“60 Minutes” did a piece on a drug that can help you not remember traumatic events.
The reply to this is that people could use this for non-traumatic events. Make a fool of yourself at a party, take the drug, etc.
Who controls your memory? Should the FDA prevent you from not-remembering what you don’t want to remember? Theoretically couldn’t you train yourself to not remember certain events? Naturally, the brain can block out traumatic events in your past, so is it an affront on yourself if your body blocks this? Another parallel was blocking physical pain, but not emotional pain.
““60 Minutes” did a piece on a drug that can help you not remember traumatic events.”
I saw that piece. very interesting. Your statement is not quite accurate though. the drug propranolol allows you to dissociate the feelings you have with the memory. i.e. if your raped when you remember it it almost certainly triggers an emotional response that cripples your ability to function normally. With the drug you still remember being raped however your emotions have been distanced like you were recalling it as a dispationate observer. In the case of the casual office party scenerio you would still remember the embarrassing event, however, you would not be embarrassed by it.
I am all for it in an prescription taken in a controlled and supervised environment. That being said it is already on the market to treat a variety of other diseases (it is a beta blocker).