When someone confabulates, they are confusing things they have imagined with real memories.
Confabulated memories can sometimes be confused withintentional lyingor malingering.
However, it’s important to note that a person who is confabulating is notlying.
Verywell / Cindy Chung
Malingering involves deceiving others to gain something.
Instead, they believe that their memories are 100% accurate.
They’re also confident in the truth of their memories even when confronted with contradictory evidence.
On the other hand, a person who confabulates is not doing so to deceive.
They’re unaware that what they remember is not the truth.
A person with memory problems might not be able to remember exactly how they met someone.
When asked directly, they might confabulate a story to fill in this missing memory.
Confabulated memories can be elaborate and detailed.
In other cases, a person’s memories can be quite mundane.
Identifying Confabulated Memories
Confabulation can sometimes be challenging to recognize.
After all, the person experiencing this memory error genuinely believes the memory is entirely true.
It can also make diagnosing mental health and memory conditions more difficult.
What Causes Confabulation?
Some of the conditions that are linked to confabulation includememory disorders, brain injuries, and certain psychiatric conditions.
When specific details are at the forefront of memory, they often overshadow other vital pieces of information.
If the information is not fully encoded, they are more susceptible toforgettingor misremembering it.
False Memory
False memorycan also play a key role.
False memories can form for several different reasons.
In many cases, memories are encoded improperly or become corrupted due tointerferencefrom other information and memories.
This may be why people with memory-affecting conditionssuch as dementia and amnesiaare sometimes more likely to confabulate.
In many cases, arguing over the validity of memories in people with dementia serves little purpose.
Rather than trying to challenge or refute their memories, it is better to offer acceptance and support.
In some instances, confabulation can be addressed with psychotherapeutic andcognitive behavioraltreatments.
These approaches help individuals become more aware of the inaccuracies in their memory.
Techniques that encourage a person to question what they do and do not remember can also be useful.
Family members and friends of people who are prone to being confabulated may become frustrated or distressed.
Gaps in memory can be difficult and even frightening for people who experience them.
Confabulated memories are one way the mind might venture to make sense of the world.
Takeaways
Confabulations can create false memories that aren’t aligned with reality.
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