I lost my hand in an industrial accident. Walked into my wife cheating on me. Saw my dog die.

[Rustynaerduwell]

Three of the most traumatic events in my life, and I've forgotten almost all of the details for each of them. I really only remember how I felt and how they affected me.

[democratisphere]

1. So sorry for your horrible reality!

In a perfect alternative facts redumbliCON world nothing should ever be forgotten down to the most minuscule detail.

[WeekiWater]

2. I remember every little detail of my sweet doggies death.

Sometimes the mind protects us from that which is too much. Sometimes it doesn't and we must work our way through the horrors.

[ProfessorPlum]

3. that's so awful - all three

I'm sorry you've gone through all that.


You do have the basis for a great country song, though

[erronis]

4. And a great stage name!

[wicket]

5. How horrible

I am so sorry It takes a lot of courage to share something so raw and painful. I too have lost details of my traumas but unfortunately cannot forget how they made me feel and continue to deal with the after effects decades later. Much love to you

[Mosby]

6. what context am I missing?

[Aristus]

17. I think he's referring to the fact that, like Dr Ford, one can remember horrible things that have

happened without remembering point-precise details in later years.

[Mosby]

21. thanks

That makes sense.

I'm cursed with a good memory and can remember traumatic events in my life in vivid detail. If you asked me the year though or even how old I was I probably wouldn't know other than just making an informed guess.

[Solly Mack]

7. Damn. So sorry.

But, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Minute and not so minute details can blur when you're facing so much trauma.

[lagomorph777]

10. I heard a few minutes of Mitchell grilling Dr. Ford for exact dates of emails....

...as if people expect somebody to remember the exact date of an email, and there's some connection between that and remembering a traumatic event? Not a smart strategy. Nobody's mind works that way. The questioning came across as revealing Ford's genuineness.

[Solly Mack]

14. A lot people get tunnel vision of sorts during a trauma. Their mind goes only what is in front of

them. Sometimes you can take in everything around you but it's not always clear - more of a suggestion of things happening.

Like when she left the house she had to go by people - who were talking. She couldn't know for sure because her mind was on fleeing but it was a social setting, so they had to be talking. They tried to tie her down on that point but that's not how the mind works during flight.

Sometimes your mind goes to someplace else altogether even if your only goal is to flee. Smells during an event can trigger memories and the mind goes with it.

But the things you can see. The things you know that are happening - those are crystal clear and made more so because of the trauma you are experiencing. Trauma tends to lock it into place.

[Rural_Progressive]

16. I have found that tunnel vision has helped me

Most recently I was pulling a hay tarp over a 14 foot tall stack of bales. I was getting near the end of the stack and had mistakenly grabbed the wrong tab on the tarp. The tarp hung up, I pulled extra hard and next thing I knew the tab tore off and I was doing a backwards flip off the end of the stack.

All my senses and my brain focused on how could I land as safely as possible. Every essence of my being was focused during the time it took me to fall the 14 feet. I'm no gymnast but I was able to complete the flip, landed on my feet facing the stack, and walked away with a twisted ankle.

That tunnel vision has helped me too many times in the past to not be real, I suspect it is a a survival mechanism that some of us have retained. The downside to it is you remember the event with, as you said, crystal clarity and you never forget anything about it.

[Solly Mack]

18. Yes. Pinpoint vision. Mind and body together for survival.

Those elements you recall vividly.

[lagomorph777]

22. Yes, it's an absolute necessity. She would focus on the assailant, not what day of the week it was.

[Rural_Progressive]

23. You are absolutely correct, I can tell you every detail of my fall but

I certainly don't recall the date much less what day of the week it happened.

[Honeycombe8]

8. Wow. That's horrible. You've have some bad luck.

I hope things have gotten better.

[Rustynaerduwell]

9. Thank you all for your sympathy, but

I have survived just fine. I'm a happy, thankful man in love with life. My point was, when traumatic events happen, like an attempted rape, details are forgotten. Not remembering the exact day, what you were wearing when it happened- hell, I have to think just to remember the year these things happened- none of these should cast doubt on the event. I hate when the response to victims of sexual predators is to challenge their recollection of specific details that are unrelated to the act itself. That was my point.

[lagomorph777]

11. Agreed, and the grilling by the Greedy Old Perverts' proxy focused on idiotic minutiae.

While revealing only that Ford comes across as genuine and normal, unlike her attacker.

[yardwork]

12. Thank you for posting this.

[padfun]

13. I remember everything when I walked into my daughters room and found her dead.

But don't remember much of the next six months. I was in a daze.

[kpete]

15. https://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/loveya.gif

[titaniumsalute]

19. Yea I dated a girl for two years in college

She died unexpectedly. It was an awful time in my life. I really don't remember what time of year she died. It was Ok weather so maybe Spring. I don't remember much of the funeral. But the feelings I had were awful.

[Vinca]

20. I was assaulted in high school and I remember it vividly, but I can't even tell you the year it

happened or what month it happened. I know the location and the guy and how I felt and that was half a century ago. The GOP is doing a real disservice to the victims who have come forward.