Reconsolidation versus retrieval competition: Rival hypotheses to explain memory change in psychotherapy

I suggest it is premature to assume memory reconsolidation provides a unifying model of psychotherapeutic change given our current state of knowledge, and that other basic memory mechanisms, also supported by neuroscience, have a stronger claim at present. In particular, I propose that retrieval competition provides a more plausible alternative to memory reconsolidation

Re-experiencing traumatic events in PTSD: new avenues in research on intrusive memories and flashbacks

Posttraumatic flashbacks, consisting of the intrusive re-experiencing of traumatic experiences in the present, have been more clearly defined for the first time in DSM-5 and have been identified as a unique symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder in the proposed ICD-11 diagnostic criteria. Relatively little research into flashbacks has been conducted, however, and new research efforts are required to understand the cognitive and biological basis of this important symptom. In addition, there is considerable scope for research into how flashbacks should be assessed and into flashbacks occurring in different contexts, such as psychosis or intensive care

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder: a new diagnosis in ICD-11

The World Health Organization’s proposals in ICD-11, released for comment by member states in 2018, introduce for the first time in a major diagnostic system a distinction between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). This article sets the new diagnosis of CPTSD within the context of previous similar formulations, describes its definition and requirements, and reviews the evidence concerning its epidemiology, differential diagnosis, assessment and treatment

Coherence, Disorganization, and Fragmentation in Traumatic Memory Reconsidered: A Response to Rubin et al. (2016)

Although clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claim that in this condition trauma memories tend to be disorganized and fragmented, this has been disputed by some autobiographical memory researchers, such as Rubin, Berntsen, and their colleagues (e.g., Rubin et al., 2016). In this article I review the evidence for and against the fragmentation hypothesis and identify important sources of methodological variability between the studies. This analysis suggests that fragmentation and disorganization are associated with differences in the type of narrative (specifically, with detailed rather than general narratives) and in the focus of the analysis (specifically, with a local focus on sections of text concerned with the worst moments of the trauma rather than with a global focus on the text as a whole). The implication is that apparently discrepant data and discrepant views can be accommodated within a more comprehensive formulation of memory impairment in PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

The need for psychiatric treatment in the general population: the Camberwell Needs for Care Survey

Background, This paper presents the first results of a two-stage psychiatric population survey, which uses a new method of directly evaluating needs for specific psychiatric treatment and the extent to which they have been met.Method, The sample was drawn at random from the population of an area of inner south London with high levels of deprivation. Seven hundred and sixty subjects aged 18-65 completed the GHQ-28. All those scoring > 5 and half of the rest were invited to take part in the second stage, comprising measures of mental state (SCAN), social role performance (SRPS), life events and difficulties (LEDS) and a Treatment Inventory. This information was used to rate the community version of the Needs for Care Assessment (NFCAS-C).Results, In all, 408 subjects were interviewed in the second stage. The weighted 1 month prevalence of hierarchically ordered ICD-10 psychiatric disorders was 9.8 %, the 1 year prevalence 12.3 %. The equivalent prevalences for depressive episode were 3.1 % and 5.3 % respectively, while those for anxiety states were both 2.8 %. At interview nearly 10% of the population were identified as having a need for the treatment of a psychiatric condition. This rose to 10.4 % if the whole of the preceding year was assessed. Less than half of all potentially meetable needs were met. There was only partial overlap between diagnosis and an adjudged need for treatment.Conclusion. A majority of people with mental health problems do not have proper treatment; given more resources and greater public and medical awareness, most could be treated by family doctors

Impact on the legal system of the generalizability crisis in psychology

Overgeneralizations by psychologists of the research evidence on memory and eyewitness testimony, such as “memory decays with time” or “memories are fluid and malleable,” are beginning to appear in legal judgements and guidance documents, accompanied by unwarranted disparagement of lay beliefs about memory. These overgeneralizations could have significant adverse consequences for the conduct of civil and criminal law

False memories of childhood abuse

Are therapists to blame? Chris R. Brewin and Bernice Andrews consider the evidence in a controversial area

False Memories and Free Speech: Is Scientific Debate Being Suppressed?

Commentators have raised important points, including the relative contribution of false beliefs versus false memories and the issue of how findings in the laboratory can be generalized to the real world, which we have addressed here. However, some of the commentaries misrepresent what we said, make criticisms that are unfounded, or imply that our article should not have been published in Applied Cognitive Psychology. We relate these responses to a more general literature on the suppression of unwanted scientific findings and suggest that the study of false memory would be better served by more openness to alternative perspectives

Episodic memory, perceptual memory, and their interaction: foundations for a theory of posttraumatic stress disorder

A number of autobiographical memory theories and clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) make claims that are different from standard views of memory and have been the subject of controversy. These claims include the existence of a long-term perceptual memory system supporting conscious experience separate to episodic memory; greater involvement of perceptual memory in the response to emotion-laden and personally meaningful events; increased perceptual memory intrusions accompanied by impaired episodic memory for the traumatic event among PTSD patients; and a lack of association, or inverse association, between indices of voluntary recall and involuntary images relating to the same traumatic materials. In this article I review current research on perceptual memory, which supports the presence of long-term representations that are selective or incomplete reflections of sensory input. The functional independence of perceptual and episodic memory is illustrated by research on verbal overshadowing but is most clearly exemplified by the strong evidence in favor of enhanced perceptual memory and impaired episodic memory in PTSD. Theoretical predictions concerning the relation between perceptual priming and the development of intrusive images, the effect of verbal versus visuospatial secondary tasks on intrusive trauma images, and the independence of voluntary and involuntary memory for the same materials have garnered widespread support. Reasons for the continuing controversy over traumatic memory are discussed, and some implications of the review for general theories of recall and recognition, clinical theories of PTSD, and "special mechanism" views of memory are set out