Fading Memory Disorder and the Dissociative-Informed Advantage
This series of articles explores the concept of “Fading Memory Disorder” (FMD), or progressive cognitive decline, through the comprehensive, trauma-informed lens of the Wounded Healers Institute (WHI) and its foundational models. These articles synthesize psychological, neurobiological, and environmental research to propose that FMD is an expression of systemic, unresolved traumatic dissociation, rather than an isolated cognitive failure.
Part 1: Fading Memory: The Body’s Signal of Dissociation and Systemic Stress
The traditional medical framing of Fading Memory Disorder (FMD)—a lay term often associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)—positions it as an inevitable consequence of aging or a standalone neurological deficit,. However, the foundational principle of the Wounded Healers Institute (WHI) reframes this: the physical body is the psychological unconscious,. From this perspective, memory loss is not merely a cognitive error; it is a profound signal from the unconscious body indicating an overwhelming systemic stress load and a failure to resolve traumatic dissociation.
Fading Memory as Dissociative Failure
The Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) posits that addiction is fundamentally a conditioned bond to a dissociative state, initiated by an overwhelming (or underwhelming) event (trauma or euphoric stress). Dissociation, the body’s adaptive mechanism to sever the individual from an overwhelming present moment, is inherently linked to memory. The core symptoms of addiction—compulsions, loss of control, and cognitive fragmentation—are viewed as pathological dissociation.
When the mind struggles with memory (FMD/MCI), it signifies a breakdown in the explicit, conscious memory system (e.g., recall of factual details). Research suggests that in times of stress, the brain prioritizes high-level semantic and emotional content while peripheral, low-level sensory details are degraded. However, the ADM suggests that while the conscious details fade, the implicit or unconscious memory—the somatic, emotional knowledge held in the body—remains potent and active.
Fading memory is therefore a form of systemic disorganization, a manifestation of the dissociative spectrum where the explicit memory fails to contain the implicit, unresolved trauma. The fatigue, difficulty focusing, and sleep issues commonly associated with memory loss are characteristic symptoms of unresolved traumatic stress.
The Environmental Drivers of Cognitive Decline
A critical component of FMD and related neurological diseases is chronic inflammation and neurotoxic exposure. The body’s capacity for self-repair is reliant on optimal neurochemical function, specifically within the highly perfused pineal gland, which is responsible for melatonin production and sleep regulation.
Melatonin, synthesized from tryptophan, is crucial for regulating the sleep cycle, which is essential for clearing cellular debris from the brain.1 Chronic, disruptive factors—such as pervasive environmental neurotoxicants like glyphosate and aluminum—synergistically impair pineal gland function and disrupt the synthesis of melatonin.1
- Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway in gut bacteria, reducing the availability of tryptophan (the precursor to serotonin and melatonin).1
- Aluminum accumulates heavily in the pineal gland and interferes with key enzyme function, further disrupting melatonin metabolism.1
This toxic synergy leads to disrupted sleep, chronic systemic stress, and consequently, memory loss and neurocognitive decline.1 This environmental perspective supports the ADM hypothesis: the dysfunction is not simply a biological flaw, but a survival response exacerbated by external, overwhelming stressors that push the body into a state of pathological, fragmented dissociation.
Neurobiology of Memory and the Endogenous Psychedelic System (EPS)
To understand how Fading Memory Disorder (FMD) might be reversed, one must recognize the body’s intrinsic healing intelligence, mediated by the Endogenous Psychedelic System (EPS). The EPS provides the neurobiological mechanism for profound reorganization of consciousness and memory, offering a path out of chronic, dissociative memory fragmentation.
The EPS and the Dissolution of Fixed Identity
The human brain is a “pharmaceutical factory” that naturally produces psychedelic compounds, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and endogenous cannabinoids. While the exact role of these compounds remains a “mystery,” they are hypothesized to play a crucial role in an endogenous anti-depression and anti-pain system, functioning in concert with the endogenous opioid system (EOS) to regulate reward, pain, and memory.
Psychedelic compounds like psilocybin, LSD, and DMT are structurally similar to serotonin and primarily act as agonists on the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor in the cerebral cortex. This action is thought to promote significant neuroplasticity—the formation of new neural connections—which can be described as an “acceleration of growth” in withered neuronal networks, akin to “an early spring” for the brain.
This neuroplastic reorganization is achieved by transiently modulating the Default Mode Network (DMN), the brain network linked to self-referential thought and the stability of the ego,. Psychedelic action causes a temporary decrease in DMN activity, leading to the subjective experience of ego dissolution.
From a WHI perspective, FMD is related to the conscious mind’s pathological attachment to a rigid, often shame-based, “self-model”—a kind of “Cartesian fiction” designed to integrate cognitive processing. Ego dissolution is the neurobiological process of temporarily dismantling this rigid model, thereby unlocking the emotional, implicit memories held in the unconscious body. This allows new information—the body’s wisdom—to enter the conscious mind without the habitual filter of trauma and avoidance.
Unlocking Memory for Healing
The action of the EPS, whether through endogenous release or therapeutic augmentation via exogenous psychedelics, is a form of powerful, controlled dissociation. This state facilitates:
- Memory Access: It breaches the pathological dissociative barrier (the “amnesia barrier”) that seals off traumatic material.
- Dual Attention: It enables the mind to hold a terrifying or difficult memory while remaining rooted in the present, safe reality (therapeutic Dual Attention), an essential component of trauma resolution and memory reconsolidation.
