A term that came into use following cases in the late 1980s where memories of abuse were coaxed out of children by therapists. The memories were later proved to be false, hence the name “false memory syndrome,” and some individuals were found to have been wrongly accused of child sexual abuse and/or Satanic ritual abuse (SRA). The subject became very controversial with one side, backed by quite eminent psychiatrists, explaining that there is no such thing as an accurate recall tape recorder in the brain and that memories are altered and merged with others in subsequent retelling. All memories are to some extent fabricated, and counseling itself can implant ideas that later present themselves as “true memories.” The other side, mostly comprised of professional therapists, asserted that memories are never false, especially those of young innocent children who do not lie and that toddlers could not invent such stories! This latter group omits the word false and calls the syndrome “recovered memory syndrome.”
In the early days of the syndrome’s becoming recognized, the idea of unearthing forgotten memories escalated very fast, and soon many people believed that anyone could have a buried history locked inside his or her brain. It was not long before a sizable number of adults (mostly women) began to go into therapy believing that they had suffered childhood sexual abuse. The social repercussions were enormous and widespread. Reputations were lost as court cases were brought against aging fathers, families were split up, and children were taken away from parents. The phenomenon soon broadened and escalated until those working in the area were at a loss to know how to evaluate some of their patients’ extraordinary recollections of reincarnation, of abduction by aliens, or of being child sex-slaves in a Satanic cult hundreds of years ago.