Emotions and memory

Scientists and researchers who study human memory capacity and function have released new study findings which say that memories are stronger, and retrieved more easily when there are emotions embedded or associated with them. They were researching general memory formation, storage and retrieval. I wondered if the results had any implication for the prevention of Dementia and related diseases, but then quickly did what others who have suffered from PTSD probably say, "duh, I could have told them that." Bottom line is that these studies are saying more generally that people are more likely to hold onto information and memories of events if there is also an emotional component to them.

That info is something that I discovered in my self a dozen years ago. I found that I could more easily remember information and facts if I had been emotionally committed to the task, topic, etc. at the original input of the data into my experience. I also found that the more detached approach I took to a topic or task, the less memory I had for it in the long term.

My balancing act then, as one challenged with a dissociative disorder, is to be connected/committed enough, emotionally, to the task, information, subject, at hand so that it gets deeply encoded into my memory storage but be detached enough so that the emotional traps that have already been ingrained internally don't get sprung, or alternatively, don't get so connected emotionally that I become the "intense" stressed out person who is not so nice to be around or know, which makes the experience be encoded as if it was a "trauma."

I'll search for the citation for the studies and add it to this post later.