lse Memory Syndrome Foundation's operation, 20,000 affected families had contacted them. And these numbers are mounting at a very fast rate (Til 19-20). It is of great concern because no one knows for sure if repressed and recovered memories can be trusted. And the strength of arguments presented by both the pros and cons of repressed memories increases our confusion (Davies and Dalgleish 73).
             Those who believe that repression of memories can occur base their belief on two phenomena known as selective amnesia and motivated forgetting and on the fact that "memories lose shape and substance as time goes by" (Loftus and Ketcham 214). In selective amnesia, "the brain snips out certain traumatic events and stores the edited pieces in a special, inaccessible memory drawer" (Loftus and Ketcham 215). The researchers who support the truth of repressed memories argue that "when the mind encounters a trauma too difficult to process it develops a long-term coping strategy usually identified in the public debate as repression: it stuffs all memories of that frightful and threatening event down into some deep stellar of the unconscious" (Til 22). According to Kathryn Fong of the Bryn Mawr College "the memories of such horrors have been erased so there is no recollection of the events" (Fong). In other words, the mind selectively removes certain memories that are very upsetting for it to handle. The phenomenon of motivated thinking is also used by some supporters of the repressed memory to support their stand (Brenneis 46). In motivated thinking "we push unacceptable or anxiety-provoking thoughts and impulses out of our conscious minds in order to avoid thinking about them" (Loftus and Ketcham 214-215). Renowned psychologist Brooks Brenneis argues that we purposely and intentionally try not to think about disturbing events such as the death of a parent (Brenneis 18). According to Judith Lewis H...