I've felt similar feelings to yours, like I imagined the whole thing, because I put it out of my head for nine and a half years. But then I remember calling a friend who was a cop who begged me to report in that city (he was a state cop). I remember the drive home the next morning and feel like I didn't quite exist inside myself during the ride. I remember telling my friend (it happened at her boyfriend's house by one of his friends) and her sobbing about it.

There were little things that happened to you when it happened that you remember. And if it doesn't trigger you, remember them. i recently contacted my aggressor, and, of course, he denied everything. But I had my memories.

And even if no one else believes you, you know what happened, and no one can tell you that it didn't or you imagined it.

Maybe you could ask the professor if you're comfortable and mention merely memories of abuse, that way it's not specific. Maybe if someone asked, she would clarify what she meant by "false memories"

Good luck! I hope this helps!

Do you mean you forgot then remembered later? Or do you mean that you only remember bits and pieces of what happened?

I believe you simply because why would you spend so much time thinking about it if it didn't happen? I can see people lying about being raped if they want leverage in a custody case or something like that. But I've read a few of your posts and it doesn't sound like anything like that. What would you have to gain by making up stories? It lowers (not raises) our social status. I believe you because why would anyone lie about this with nothing to gain by it?

I'm nearly 52 and I just started my sexual abuse recovery for a violent sexual assault perpetrated on me by a 21 year old neighborhood loser. I just started with a therapist that specializes in trauma recovery and aging. I took some kind of assessment (I'm sorry, I don't remember what it's called) but it targets certain things that rape survivors might experience, like dissociation, absorption, depersonalization and derealization. I'm not really sure about all of it but I scored high on the absorption part, which means that I become absorbed with the memories so that I sometimes don't hear everything that people are saying or kind of space off daydreaming during movies, etc. I don't really have the depersonalization or derealization which my therapist explained to me can be kind of like out-of-body experiences or feeling like the abuse was just a bad dream, made up, not true (even though you know it is totally true). Keep on your healing path and know that you CAN take care of your emotional and psychological and physical self...SELF CARE EVERY DAY!! This is my mantra bc I refuse to go back to my 38 years of self-hatred and self-neglect because of the abuse. Sometimes, I don't even know how to take care of myself (I used to think drinking was a form of "self care" lol), but I am slowly learning. The main thing is to be gentle with ourselves and give ourselves goodness. If we don't do it, no one will! (((hugs)))

Your teachers should be making it clear that this is an opinion of their own.. There is a massive debate in psychological circles about the existence of repressed memories. Repressed memories is a lot more than forgetting or compartmentalising.. I have rapes that slip my mind like any other memory from years ago.

There's a lot we don't know about memory and it's recovery, the only thing we are aware of is how suggestible the mind can be and so there are many psychology theorists who deny the existence of repressed memory..calling it false memory syndrome.

The book, the courage to heal, has done little to help the situation when, in its pre-revision edition, it suggested that if you had a number of symptoms on a list you were probably abused even if you couldn't remember. - none of the things on the list were definitive indicators of abuse just common symptoms that were also common in other things too. So, there were some women who were convinced abuse happened when it may not have done and trying to recover a memory that never existed - you can create a "memory" via day dreaming but deep down you do know which is real an which is something you told yourself to believe.

But, for as many arguing against repression there are just as many arguing in favour of them.

As hard as it is, I wouldn't take it personally because they probably aren't thinking in terms of people. They are probably thinking in terms of stats and what we do know to be an absolute truth...memory is not one of them but there are interlinking facts