Recovered Memories/False Memories: A Psychiatric Perspective

False memory syndrome (FMS), as a concept, is a complete misnomer. As it describes a situation where someone reports a version of events which did not happen, it is not a memory. When we first challenged its status as a 'syndrome',[1] commenting that it had been elevated to the status of syndrome by the media and pressure groups rather than mental health professionals, we drew a sharp response from both the US and UK FMS pressure groups.[2] [3] The use of the word ’false' in the title can also be criticised: when an amputee describes pain in the missing limb, the condition is called a phantom limb,not false limb syndrome.…