New Drugs May Be Able To Reduce "mental Illness" By Erasing Past And Painful Memories.

[vetuste_ennemi]

. I'm watching Sky News. A typical "expert" is saying why she likes the drug.
I put my question with an example: baby dies, diagnosed as cot death; are the unfortunate parents better or worse off for forgetting the experience?

[Khandro]

Can you explain how this drug is supposed to work? I saw a headline in the press but didn't read on thinking it was hokum. The death of someone near maybe painful, but if the memory of it was 'removed' wouldn't the life preceding it have to be removed too?
In your example how could the memory of the cot-death be removed without that of the pregnancy and everything connected with it which came before?

[Old_Geezer]

I suspect it is the choice of the unfortunate parents whether they would be better off not remembering. I would suspect the memory loss would cover the pain felt, since there are likely to be mementos of the child they lost kept, so that they knew the event and the individual.

[chanel5]

An interesting possibility, that a drug (in particular, it seems to be mainly drugs currently used to treat MS) could selectively remove traumatic memories and thereby improve mental health. Most of the research so far, however, seems to have been carried out on mice, so is of questionable generalisability. Extensive human trials are needed before any great faith could be placed in the efficacy of the drugs as PTSD treatment.

[Old_Geezer]

Memory recall comes in blocks rather than a continuous stream, doesn't it ? One can recall an event without being able to drag what preceded or followed it out from the depth of one's mind.

[Khandro]

OG; I don't think a woman could selectively forget the death of a child without remembering the pregnancy which preceded it.
"I remember being pregnant, - now what happened to that baby, I wonder".
I think the remorse of thinking you had been negligent would be as bad as facing the fact of the cot-death.

[EDDIE51]

If drugs can be used to selectively remove memories it seems very scary to me.
This is a step towards brainwashing via drugs. The possible implications are horrific.
Imagine what this could do in the hands of an unscrupulous police force or government!! Feed the population drugs in their food / water to eliminate memory of genocide or state sponsored murder. Or just to ensure the populace retain only good memorys of government policy?

[Tilly2]

Is there an explanation as to how the drug 'knows' which traumatic memories to erase? Is there some sliding scale of trauma and it eradicates the one with the most points?

I don't like the sound of this at all. Is it similar to ECT? That wipes out memories too, doesn't it?

[EDDIE51]

Some information here
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/05May/Pages/Could-an-MS-drug-erase-traumatic-memories.aspx
Still very early to make a prediction as to possible effects, but 'chilling' nonetheless!

[Khandro]

This headline-seeking rubbish appears to be put out by the NHS, does this mean that this research by salaried grown men and women attempting to remove the bad memories of mice, is being funded by UK taxpayers?

[EDDIE51]

Khandro it is funded by the drug companies, part of the research into developing new drugs. The intention is NOT to develop ways to alter the memory of mice, but a side effect that seems to do this has been noted. The drug they are working on is actually prescribed to help in treatment of MS.