Mindfulness to eliminate negative memories from the mind.

Management of the moods associated with the memory.

A phrase attributed to the philosopher and psychologist John Dewey is: "we naturally remember what interests us and why it interests us". Some may agree with the statement, but the truth is that not all of our memories show a clear utility or a way in which they benefit us in any way. It is very common, for example, to retain clearly unpleasant or negative memories in some aspect that, in spite of the reactions of rejection that they produce in us, they resist to be forgotten.

It is normal for this to happen, in fact. If there is something that characterizes memories, it is that they all appear without being called, without attending to rational criteria, and in a rather disordered way. Our consciousness has no absolute control over memory. In any case, it adapts to the help it can receive from it, and conforms when the memories that are retrieved are useless, distracting or distractive. It is the double edge of the brain's functioning: it is so creative that, by force, it is to some extent unpredictable. For better and for worse.

Of course, it's a problem if we are unable to retrieve the memories we need to inspire us, but it can be even worse if certain negative memories come back to us in a persistentlyThis can happen even if we are not thinking about something indirectly related to that past experience.

The neuroscience behind the suppression of intrusive memories

In reality, it is not possible to affect the memory system to the point of completely preventing the occurrence of memories of a certain type. What we can do is to influence the recovery process of those memories, to make us less conscious of them and to make them less of a problem once they have appeared. This is not only true for memories that come to consciousness, as it can also apply to any kind of unpleasant ongoing experience.

Fortunately, there are ways to deal with these small everyday conflicts with our memories. We know them, in part thanks to a study published in 2012 that can be read in the journal Neuron. The researchers involved in it were looking for neurological clues that can help us forget negative or unwanted memories, even in cases of PTSD. These scientists reported on two opposing mechanisms that operate in parallel when it comes to wiping this type of evocation off the map: the suppression and substitution.

Suppression and Substitution

Suppression is a process that involves the inhibition of inhibition of memorieswhile substitution helps to bring into consciousness new memories to take the place of the suppressed part, even if they are practically invented. Although they work together, both mechanisms involve different neural structures. different neural structures. 

While suppression involves the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, substitution arises from different areas of the same prefrontal lobe, a brain area associated with planning and goal-oriented strategies.

What does this study teach us?

The above study provides evidence for the possibility of intervene in the emergence of unwanted memories.. On the one hand, we can block their occurrence by suppressing them, and on the other hand, we can think about other things. Or, in other words, the conclusions of the study suggest that, in many cases, some mental training is enough to achieve a certain degree of control over the retrieval of past experiences.

More to the point, the techniques that are useful in shortening the life of negative memories are based on the logic of suppression and substitution. Basically, it is a matter of exercising control over the focus of attention and moving it away from negative experiences. This may sound like a very simple answer, but it is not so simple. At the end of the day, suppressing a thought is partly acknowledging that it is there, that it exists. Therefore, the best thing you can do is to practice and improve your mastery of attention.

What are the techniques that allow you to eliminate negative memories?

Both traditional meditation and Mindfulness have been shown to be effective in making intrusive memories disappear. Both are forms of "mental training" that affect the connections between different neural tissues, and seem to facilitate attention control while minimizing the effect of unpleasant sensations, according to some studies.

How do I adapt this to my case?

The great thing about attentional control methods is that they can take a variety of forms. There are many, many ways to meditate and it is relatively easy to find one that suits each case. Moreover, these practices are associated with an increase in quality of life not only in terms of negative memories: they also help to sleep more easily, reduce stress and even treat chronic pain.

On the other hand, to know how to adapt Mindfulness as a tool to the different needs that arise, it is first necessary to learn the basics of Mindfulness.