Victims of childhood sexual abuse have long had support groups. Now
there's an organization to aid the victims of imaginary memories of
incest and abuse.
As the awareness of childhood sexual abuse has grown, so have false
accusations of abuse--often the result of misguided therapeutic programs.
Philadelphia psychologist Pam Freyd, Ph.D., decided to combat this trend
and set up the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. In its first year alone,
over 1,200 families made contact all with heartbreaking claims to defend
themselves over accusations from one of their own.
Many psychologists have seen families torn apart by false memory
syndrome and place much of the blame on a new type of therapist, the
"traumatist." Encouraged by popular notions of victimization and
prime-time disclosures of all kinds of abuse, the traumatist urges
patients to remember sexual abuse or violence in childhood--whether it
happened or not. False Memory Syndrome is now so prevalent that Paul
McHugh, M.D., director of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, compares the
situation to the Salem witch trials.
At issue are the methods used to elicit memories, namely hypnosis
and "narcoanalysis," employing agents like amobarbital sodium. Instead of
unearthing genuine memories these therapies may make patients so
suggestible that they misinterpret fantasy as reality. A therapist
searching for clues of abuse could be planting the seeds of false
memories.
The American Medical Association deems hypnosis a valid
therapy--but not a reliable "means to refresh memory." In fact, the AMA
declared hypnotic recall "less reliable than nonhypnotic recall," and
cautioned that its use may result in "confabulations and
psuedomemories."
All the traumatists are doing is spreading misery, says Freyd.
Those accused face enormous emotional stresses and legal problems.
Accusers risk losing their families and wasting time in misdirected and
painful "therapy." And the genuine victims of abuse have a tougher time
persuading others to believe their charges.
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