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Can you ELI5 why the brain doesn't store traumatic memories properly?
(piefed.blahaj.zone)
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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Explain Like I'm Five
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I remember a story of a woman with a perfect memory (some gene mutation), the problem was that she remembered EVERY conflict she ever had with anyone. She was alone, because once she had an issue with anyone she was not able to forgive them, because in her memory it was always as crisp (and as painful) as if it happened minutes ago.
I am not an expert, but I feel like the brain might miss details of traumatic memories on purpose, to make it easier to deal with.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me personally, remembering a conflict shouldn’t prevent you from forgiving or getting along with people. The concept of forgiveness isn’t just forgetting it’s processing and accepting what happened, you actually need to remember what happened to do that… she just sounds like someone who didn’t learn some very important social skills
It's not only about remembering facts, but feelings as well. If what you say is true, you should be able to forgive someone in a second, but almost everyone needs a moment to cool down, and that means forgetting negative emotions that they felt because of someone. And while I might forget part of that programme, that was how I understand the explanation of her issues given by the doctors.