It seems to protect us in the sense that the real bad memories becomes blanketed.
I think so too, especially with intense pain. Even though we may remember well, we aren't going to manifest the same level of intensity in the feelings.
But at times a flash will appear out of nowhere that will often leave me dumbstruck. I know that it is trauma and I have learned to ignore it, but it is never a pleasant experience
I guess this is like flashbacks for soldiers? I wonder if doctors and first responders get similar.
I was a first responder at several occasions and can share some very gruesome details, but whenever I talk about it to my wife it is as if I am talking in the third person. Doctors and first reponders build up a protective wall against the memories. I think that they see so many that they become numbed to its affects.
But again, all of the trauma gets stored somewhere laying in wait for its time to attack the mind.
I am assuming it is some kind of disassociation, taking the "human" out of the equation to some degree. Some might not like the idea, but I think it is necessary for a doctor for example to do their job without emotion, at least in the moment.
That is what it is. But can that disassociation be good for one in the long run? I post today about soft and hardened hearts and I think that removing the emotions from an unpleasant task only returns later to haunt one.
That is of course if one at that stage still has a conscience!
The old war vets have shown me the long term damages that we can cause ourselves!