selective amnesia
Memory's selective blindness
Selective amnesia is conveniently forgetting certain facts while remembering others—typically when the forgotten information would be inconvenient or incriminating.
The term is usually accusatory, implying the forgetting is strategic rather than genuine: He has selective amnesia about all the promises he made during the campaign.
In clinical contexts, it can refer to memory loss affecting only specific events, often traumatic ones.
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- forgettingFailing to retain memories
- memory lossFailure to recall
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- convenientEasy to use
memory · false memory · trauma · blocking · mental block · suppression · unconscious · recall · painful · erase · blind spot · dissociation · avoidance · gaslighting · mind games · whitewash · rewrite · self-serving
selective amnesiatotal recall
Complete, perfect remembrance
eidetic memory · photographic memory · anterograde amnesia · retrograde amnesia · elephant memory
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