Forgiving and Forgetting: Can You Really Erase an Unwanted Memory? 

Scientists have come up with a method of intentionally blocking certain memories from our minds. Researchers from Dartmouth detailed their findings in the journal "Psychonomic Bulletin and Review." 

They studied the brain images of 25 participants ranging in age from 19 to 34. The people who were able to forget certain memories did so by letting-go of memories that were associated with the actual memory they were trying to get rid of.  In other words, memories that were related to, linked to, or corresponded with the actual memory were replaced.

Scientists have been studying memory since back in Ancient Grecian times.  They have known from the beginning that humans use context to remember things.  That means the sights, sounds, smells, who we were with, where we were, and so on.  Remembering those details surrounding the main memory helps solidify the experience in our minds. Therefore, conversely, replacing those peripheral memories helps us forget the main memory.

Forgive and Forget? See the health benefits of forgiveness by clicking the video above.

For example, if you wanted to forget a certain conversation, you would try to not only replace thoughts of the conversation with other thoughts, but also replace thoughts of the music that was playing during the conversation, the restaurant in which you were having the conversation, and anything else associated with the conversation.  

"It's like intentionally pushing thoughts of your grandmother's cooking out of your mind if you don't want to think about your grandmother at that moment," says lead author Jeremy Manning in a press release.

Forgetting doesn't involve just removing the thoughts, but replacing them with something else.  So for example, to clear your mind of a certain song, start thinking of a different song instead.  
  
As Manning puts it, "If you don't want to think of the color blue, you think of green things instead." 

Trying to erase memories is a controversial subject. While on one hand, some argue that it can be beneficial, such as in the case of traumatic past events like childhood abuse or war combat.  

However, others might argue that instead of trying to forget past hurts,  it's more beneficial to actually dwell on those memories and process them, work through them, under the care and supervision of a qualified mental health professional.