Why does the brain mostly remember tragic, bad or embarassing memories instead of the happy ones

Question

Why does the brain mostly remember tragic, bad or embarassing memories instead of the happy ones

In: 4262

Answer 1

I agree with what people are talking about.

But there’s also a question of which memories you access at a particular moment.

If you’re in a stressful or negative moment, you may find negative memories easier to recall, or even recalled without you wanting to.

If you’re running from a lion, remembering that time you laid in the daisies all afternoon is not going to help you. Remembering that time you successfully evaded a lion might. Negative memory fixation is a stress response. And since our stresses today tend to be more abstract and less immediately solvable, that stress response triggering negative memories can misfire and linger. Especially if you’re dealing with something like chronic depression or axiety.