Can a pill erase bad memories

The Daily Mail newspaper yesterday carried as its main story an item that discussed the possibilities of erasing bad memories by using beta-blocker drugs.

Researchers in Holland exposed two groups of volunteers to a painful experience of seeing a spider whilst being subjected to mild electric shocks. When subjected to the same image a second time the group who had taken the beta blockers showed a reduced startle response.

This test is a long way off from the memory erasing techniques of the film "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" (see the picture above) but it does prompt some interesting questions.

If we remove old memories does that make us less of a person? Do we risk losing our ability to learn from negative experiences if we have them erased?

Is this simply a new way to sell drugs?
It may be that some would see this as a market to sell drugs into, drug companies seem to do there best to medicalise everyday life experiences. There are effective alternatives though, even for difficult problems like PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). Thought Field Therapy or the related Emotional Freedom Technique can both be used to remove the negative emotional aspect of a memory without attempting to remove the memory itself.

If emotional trauma is still affecting your life following a difficult event then do give one of these techniques a try. They often provide very effective results in a relatively short period of time.

EFT is a constant surprise

I first heard about EFT or the Emotional Freedom Technique about three years ago.

It is, as the name suggests, a way of dealing with negative emotions both from past events and present day circumstances. The method is based on techniques developed first by Roger Callahan a clinical psychologist who started studying Applied Kinesiology (AK), which involves the body's energy meridians.

In 1980, Dr Callahan was treating Mary, a patient who had a phobia of water. After 18 months of treatment and trying various therapies, including hypnosis and behaviour therapy, Mary had barely improved. Callahan had a moment of inspiration.

Mary said she could feel the anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Callahan knew that the stomach meridian passed beneath both eyes.

As Mary imagined her fear, he tapped beneath one of Mary's eyes. Her fear of water instantly vanished and she has remained phobia-free to this day, more than 20 years later. This story is recounted in his book "Tapping The Healer Within".

I read the book and was intrigued by the method (which he called Thought Field Therapy) but thought that the complicated tapping "algorithms" were something that would be too difficult to apply in a clinical setting.

It seems I was not alone in thinking this, Gary Craig was an engineer (not a Psychologist!) who was investigating psychological techniques. He wanted to know why many changes techniques did not deliver the promised results. Having heard about Callahan's work he learned the method and developed it further into a comprehensive and easy to use system.

The EFT method involves a mix of tapping acupressure points, affirmations, eye rolls and humming. At first pass it sounds nuts and most unlikely to do anything except make you feel silly. But it turns out that this technique used in conjunction with hypnosis is a powerful and effective method that can change a person's life in just a few clinical sessions.

I'll explore this method more in my next blog entry.