Paramnesia

Paramnesia refers to memory disorders that refer to the affected person having memories of certain events that did not take place in reality. It is a faulty and falsified past, but it is real for the person concerned. Forms of paramnesia are déjà vu experiences (feeling that what has been experienced has happened before or that a stranger seems familiar), jamais vu experiences (a familiar person or place appears strange), ekmnesia (the affected person has the feeling that in a past period of life), hypermnesia (the affected person later remembers events better; also happens in connection with hypnosis), flashbacks (the affected person relives a traumatic experience with all their senses through a key stimulus), intrusions (the affected person remembers through a key stimulus clearly of a traumatic experience) or the false memory syndrome (the affected person has a wrong memory). The false memory syndrome can be the result of direct leading questions in hypnosis. However, a trained hypnotherapist will never ask such questions. If questions about a traumatic experience are to be asked as part of hypnotherapy, these are always open questions that do not allow any false memory effect. It is nevertheless important to keep an eye on the false memory effect and, even after the hypnosis, in a conversation with the hypnotized person, there is room to classify what has been experienced. See also false memory effect.