My lie
Subtitle: a true story of false memory
By: Meredith Maran
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Published: 2010
Place of publication: San Francisco, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9780470502143
Subjects: Fathers and daughters; Recovered memory; Mental health; Patients; Family relationships; False memory syndrome; Biography
Description: Journalist Meredith Maran lived a daughter's nightmare: she accused her father of sexual abuse, then realized, nearly too late, that he was innocent. During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Americans became convinced that they had repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, and then, decades later, recovered those memories in therapy. Maran was one of them. Her accusation and estrangement from her father divided her family into those who believed her and those who didn't, and led her to isolate herself among "survivors" who devoted their lives, and life savings, to recovering memories of events that had never occurred. Exploring the psychological, cultural, and neuroscientific causes of this modern American witch-hunt, Maran asks how so many people could come to believe the same lie at the same time? And perhaps more importantly: what are the "big lies" gaining traction in American culture today--and how can we keep them from taking hold?--From publisher description.
Table of contents: title: Prologue: The same thing happened to me ; Introduction: one in three; title: Pt. 1: 1576-1982. Desperate housewife ; In feminism we trust; title: Pt. 2: 1983-1993. Please question your child (and your childhood) ; Breaking the silence ; Daddy can't come home again ; Remember ; Did he or didn't he? ; In therapy we trust; title: Pt. 3: 1994-2009. Doubt ; Deprogramming ; What [crossed out] was I thinking? ; Eternal sunshine of the recovered mind. ; In neuroscience we trust ; Amends.