If you could have your memory erased would you?

No. I would never want to erase all the good memories. I like having my good and bad memories…they make me who I am today.
And having suffered from PTSD, of course erasing that specific event would have been beneficial…but obviously that isn’t possibly ;)

Ummm.. no! I’d keep them all. No matter what they’re of.

No, my memory’s bad enough as it is…

I would keep them. They make me who I am—for better or worse.

Our memories are the only thing that make us who we are. I would never get rid of any of them, even the most haunting ones that I think of every day.

Memories that induce strong emotions tend to be remembered more strongly than neutral events. Some treatments for PTSD (beta blockers and alpha-adrenergic agonists) work by blocking the chemicals that strengthen this connection, so you still have the memory, but it’s not as acute. Neat, huh?

I don’t think I would ever have my memory erased. But nothing too terrible has ever happened to me. My answer could change if it did.

The only memories I would like to erase are the ones others have of me when I made an ass of myself.

I would not erase them in myself because I need to be reminded so I stay in check.

No matter how horrible those times are; if you don’t remember them, you’ll just repeat them. Isn’t it enough to go through it once?

When, at last, you do start losing those memories, you become a person that no one else recognizes. Even you don’t recognize yourself.

That would include everything I learned in school? No way!

Never.

Nope.

I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, and if I could pinpoint specific memories and zap them, I would. But since I’d have to throw out the baby with the bathwater with the parameters given in the question, I’d have to say no.

I’ve had some great memories, too, and I wouldn’t want to lose them.

On the days when my heart is hurting like hell and I just want to get over my ex who i’m ridiculously in-love with I always say I just wish I could erase this and then it wouldn’t hurt, but I know that if given the chance I would never actually do it. My memories make me the person I am and I wouldn’t want to change that no matter how painful some of them are. I also know in the case of my ex that she’s amazing and someday i’ll be glad I have all the good memories still.

I hold onto (I wish I could forget them) some pretty terrible memories. I always thought I wanted them to be erased, but I don’t think so now. It’s part of me and it, after coming to terms with what happened, has helped me become a stronger person. I think we need to keep those things…good or bad.

All of my experiences have formed who I am. I would not give up even the painful memories.

I would never have my memory erased for any reason. I look at the more forgettable and sometimes painful memories as learning experiences that I have grown from in my life. Although recalling some of them may be unpleasant at times, they are a reminder to me that things have improved and I’m a better person today than I was then.

Well, there are about four things from my past I’d love to forget, simply because thinking about them creates such a fierce form of depression/regret that if I don’t find something else to think about, I get damn close to suicidal.

Erase those four, keep the rest.

Did they do that on Dollhouse?

So tempting, but no. The worst things in my life have all contributed to the person I am today.

I think memory and identity are practically the same thing. So no.

As someone who suffered PTSD as a result of childhood sexual abuse, my answer is no. I’ve answered this question in other forms, when people ask if I could change one event in my life. As bad as the emotional toll has been to overcome, I can not imagine being anyone other than who I am. Those wounds and my work to heal them and become my own person rather than a victim are all a part of me.

initially i would say hell yes… I might stop giving myself such a hard time about stuff.. but now I’m thinking…maybe i just need to ask this question….

Partially erased, sure.
Totally erased.. ahh.. hmm.. umm…. EHHEM!!.. Do cows lay eggs??! <really, do they..?>

Believe it or don’t, there some scientist in Canada that says he can actually erase specific memories.

You can, of course, erase big chunks of your memory by getting electro convulsive therapy.

I want my memory erased. All of it.

And what would you do with your new, blank mind @justagirlthing?

@Carol I saw that recently, they are going to try it on people with severe PTSD. I wish I could do it, but, then I could not be the ball busting bitch I am today! All things happen for a reason, they are all “lessons” I have had to pull my self up by the boot straps to fight for some really important things. If I did not have those life experiences behind me I would not be the strong person that I am. (I learned a lot in therapy, didn’t I!)

I give myself a partial memory erasing every weekend. LOL