Mindfulness to remove negative memories from the mind

A phrase attributed to the philosopher and psychologist John Dewey is: "we naturally remember what interests us and why it interests us". Some may agree with the statement, but the truth is that not all our memories show a clear utility or a way in which they benefit us in some way. It is very common, for example, to keep clearly unpleasant or negative memories in some aspect that, despite the rejection reactions that they produce in us, resist being forgotten.

It is normal for it to happen, in fact. If something characterizes memories, it is that they all appear without being called, without attending to rational criteria, and in a rather disorderly manner. our consciousness does not have full control over memory. In any case, it adapts to the help it can receive from it, and it conforms when the memories that are recovered are useless, distracting, or in poor taste. It is the double edge of the functioning of the brain: it is so creative which, by force, is to some extent unpredictable. For better and for worse.

Of course, it is a problem that we are not able to recover the memories that we need to be inspired, but it can be even worse if certain negative memories are presented to us in a way persistent, something that can happen even if we are not thinking about something indirectly related to that past experience.

The neuroscience behind the suppression of intrusive memories

In reality, the memory system cannot be affected to the point of completely preventing the appearance of memories of a certain type. What can be done is to influence the process of retrieving those memories, to make us less aware of them and to make them less troublesome once they have appeared. This is not only true for memories that pass into consciousness, since it can also be applied to any type of unpleasant experience in progress.

Luckily, there are ways to tackle these small daily conflicts with our memories. We know them, partly thanks to a study published in 2012 that can be read in the magazine Neuron. The researchers who participated in it were looking for neurological clues that can help us forget negative or unwanted memories, even in cases of PTSD. These scientists reported on two opposite mechanisms that operate in parallel when it comes to making this type of evocation disappear from the map: the suppression and the substitution.

Deletion and Replacement

Deletion is a process that involves the memory inhibition, while substitution helps bring new memories into consciousness to take the place of the deleted part, even though these are practically invented. Despite working as a team, both mechanisms involve different neural structures.

While the deletion involves the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the substitution arises from different areas of the same prefrontal lobe, an area of ​​the brain associated with planning and goal-focused strategies.

What does this study teach us?

The previous study provides evidence on the possibility of intervene in the appearance of unwanted memories. On the one hand, we can block its appearance by suppressing it, and on the other, think about other things. Or, what is the same, through the conclusions of the study it is suggested that, in many cases, something is enough of mental training to achieve a certain degree of control over the retrieval of experiences past.

Going more to the point, the techniques that are useful when it comes to shortening the life of negative memories use the logic of deletion and substitution. Basically, it is about exercising control over the focus in which attention is being directed and diverting it from negative experiences. It may seem like a very simple answer, but the truth is that it is not. After all, suppressing a thought is partly acknowledging that it is there, that it exists. Therefore, the best thing you can do is practice and improve your mastery of attention.

What are the techniques that allow to eliminate negative memories?

Both the meditation traditional as themindfulness They have been shown to be effective in making intrusive memories disappear. Both are forms of "brain training" that affect the connections between different neural tissues, and it seems be that they facilitate attention control while minimizing the effect of unpleasant sensations, according to certain studies.

How do I adapt that to my case?

The beauty of attentional control methods is that they can take a wide variety of forms. there are so many ways to meditate and it is relatively easy to find one that suits each case. Furthermore, these practices are associated with an increase in the quality of life, not only in terms of related to negative memories: they also serve to sleep more easily, reduce stress and even treat chronic pain.

On the other hand, in order to know how to adapt Mindfulness as a tool to the different needs that arise, it is first necessary to learn the fundamentals of Mindfulness.