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in collaboration with
Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical psychologist)
As The Eras tour, Taylor Swift’s world tour, moves forward, the comments are the same on the networks: many fans have no precise memory of the concert experienced, in France as in England. How can you forget a long-awaited event? Psychologists respond.
“It was the best night of my life, but I don’t remember it.”
This is the content of the tweets and TikTok messages sent by many Taylor Swift fans online the day after the long-awaited concert. The Eras Tour, which travels through around twenty countries, wouldn’t it leave a lasting memory? It’s a little more complex than that.
Too many strong emotions in one evening
After four hours of adrenaline, excitement and more than 40 songs, the Swifties return home and realize that they don’t remember… anything. “I suffer fromamnesia post-concert. Why don’t I remember the tour at all?” mentions for example @champaigeproblems on TikTok. And due to the unprecedented hype, it seems more people have been affected than ever.
For psychologists, the phenomenon is not so rare: it is caused by heightened emotions and a buzzing atmosphere that make it more difficult to form memories.
“Post-concert amnesia may actually be linked to excess emotion and sensory overload such that the brain is overwhelmed, making it difficult to form new, clear memories,” evokes psychologist Amélie Boukhobza for Doctissimo.
The concert would therefore be far from bad. It would actually be “too much”! And way too exciting for the “Switfies” who have been waiting for this moment for months.
“At the hormonal level, during moments of extreme excitement, the body releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Although these hormones may improve short-term alertness, they may also interfere with the brain’s ability to encode long-term memories.” continues the expert.
A phenomenon that we can also feel in the opposite direction, in traumatic moments. “It may look like a form of dissociation, this psychological mechanism where the mind partially detaches itself from the experience. In response to high levels of arousal or stress“.
Good in his body, good in his head!
Too many stimuli also received in concert
Added to the excess of emotions, an excess of sensations, to which the human body, and the brain, are not accustomed, and which can confuse the issue.
“The combination of bright lights, loud sounds, crowds and general excitement can lead to a sort of ‘short circuit’ in memory, where the brain fails to process everything correctly,” evokes Amélie Boukhobza.
A supposition confirmed by neuroscientist Dean Burnett in the DailyMail. Today, concerts are often visual extravaganzas: music fans are now often treated to multiple costume changes, props, strobe lighting, special effects, and dancing formations. This can lead to “overload”.
“It’s really hard to remember one thing when there are about 50 things happening. The brain doesn’t have the capacity to understand everything in detail, so it will just be like a vague memory of an emotional experience.” A vague memory that has no guarantee of coming back to mind.
Nothing serious in short. Still, after months of waiting and hundreds of dollars or euros spent to “experience” The Eras Tour, there is reason to be frustrated by this reaction. Unless Taylor Swift has found the perfect way to sell more albums or tickets to fans who need to regain their memories.