Recovered‑Memory Memoirs Risk Harm

Updated: 2025.10.13 8D ago 1 sources
A blockbuster assault memoir based on MDMA‑assisted 'recovered memories' was celebrated by major book clubs, then exposed as likely untrue. As psychedelic‑assisted therapy spreads, unverifiable memories can be turned into bestsellers that identify and damage real people. — This raises the need for verification norms in trauma publishing and cautions policymakers and clinicians about memory reliability in psychedelic therapy.

Sources

Why trauma writers lie to us
Alden Jones 2025.10.13 100% relevant
Amy Griffin’s The Tell—endorsed by Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush—relied on MDMA therapy to 'recover' abuse memories before being publicly disputed, with an identifiable teacher implicated.
← Back to All Ideas