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Does the body really ‘keep the score’ after trauma? How the debunked idea of ‘repressed memories’ is making a comeback

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 966 words · By Andressa Almeida; Celine van Golde
Psychological Memory Reconstruction Scientific Validity of Repressed Memory Risks of Alternative Trauma Therapies
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What to know about Psychological Memory Reconstruction

The article examines the concept of 'repressed memories' and the influence of the book 'The Body Keeps the Score'. It argues that while trauma affects the body, the claim that memories are stored physically and can be recovered through alternative therapies is scientifically contentious and potentially risky.

Propaganda risk 30%
Claims checked 12
Techniques found 3
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Have you heard someone say online or in casual conversation, when responding to someone’s struggles, “well, the body keeps the score”?

Why it matters

For many people, this phrase is a useful way to name the physical toll stress and trauma can take when the body is in “fight or flight” mode.

Common ground

The everyday use of this phrase also demonstrates the extraordinary reach of the 2014 non-fiction book that popularised it, The Body Keeps the Score by Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear, Doubt: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

The article examines the concept of 'repressed memories' and the influence of the book 'The Body Keeps the Score'. It argues that while trauma affects the body, the claim that memories are stored physically and can be recovered through alternative therapies is scientifically contentious and potentially risky.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/does-the-body-really-keep-the-score-after-trauma-how…

analyticsAnalysis

30%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 90%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Fear 70% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Doubt 70% confidence
Questioning the credibility of a source or claim without providing evidence.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing doubt helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
info Single Source 1
verified
Claim 1: “The 2014 non-fiction book that popularised it, The Body Keeps the Score by Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and Google Books both confirm that Bessel van der Kolk is a Dutch psychiatrist and that he wrote 'The Body Keeps the Score' in 2014.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bessel van der Kolk (Dutch: [vɑn dɛr kɔlk]; born 8 July 1943) is a Boston-based Dutch-American psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessel_van_der_Kolk
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Commonly-cited arguments for and against the prohibition of drugs include the following:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arguments_for_and_against_drug…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — About the author (2014). Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., is the founder and medical director of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is also a professor of psychiatry at Boston University Scho…
https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Body_Keeps_the_S…
+ 2 more evidence sources
help
Claim 2: “Substances such as MDMA and psilocybin have shown promise in tightly controlled research settings.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the promise of MDMA and psilocybin in controlled settings.
help
Claim 3: “The Body Keeps the Score promotes a broad range of therapies for trauma as alternatives to more established PTSD treatments, including yoga and psychodrama”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to verify the specific promotion of psychodrama in the book.
check_circle
Claim 4: “For some people, trauma can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which involves physical symptoms such as nausea, panic attacks, difficulty breathing, trouble sleeping, and feeling exhausted”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that PTSD can cause physical symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, and other somatic responses.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — People may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if their symptoms last for an extended period after a traumatic event.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jan 3, 2024 ... When individuals feel increased stress, head and neck pain can be more prevalent, as can instances of them feeling lightheaded or dizzy. When a ...
https://apibhs.com/2024/01/03/the-physical-effects-of-ptsd
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 2, 2022 ... 7- PTSD can cause physical symptoms · Fatigue · Muscle tension · Nausea · Joint pain · Headaches · Pain in the back and elsewhere ...
https://www.sepsis.org/news/8-ptsd-facts-you-may-not-know/
check_circle
Claim 5: “Decades of research show that autobiographical memory is reconstructed each time an event is recalled.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including a 'Deep Dive into the Brain's Process', state that autobiographical memories are reconstructions rather than recordings.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In generative retrieval, associative memory networks. mean that potential memory cues activate each other, until a cue is activated that successfully accesses the searched-for. memory in the autobiogr…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271329213_Cue_gener…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — All of our autobiographical memories are reconstructions. You can only verify a memory’s accuracy by comparing it to an objective record, like a photograph or a video, or by discussing it with another…
https://recallacademy.com/types-of-memory/autobiographical-m…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The viewpoint we adopt when recalling an autobiographical memory is associated with the emotional intensity of the remembered experience. Remote memories are often recalled from more of an observer po…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11725323/
check_circle
Claim 6: “Major professional organisations, such as the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society have repeatedly warned that these therapeutic techniques designed to recover supposedly buried memories can create false memories.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly state that the APA and BPS have warned that techniques to recover buried memories can create false memories.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Psychological_Society
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Psychological autopsy in suicidology (or also psychiatric autopsy) is a systematic procedure for evaluating suicidal intention in equivocal cases. It was invented by American psychologists Norman Farb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_autopsy
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for pro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_College_of_Psychiatrists
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 7: “During the 1990s, the idea of repressed memories sparked a major scientific dispute known as the “memory wars”.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and specific articles on the 'memory wars', confirm that the dispute over repressed memories peaked in the 1990s.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth F. Loftus (born 1944) is an American psychologist who is best known in relation to the misinformation effect, false memory and criticism of recovered memory therapies. Loftus's research incl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Loftus
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Recovered-memory therapy (RMT) is a controversial and scientifically discredited form of psychotherapy that uses one or more unproven therapeutic techniques (such as some forms of psychoanalysis, hypn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovered-memory_therapy
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies ar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 8: “Recent US research found the vast majority of people endorse belief in repressed memories and the idea that “the body keeps the score”.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 9: “this book – which has spent almost six years on The New York Times bestseller list”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While the book's existence is verified, the provided evidence does not contain the specific duration of its time on the New York Times bestseller list.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bessel van der Kolk (Dutch: [vɑn dɛr kɔlk]; born 8 July 1943) is a Boston-based Dutch-American psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessel_van_der_Kolk
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir erotic thriller film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan in his directorial debut. It stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, featuring Richard Crenna, Ted Da…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Heat
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is a 2014 book by Bessel van der Kolk about the purported effects of psychological trauma. The book describes van der Kolk's re…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Keeps_the_Score
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 10: “There is broad scientific agreement that stress, often associated with traumatic experiences, can alter hormone levels such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that stress and trauma can alter levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The concern is specifically about how this relates to memory. There is broad scientific agreement that stress, often associated with traumatic experiences, can alter hormone levels such as adrenaline,…
https://menafn.com/1111235806/Does-The-Body-Really-Keep-The-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natur…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dysregulated adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol levels are common. Elevated noradrenaline signaling is a potential marker for PTSD. PTSD Pharmacological Treatment. Propranolol, a beta-receptor an…
https://quizgecko.com/learn/trauma-and-related-disorders-qui…
info
Claim 11: “The Body Keeps the Score suggests healing requires “releasing” or “integrating” these hidden memories of trauma through a variety of alternative, often non-evidence-based therapies, such as yoga, pyschedelic-assisted therapy and guided imagery.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence confirms the book's existence and general topic, but does not explicitly list the specific combination of yoga, psychedelics, and guided imagery as the book's advocated methods for 'releasing' memories. Only the original claim's context suggests this.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bessel van der Kolk (Dutch: [vɑn dɛr kɔlk]; born 8 July 1943) is a Boston-based Dutch-American psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessel_van_der_Kolk
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Deborah Elizabeth Copaken (born 1966) is an American author and photojournalist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Copaken
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is a 2014 book by Bessel van der Kolk about the purported effects of psychological trauma. The book describes van der Kolk's re…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Keeps_the_Score
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 12: “Research suggests psychedelics can affect memory... They make people more suggestible”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.