Posted by Dinah on June 14, 2004, at 15:42:21
In reply to Re: sorry, it takes a while...., posted by fires on June 14, 2004, at 15:15:31
I'm sorry about your brother. This must be a difficult time for you.
But yes, studies that say what you're experiencing can't possibly be what you're experiencing are distressing. To tell someone that they are incorrect in their own experience is distressing. I don't have recovered memories, but there have been enough "you can't possibly experience what you are experiencing" studies out there for what I do experience that I understand the feelings involved. I imagine that unless you've had an experience and had everyone tell you that you are mistaken (at best) or lying (at worst) that perhaps you can't understand the internal conflict that those studies cause.
Can you understand how someone telling you something along those lines could be distressing? If it hasn't occurred to you yet, you might compare it to doctors telling you that drug side effects that you are experiencing are not, in fact, side effects of that drug at all. And we all know how correct *those* doctors were. I don't think that anyone can definitively answer questions about what is and isn't possible in the brain yet, so isn't it more supportive and kind to not tell someone that they are wrong about their own experiences?
poster:Dinah
thread:354179
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040614/msgs/356640.html