There's a growing movement that proposes locked/suppressed memories don't exist. Yes memory is malleable and false memories can exist, but using that idea to discredit victims is a form of gaslighting and is really harmful. Those ideas made my self hatred MUCH worse.

I found out about my abuse 14 years after it happened through EMDR therapy. It connected more parts of my brain and allowed suppressed memories to resurface. My therapist never asked leading questions nor influenced my remembrance. I remembered a lot outside of therapy.

That being said, the idea and that suppressed memories don't exist is really harmful for people like me. It really fucked with my head, my sense of reality was already dented because of the recent realization of abuse, but now I had to deal with people thinking I MADE IT ALL UP.

This is what I thought to myself:

Well if I "imagined" my teacher molesting me, raping me, and being sadistic, then therefore I AM the disgusting one. I AM the disgusting person in this situation because I was the one who thought of it.

Basically, gaslighting.

I understand now that I didn't make it up. The signs were all there throughout my life, I just never related it to possible abuse because my memories were hidden away. Since I couldn't remember, I could not cross-reference my symptoms and abuse. But now I can.

That all being said, if you don't believe people can lock away memories from severe trauma, don't follow me. Don't interact with this thread. I will block you. I already acknowledged memory is malleable, but the brain IS capable of shutting stuff out. I'm only one example.