健忘症是一种脑部疾患,脑部受伤、疾病或是全身营养不良等都可以引发健忘，但健忘还有另外一种原因，就是基于自我保护而忘掉痛苦的记忆、连带着会忘记许多其他的事情。下文就给大家介绍一下自我保护性的“健忘”。

Amnesia is a primitive,self-preservationmechanism, which comes into play when man need to protect himself or herself from some form of severe emotional or physicaltrauma. Man,subconsciously,blocks outthe pain of the emotional or physical trauma, by burying the event or events so deeply that he has no memory of them.

In severe cases, the individual not only loses his or her memory of past, painful events, or periods of time, but also loses his or her identity. He or she believes that the events thatled up tothis memory loss, occurred to another individual, and assumes a new identity. Though he or she functions within societal boundaries, this individual lives only in the present, and has no recollection of the past.

Recoveries, and recovery times, vary from person to person, and either occurinstantaneously, or with the assistance of a psychiatric specialist. The amnesiac, fortunate enough to overcome this condition, however, has no memory of the events thattranspiredwhen he or she suffered the memory loss.

One must keep in mind that amnesia uncommon, and is not the "normal" reaction to emotional or physical distress. Common reactions to emotional pain, such as fright, stress, hurt, and anger, are dealt with in ways such as bursting into tears, breaking into a cold sweat, or blushing like a new bride.

self-preservation: 自卫
trauma: 创伤
subconsciously: 下意识地
block out: 封闭
led up to: 导致
instantaneously: 立刻
transpire: 蒸发

（来源：coolquiz.com 英语点津 Ananbel 编辑）

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