Forgetting is the disappearance of a part of the content (part of information) from consciousness. Sometimes it’s grief, sometimes it’s a necessity.
What did you talk about right after breakfast today? And by the way, what time was it? We don’t remember, we forgot…
Forgetting is a natural process that usually does not require any effort from a person. First of all, everything that we don’t think about and that we don’t remember well is forgotten. In addition, everything that we think about before going to bed is quickly forgotten: therefore, write down the important thoughts that came before falling asleep somewhere. On the other hand, sleep well erases bad memories: they lay down, slept, in the morning there are no evening troubles: “Morning is wiser than evening.”
However, in some cases, forgetting, or rather selective forgetting, is the result of psychological problems. For many (for everyone? — check. Have there been studies?), unpleasant events are forgotten faster than pleasant ones, and it can be assumed that this is due to the unconscious repression from consciousness of what we do not want to see there.
O.I. Motkov: “I also feel that there are many types of the unconscious. For example, I had a displacement of relearning at school from the left to the right hand. I’m left-handed, and I don’t remember at all how I learned to write. But it was rather unpleasant. These unpleasant emotions were forced out so as not to overstrain the psyche. Automatic protective mechanism. Apparently, after that, I was wary of any pressure in the learning process and internally resisted it. see →
Are there special techniques for forgetting unnecessary information? Yes, but you don’t need them.
These techniques are usually needed by people with super memory: people who remember everything at once so vividly that they cannot forget anything and soon overwhelm themselves with unnecessary information. So, for example, Solomon Shereshevsky suffered from the fact that he could not forget anything, and in order to free his memory, he wrote on imaginary paper what he wanted to forget, and then imagined that he had burned it.
However, for you and me, as well as for most people, the task of “specially forgetting” is not worth it: everything that is not specifically fixed in memory is naturally forgotten. Made a reminder — you will remember, did not — quickly forgot. However, this only applies to emotionally neutral events that do not affect us personally. If an affectively significant event occurs, associated with serious troubles and losses, with scenes of violence or death, then the memory brings us back to these difficult events over and over again. Further, all people are divided into two categories — calm and anxious. Those who are calm know that all these emotionally difficult pictures and experiences will naturally go away on their own in a few days (sometimes “The morning is wiser than the evening” works, everything has disappeared by morning, in other cases it takes two or three days), and against the background of such calmness (“I unpleasant, but it will definitely pass soon”) they really quickly erase everything. It’s harder for anxious people. They worry that all this will continue with them, think about it a lot, bring themselves back to these events and, in fact, artificially reinforce these difficult memories. It is even harder with those who are convinced that it is simply impossible to forget SUCH and support negative memories as something difficult, but due. What to do in such cases? Work with beliefs, do not read bad psychology, where harmful myths are instilled, learn to relax and not fool yourself on purpose.
However, what suits reasonable people sometimes does not suit emotional women. Especially for them, specialists compose rituals that act on their impressionable natures and allow them to get out of their heads what they themselves cannot cope with.
For example, Samvel Gharibyan, the owner of a phenomenal memory, describes one of these semi-shamanistic methods of forgetting as follows: “You need to stand up straight, keep your head slightly thrown back and focus on the fact that this information is in your arms, legs, spine, lungs. And after a minute of this concentration, you will throw it out of yourself, while experiencing a sense of relief. Take a deep breath, tighten all the muscles, raise your hands tightly clenched into fists up and shake all parts of the body. If you have entered a state close to a trance, then after such a shake-up you will really forget this information.
V.L. Levi, apparently for girls of a similar warehouse, recommended the following forgetting spell:
First, carefully read both parts in a row. Learn by heart. Already feel better. Then copy the first quatrain by hand on a blank sheet of paper. On top, write the name of the addressee — to whom (the source of pain.) Then — burn the sheet, throw away the ashes. And then repeat only the second part.
This hard labor will be no more
Never, never, never…
Let the soul forget this name
Forever, forever, forever.
The shadow is gone, gone, gone
She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone
On freedom, freedom, freedom
Only light, only light, only light.
If a painful shadow of past memories appears, recall the verse immediately and repeat the second part of it. You will soon feel how the pain departs, turns pale and dissolves with freedom and light.
In therapeutic practice, where there are really difficult cases, such methods of suggestion and self-suggestion are fully justified. To introduce such methods into the lives of healthy people is apparently inappropriate.