Can anyone explain in layman's terms how past trauma (say a traumatic incident from decades ago) remains undetected in the subconscious and contributes to phobic behavior much later in life. How can 'forgotten' memories and incidents impact current actions of a person?
Thank you in advance!
Well, from what I get is that we never forget memories, although it may take us longer to retrieve them, memory loss does not naturally occur.
The mind has many ways (defense mechanisms) to reduce anxiety, the one you are thinking about is repression, not to be confused with supression.
(ie) a person has a fear of dogs and does not know why. Later on we find out that when he was five, there was a rabid dog loose barking, which knocks over his carriage. He does not remember but the mind still remembers.
I don't know.....
