Memory Reflection

1. How would you begin the process of recovering your memory? Who would you turn to, where would you search, and how would you proceed?

If I suffered from retrograde amnesia, I would begin the process of recovering my memory by going to my family. The reason I would start with family is because your family is the people that genuinely know who you are, the people that honestly tell you your accomplishments and mistakes and the ones that know all your history. Through them, you can learn who you use to be as a person. Because family is so close-knit and interpersonal, you probably inadvertently have some of the same habits and behaviors. Having that said, by simply observing them, you can get a grasp of both your personality as well as those of your family. Furthermore, like mentioned previously, family knows almost everything about you- including your goals, aspirations and past failures. With that, you can learn about your past, know who you are at the present state, and what your goals and lifelong dreams are before you suffered from retrograde amnesia.

The other people I would turn to are my friends. I would go to friends because besides family, friends are the ones that also know you the best. They can remind you of the good and bad memories you shared, the funny and one-in-a-lifetime experiences you had, and the secrets shared that your family does not know about. With these two sources, you should have an almost complete knowledge of who you truly were and are as an individual.

2. Please describe the emotional journey you imagine you would be going through as you attempt to reconstruct your life. Imagine the feelings you would have.

First and foremost, I would be confused, overwhelmed, depressed and just simply frustrated. Because retrograde amnesia makes you forget all the memories before the brain injury, I will have no recollection of anyone or anything. With that said, I will constantly be questioning who these people are, why they keep on insisting they know me and why they keep on mentioning the memories or experiences we shared. On one hand, I would be frustrated because I can’t remember any of those memories. On the other hand, I would feel guilty that I do not remember any of those memories that my friends and family value so much. However, as new memories are made and past stories are shared, I am sure that I will feel comfort and reassurance that my friends are family are truly genuine in the stories that share. At that point, when I make new memories, I will then be able to feel comfort and be hopeful once again.

3. Suppose you were able to pick and choose the memories you wanted to recover from your life. What types of memories would you choose to retain and what types of memories might you decide to edit out of your remembered experience? Positive, negative, painful, happy, angry, frightened, etc. Please elaborate and explain some your decision making process.

If I were able to pick and choose the memories I wanted to recover from my life, I would keep most of them. While most people would want to block away the bad memories, I feel as though some bad memories are necessary to make one stronger. Whether it is losing a good friend or not getting a particular grade, you learn from those mistakes about how to move on and how to do better the next time around. From those bad experiences, you grow and mature as an individual. On the contrary however, happiness and joyous memories need to be kept too so those memories can be repeated and treasured as time goes on. All in all, I would mostly keep all of my memories— the positive, negative, happy and angry moments. As mentioned before, I would like to keep most of my memories. The part of my memory I would not like to keep however is the painful memories whether it is the time you saw a loved one passed or the painful memories associated with losing a best friend. That feeling of anguish and resentment really hurts physically and mentally both in the past and present. If I were able to choose the memories I wanted to recover, I would choose both the bad and the good but exclude the pain associated with the bad memories.