Whom Do We Believe?

You may be thinking about it as a “she said, he said” story. But it may well be a “she remembers, he doesn’t” story. For him, the night may have been just another insignificant, inconsequential, meaningless event. One more beer party in which trying to score with a girl was the goal. Such a memory is easily forgotten, especially with an alcohol-soaked brain and a belief that you did nothing wrong. Though she terms it attempted rape, he, and his frat beer buddies, probably viewed it as nothing more than “scoring.” No big deal. He may truly have no memory of the event. Or, if he has residual memory, it’s best for him to keep it away from his conscious mind to avoid seeing the suffering and sorrow his behavior caused. For her, the night was a terrifying, traumatic, life-altering experience; an experience frozen in time. How can you ever forget being pushed into a room, held down, groped, forcefully silenced and almost raped? How can you ever forget who it was who tried to rape you? Though you may forget the exact date of the party, you will never forget the struggle, the fright, the terror. It remains a vivid lifetime memory decades later. This is the nature of post-traumatic stress. Even if you want to forget it, you can’t. Traumatic memories are deeply encoded in the brain and the body. But then why didn’t she tell anyone? Why didn’t she report it? Lots of reasons. Here are a few possibilities: She was scared. Maybe she shouldn’t have be...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Bullying Ethics & Morality Memory and Perception Minding the Media Policy and Advocacy PTSD Trauma Violence and Aggression Women's Issues Source Type: blogs