Memory Distrust Syndrome

Memory distrust syndrome is a condition first described by Gisli Gudjonsson and James MacKeith in 1982, in which a person doubts the accuracy of their own memory concerning the content and context of events they have actually experienced. Because the person does not trust their own memory, they commonly come to depend on outside sources of information rather than on their own recollection, a pattern some believe may function as a defense or coping mechanism for a preexisting faulty memory state such as Alzheimer's disease, amnesia or dementia. It is related to source amnesia, the inability to recall the basis for one's factual knowledge, but differs from it in that source amnesia is a lack of knowing the basis of knowledge while memory distrust syndrome is a lack of trust in knowledge that does exist, and documented cases of the syndrome have led to false confessions in court.