Posted by Larry Hoover on May 9, 2005, at 8:20:41
In reply to Wow!!! I AM crazy i guess...., posted by woolav on May 8, 2005, at 18:39:30
> Okay, I know I am crazy, but now, I am freaked out. When I went through my hypomania episode not long ago, I had posted alot on dr-bob...and my husband searched and found the posts and when i read them, It seems as if someone else wrote them. At first, I thought it was someone else responding to post's that I wrote. But, nope. It was me. I cant believe how messed up my thought process was. It so scary. I mean to look back and actually read what i wrote or said to people and not remember 90% of it....I sure hope this sort of thing is normal with bp2, because I hope to get treatment for that. But, if its something else, then im psychotic i guess....
> SYou should first take into account what is known as state-dependent learning. Although that's what the psychological label is for this phenomenon, it would be better described as state-dependent retrieval.
The memories of your experiences from the period when you were in an altered state are not accessible to the memory retrieval mechanisms you have available to you when you are operating in a normal state.
Just exactly why or how this works is still a matter of great contention. Some believe that each mental state has distinct forms of memories. To retrieve those specific memories, you must be in a similar state to that which prevailed when the memories were formed.
In any case, this is a state-dependent amnesia, a failure in memory retrieval. You can't remember because you aren't in the same state as when you wrote them.
From an objective viewer's perspective, from way over here, this lends strong support to the idea that you were in an altered state during that period. The nature of that altered state could be: a) hypomania; b) the effect of medication; or, c) a combination of the two.
There is some good that might come from this, you know. For yourself, if you catch yourself taking on any of the characteristics of that period, recalling the emotional state that prevailed when you were flirting online, for example, you will potentially be able to recognize and directly intervene if that hypomanic mood is coming on.
I pray you guys find some peace and comfort in coming to understand this better, together.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:495314
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050504/msgs/495474.html