What Is “sensory Memory” (and How Do You Know You Have It)?
A panic attack is a reaction to trauma that usually occurs in response to a specific trigger, such as the sight of a person or object that was present at the time of the trauma. Sometimes, however, there may not be an obvious explanation for a panic attack or negative mood change. It’s a frustrating, potentially frightening experience, but not unheard of – you can simply experience a “feeling memory” or “trauma memory” in which the trigger is entirely subconscious.
What is sensory memory?
As Dr. Skip Rizzo, director of medical virtual reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies and research professor at the University of Southern California, told Lifehacker, the memory of feelings is “a perceptual configuration that, although it does not pose any threat in the world, for you inside, causes a trigger reaction.”
Basically, your brain can associate certain environmental factors with past traumatic experiences. Rizzo cited the example of a veteran who, while driving down a trash-strewn road, may have a sensory memory that subconsciously reminds them of driving on the roads while on duty and being afraid of explosive devices planted in mundane objects such as sacks. for garbage. The veteran in this hypothetical scenario may not realize at all that the bags on the side of the street are what set them off. In an explanation for Psychology Today, licensed marriage and family therapist Annie Wright gave another example: a woman may feel sick when her well-adjusted husband removes his belt at night, not realizing that this is because she associates this action with the physical abuse she witnessed. . father commits when she was a child.
When a memory of feeling occurs, the response can be similar to that experienced by people with PTSD, Rizzo said, although having a memory of feelings doesn’t necessarily mean a person can be diagnosed with PTSD.
Why are sensory memory triggers difficult to identify?
If you often experience severe emotional discomfort but cannot identify what is causing it, you should start keeping a detailed record of every event, including where you were and what you were doing when it happened. Think about what you saw, smelled, tasted, felt and heard on each occasion.
“Certain stimulus patterns evoke this memory at a deep level, and sometimes people – when they are traumatized – dissociate so they lose mild cognitive memory of the event,” Rizzo explained.
In her article, Wright noted that when a threat, real or imagined, occurs, the frontal lobe of the brain can shut down “as a measure of self-defense,” while the brainstem and limbic system continue to function normally, so the traumatic experience is stored in memory. the brain “as a collection of feelings and somatic responses devoid of a coherent narrative”. Essentially, your body will remember the traumatic event through sensory details that your conscious brain may not recognize.
What to do if you experience sensory memories
The good news is that there are treatment options. As a clinical psychologist, Rizzo has been creating virtual reality systems for clinical use since 1995. These virtual reality systems could be a tool for long exposure therapy, an evidence-based treatment that can help patients confront and process difficult emotional memories in a safe environment.
Rizzo cautions that exposure therapy is a long and difficult process, with a high dropout rate, but it is a safe and effective treatment. Clinicians control VR experiences, so they start out “very minimal in terms of their provocative nature and then gradually improve” to a more provocative nature, he explained.
As with phobias , exposure therapy can be a great option, but there are others. Rizzo pointed to cognitive processing therapy, which is “not so much about intense exposure as it is about helping the person reconsider it.” The patient writes or describes the story of their trauma, and then the therapist shares the story with them to help them recognize and confront dysfunctional thinking. For example, an assault victim who blames himself for what happened experiences dysfunctional cognition, which may be a contributing factor to habitual emotional responses (eg, sensory memories). A therapist using CBT will help that person rethink their knowledge, possibly preventing the accompanying negative emotional reactions.
Whether you think prolonged exposure therapy or CBT is the best option for you, the first step if the memories of feelings are affecting your daily life is to find a therapist and explore your options. Here is a guide on how to get started .