Death-Trauma and other painful memories

The most likely memories that one will recover are the ones which stand out emotionally or are different from the normal hum of your every-day life in the past. Seeking out memories is sometimes dangerous because one of the things that stands out best are things that are traumatic or painful, or your own death, which presumably only happened once in that lifetime, and are your last experiences there, thus are very close to the here and now.

People who remember traumatic memories may find they need counseling, professional or not. Sharing the memory with trusted friends and finding a good shoulder to cry --or shudder-- on can help a lot. If you can't find a person to share with, try writing it out to stop the recurring flashbacks that often accompany remembering traumatic memories.

Often you can find a message in the trauma, something positive that you can take from the experience. Also realize that the event is in the past and not happening in the present, no matter how closely you relive it.