact for years or even decades until some experience, stimulus, or process calls it up" (Til 22), and they define recovered memories as repressed memories "brought back to consciousness" (Wassil-Grimm 73). However there are others who deny the existence of repressed memories. According to them repression of memories never happen, and they are convinced that recovered memories are always a result of therapy (Worsnop 593). So we have two groups trying to prove themselves right. In the light of many recent developments including court trials based on the recovered memories of the accuser, it becomes highly important to understand the repressed-memory debate.
             During the past decade, the day-to-day problems of most grown adults, such as depression, eating disorders, and marital difficulties, were linked to repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse by recovered memory therapists. And, the trend still continues (Til 34). Adult children of many parents have pressed and are pressing charges of child sexual abuse against their parents. During the first five year of the Fa...