- Neuroplastic Window: The temporary state of hyper-connectivity promotes the process of Memory Reconsolidation (MR), which permanently resolves the root cause of the pathological memory, whether it be a traumatic event or an addiction memory.
By harnessing this innate system, FMD and related cognitive impairments are viewed not as permanent damage, but as a solvable state of disorganization awaiting the EPS-mediated neuroplastic intervention for healing.
The Path to Reintegration: Recovering Common Sense and the Flow of Consciousness
Fading Memory Disorder (FMD) is fundamentally a crisis of consciousness—a failure of the explicit mind to integrate the powerful, implicitly held memories of the body (the unconscious). The philosophical framework for resolving this crisis is the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH), which offers the practical wisdom to move from pathological dissociation to adaptive integration.
The Wisdom of Recovering Common Sense
The PWH demands a recovery of fundamental truths that society has dissociated from, starting with the principle of Recovering Common Sense. This means acknowledging the innate wisdom of the organism—the body’s relentless, non-judgmental drive toward healing and safety.
The body, acting as the unconscious, is “programmed to heal” and will engage in relentless “tear and repair” processes to ensure survival. The destructive compulsion of addiction, or the forgetfulness of FMD, is merely a powerful, misdirected survival mandate. To recover Common Sense is to:
- Reframe Symptoms: See dissociation not as a deficit or avoidance, but as an initial survival response and a desperate, albeit misguided, attempt to initiate self-repair.
- Affirm Duality: Understand that all experiences are dualistic (Mutual Arising): pain cannot exist without relief, and conscious awareness is defined by the unconscious. The seeming contradiction of the addictive state (wanting more despite knowing the consequences) is resolved when realizing the unconscious survival brain is overriding the conscious mind.
Dual Attention and Memory Reconsolidation
The practical solution for FMD, dissociation, and trauma is the deliberate creation of adaptive dissociation through Dual Attention. Therapeutic modalities leverage this state to safely access the encapsulated traumatic or addictive memory.
When the conscious mind can maintain a state of grounded awareness while the implicit emotional material surfaces (a chemically or therapeutically induced dissociative state), the conditions for Memory Reconsolidation are met. The fading, fragmented, or intrusive memory (cravings as flashbacks) is actively unlocked, updated with new emotional information (safety), and stored as a resolved, inert memory.
This process effectively reverses the cognitive fragmentation of FMD by resolving the underlying trauma-related dissociation. It restores the coherence of the self, allowing the mind to work in harmony with the body’s wisdom, moving beyond the perpetual state of “here but not here” that defines both dissociation and cognitive impairment.
The Flow of Integrated Consciousness
The ultimate goal is the achievement of integrated consciousness, where the emotional, implicit memory informs rational, explicit decision-making. FMD and other forms of dissociation are resolved when the conscious mind surrenders its futile, destructive “addiction to control” and embraces the wisdom of the unconscious body.
By validating the existence of the Endogenous Psychedelic System (EPS) and integrating the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH), memory loss is no longer a terminal diagnosis of decline. Instead, it becomes a crucial, identifiable milestone—a clear signal that the conscious self must integrate its spiritual and embodied truths to achieve true, lasting neurobiological and psychological recovery.
Selected References
Ecker, B., Ticic, R., & Hulley, L. (2012). Unlocking the emotional brain: Eliminating symptoms at their roots using memory reconsolidation. Routledge. 1
Lanius, U., Paulsen, S., & Corrigan, F. (Eds.). (2014). Neurobiology and treatment of traumatic dissociation: Toward an embodied self. Springer Publishing Company. 1,
O’Brien, A. (2023). Addiction as trauma-related dissociation: A phenomenological investigation of the addictive state. International University for Graduate Studies. 1
Palhano-Fontes, F., Andrade, K. C., Tofoli, L. F., Santos, A. C., Crippa, J. A. S., Hallak, J. E. C., et al. (2015). The psychedelic state induced by ayahuasca modulates the activity and connectivity of the Default Mode Network. PLoS ONE, 10(2), e0118143.
Seneff, S., Swanson, N., & Li, C. (2015). Aluminum and glyphosate can synergistically induce pineal gland pathology: Connection to gut dysbiosis and neurological disease. Agricultural Sciences, 6, 42-70. 1
Stasik-O’Brien, S. (2023). Dissociation is not avoidance: Recovering common sense in the face of traumatic stress. Wounded Healers Institute Blog.
Vane, R. (2024). The neuroplastic blueprint: Serotonergic psychedelics, neuroplasticity, and the physical body as the psychological unconscious. Frontiers in Psychology.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books. 1
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References
O’Brien, A. (2023a). Addiction as Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Addictive State. International University of Graduate Studies. (Dissertation). Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/
O’Brien, A. (2023b). Memory Reconsolidation in Psychedelics Therapy. In Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/
O’Brien, A. (2023c). Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2024a). Healer and Healing: The re-education of the healer and healing professions as an advocation. Re-educational and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2024e). Path of the Wounded Healers for Thrivers: Perfectionism, Altruism, and Ambition Addictions; Re-education and training manual for Abusers, Activists, Batterers, Bullies, Enablers, Killers, Narcissists, Offenders, Parents, Perpetrators, and Warriors. Re-Education and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2025). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
*This is for informational and educational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
