Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World

THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD
feelings, and sensations into marginally coherent stories. As
the so-called memory work stretches out for months, feelings
become vague images, images become figures, and figures
become known persons. Vague discomfort in certain parts of
the body is reinterpreted as childhood rape . . . The original
physical sensations, sometimes augmented by hypnosis, are
then labeled 'body memories'. There is no conceivable
mechanism by which the muscles of the body could store
memories. If these methods fail to persuade, the therapist
may resort to still more heavy-handed practices. Some
patients are recruited into survivor groups in which peer
pressure is brought to bear, and they are asked to demonstrate
politically correct solidarity by establishing themselves
as members of a survivor subculture.
A cautious 1993 statement by the American Psychiatric Association
accepts the possibility that some of us forget childhood abuse
as a means of coping, but warns,
It is not known how to distinguish, with complete accuracy,
memories based on true events from those derived from other
sources . . . Repeated questioning may lead individuals to
report 'memories' of events that never occurred. It is not
known what proportion of adults who report memories of
sexual abuse were actually abused ... A strong prior belief
by the psychiatrist that sexual abuse, or other factors, are or
are not the cause of the patient's problems is likely to
interfere with appropriate assessment and treatment.
On the one hand, callously to dismiss charges of horrifying sexual
abuse can be heartless injustice. On the other hand, to tamper
with people's memories, to infuse false stories of childhood abuse,
to break up intact families, and even to send innocent parents to
prison is also heartless injustice. Scepticism is essential on both
sides. Picking our way between these two extremes can be very
tricky.
Early editions of the influential book by Ellen Bass and
Laura David (The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women
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