Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : September 6, 2018 1:59 PM IST
Nerve stimulation therapy can help women over come sexual problems. © Shutterstock
One of Haruki Murakami s famous quotes says "Memory is a funny thing." But probably it isn't funny always and if it is bad memories that you want to leave behind the more you try to do so the less successful you are. In fact, a new study has pointed out that women who experience sexual assault have more vivid memories than women coping with the aftermath of other traumatic, life-altering events. Women who experience sexual violence, including those never diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, have more intense memories even decades after the violence occurred. They find it difficult to forget these events.
The study included 183 college-aged women between the ages of 18 and 39. Sixty-four women reported that they were victims of sexual violence while 119 did not have a history of sexual violence. Less than 10 per cent were on anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication. The women with a history of sexual violence reported stronger memories with specific details that included seeing the event clearly in their mind. They reported having a harder time forgetting the incident and believed it to be a significant part of their life story, according to the research.
The authors of the study say that the more one reflects on an old memory they make a new one in the brain. The effect of rumination of thoughts is that strong. Women who took part in the study and ruminated more frequently also reported to experience more trauma-related symptoms which made recovery from the trauma more difficult.
According to the WHO, around 30 per cent of women worldwide experience some kind of physical or sexual assault in their lifetime with adolescent girls much more likely to be the victims of rape, attempted rape or assault. Recent surveys indicate that as many as one in five college students experience sexual violence during their university years. The authors of the story have also devised a plan to help these women come out of the vivid Prolonged Exposure Therapy, which includes recollecting the traumatic memory during interviews, story writing, and even revisiting the traumatic location. The study appears in Frontiers in Psychology.
