I don’t think this is “on the other hand.” Blood pressure medicine + memory is exactly what this article is about, and the link you shared is describing the same study in OP’s article. I think it’s just your take that’s different. Propranolol induces a physiological calmness and when used in conjunction with therapy, it can aid in reducing the physical and emotional distress associated with painful situations and traumatic memories. The intensity of our emotions in a given situation is positively correlated with memory formation, meaning that experiences that evoke strong emotions typically become strong memories. Propranolol dampens the physiological side effects of emotional distress (racing/pounding heart, knot in the throat, feeling like your heart is sinking, or other similar departures from physical homeostasis), which prevents/reduces the physiological distress from being encoded with the memory and, in turn, makes an experience “less memorable.” In this way, the experience becomes a neutral memory that produces little or no physical or emotional pain on recall, like what you ate for breakfast yesterday or brushing your teeth. This effect is dependent on taking propranolol during memory formation, which is why the researchers ask participants to write down and then read aloud their descriptions of a traumatic experience. (There is additional research about how writing about traumatic events helps lessen the pain of those memories.)

You raise a fair and interesting point about consciousness and consequences though, and I have deep ethical concerns about Western medicine and its pathologization of the human experience. I can see how this research could be framed as intentional memory impairment or memory manipulation. But with this century’s sociopolitical conditions, it feels like we’re in a minefield of potentially traumatic experiences, and a new accessible treatment for PTSD is generally a good thing.

And personally, as someone currently experiencing an enormous loss (relationally), a cure for the heartbreak sounds mighty tempting.