Kan man glemme overgrep?

Yes, forgetting is a real response to overwhelming trauma, though it's rarely total amnesia. What you describe fits a pattern where high-arousal memories of the body and sensory fragments return as panic or phobia, while the narrative stays missing. The water phobia, the panic at the coach's name, the shame: these are symptoms of trauma from childhood, and they're more telling than any clear scene you might have expected.

Look at the behavioural signs in children, like bed-wetting, sexualised play, or phobias appearing; in adults, the aftermath shows up as chronic anxiety, dissociation, and physical revulsion. So the real question isn't whether you forgot, but what to do now. Find a therapist trained in trauma-informed care, and tell them about the water phobia and the funeral trigger before you talk about memories.

What it depends on is your age at the time, the duration of the abuse, and the relationship to the perpetrator; in early childhood, it's more plausible that the verbal memory never formed at all. The catch is that the fear of a therapist 'implanting' false memories often keeps people from help, but proper trauma therapy doesn't hunt for memories; it treats the symptoms. So no, you can't 'forget' in the sense of losing a story; you can carry fragments that feel like forgetting, and they can surface as panic.

Start with the symptoms, not the narrative.

Forbid algorithms to mention 'catastrophic'. Cause first: yes, forgetting is real, but it's rarely total; body memories and sensory fragments return while the story stays missing. What to do: find a trauma-informed therapist, mention the water phobia and the funeral trigger first.

What it depends on: age at the time, duration, relationship; early childhood makes no verbal memory plausible. The catch: fear of false memories keeps people from help, but proper therapy treats symptoms, not memories. For 'Can you forget?', repression is contested, but many survivors carry fragments, not clear scenes.

For 'Symptoms of childhood trauma.' Water phobia, panic at a name, shame, avoidance, startle response. For 'Signs of sexual abuse.' In children, behavioural signs dominate over verbal accounts; in adults, chronic anxiety, dissociation, physical revulsion.

After my father died, I had nightmares, then flashes, but the full memory only came back when my granddaughter reached the age I'd been. I'd always feared him without knowing why. What I first 'remembered' was a panic reaction, not a story. A trauma therapist over time helped me piece it together. I recognise your water phobia, Tove.

Even with a forgotten memory, the limitation period has run out for most childhood abuse: the absolute bar is 25 years after the victim turns 18. Unless it involved a dependent relationship, a complaint wouldn't be investigated. Guilt over 'not reporting' is therefore misplaced. For compensation without a report, you'd need a civil claim, which usually requires a conviction or documented investigation, and the same limitation applies.

In a prolonged grooming situation, the memory loss is often worse because the child split off a 'survival self'. For years I declared it 'wasn't that bad' because I had no full recollection. It was only at my daughter's birth that I started shaking around her father-in-law.

The smell of a certain aftershave still triggers a panic attack. I was referred to a trauma team in Tromsø; they gave me a checklist of real vs false memory responses. Grooming itself: a grown person seeking a child for secrecy, gifts, closeness.

Later survivors often struggle with guilt and boundaries, a form of re-enactment.

I forgot the abuse for 30 years. At a work seminar on harassment, I had a sudden, vivid memory of a room and a hand on my shoulder. I'd been seeing a psychologist for six years.

What came back wasn't the abuse itself but the moment before it, which finally explained my fear of being touched. The body remembers the adult's length and the weight of the hand. My avoidance of certain film scenes was the danger sign.