It is not seriously regarded as a psychiatric syndrome, and is widely discussed - among several reasons - for being an argument used against victims of child abuse. It is supposed to be possible to psychologically implant an idea that will be interpreted as a memory in someone who didn't really live it, and there are proven cases of people swearing to have seen things that can then be proven to not exist, but have happened fortuitously or on anecdotal facts such as ensuring that Mickey Mouse pants fit with handles when the drawing never had them. Manipulating the memory of child abuse is harder if it ever happened. That's why 'false memory syndrome' is more associated with déj vu or the so-called Mandela effect than brainwashing. The term was created by American mathematician Peter John Freyd after his daughter, now an adult, accused him of child sexual abuse remembered during a psychotherapy session.
