Hindsight isn't always a wonderful thing: Our brains take traumatic memories out of context so we think things were worse than they were

Memories of bad events are painful to think about by their very nature, and traumatic events can often seem worse than they really were when you relive them. This is because we are less likely to remember the context surrounding a bad experience, only the experience itself, according to research out today. The findings could help explain why some therapies for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder work and might lead to new way to treat sufferers. Memories of bad events are painful to think about by their very nature, and traumatic events can often seem worse than they really were when you relive them. A research group at University College London placed 20 volunteers in an MRI scanner and showed them pairs of pictures, some of which included negative content.