What is memory in regards to emotional distress?

Question

And what is the relationship of memory- conscious or unconscious- to the symptoms of distress often associated with past abuse, such as depression, addictions, and relational struggles?

Answer 1

wo-big question indeed.
ok here goes my attempt at answering.
The psyche understands self by projecting it onto beings, varied manifestations of existence with which it has contact with. To understand beings it must contextualize them onto a grander scale and so projects these onto BEING, the actual landscape of existence in view of the psyche. However, without a driven meaning or distracting drive in life many people seek a desire to understand BEING. This is then contextualized onto the only other thing available to the psyche-Time. Time, owing to its concretized abstract nature makes it seem infinite yet unchanging in a world where ALL is change. So, time stabilizes the meaning we give our lives. It also hampers the self defences we raise against trauma. We can blank out the trauma of May 23rd but our reason cannot blank out May 23rd ITSELF and so time is the prime weapon used by reason to assail self denial. In this way we assault all the days of our lives with a zest for order and knowledge which may unlock hidden doors which hide the horrors of past emotional distress.
How does memory come into this you ask?
Memory is the medium by which we understand self and Time. Self is that which may identify itself through change by time. And memory is the way it does this. So, memory is the block and the truth-caller in us. It blocks out the distress but also remembers enough to warn and remind us of similar dangers to the events which have traumatized us.
However, the psyche is far stronger than we would give credence and the self for all its ill health sometimes can be stronger. Though the psyche struggles to free itself and face and condemn past wrongs and disharmonies, the self will undermine us in and block experiance to defend us any way it can. It has been found that sometimes deep distress in childhood can fester and grow into unhealthy adult tendencies; drug dependency, relational troubles etc. The self will drown the psyche in beer rather than face what it has blocked out. The self will deliver interrelational Holocaust on loved ones if they touch any sensitive nerves so sensitive as to be completely unaware to the self. The defences of the self agaist harm are so extreme as to be vastly harmful themselves. In such a complex way memory can hinder and yet help past abuse.
Thats my humble speech. Any more ya want just mail.
Thanks.

Answer 2

Are you referring to PTSD? Post traumatic stress syndrome?
This is where sometimes you can be anywhere and not even concentrating on past abuses or hurts, and you will either start crying, have some weird body reactions, or you can have panic attacks.

Answer 3

It may upset us more than we think it does. We don't like to listen too closely to our inner thoughts, like covering your ears and going LALALALALALA with annoying people.