Bye Bye Bad Memories

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a brilliant movie - one of those ones that leaves you going "hmmmmm" for a long time afterwards.
It also serves as a reminder that Jim Carey can be taken seriously as an actor and that occasionally he presents one with the opportunity to watch a performance that doesn't feature fart jokes and rubber-faced expressions.
But back to the fundamental idea behind the movie; what would the effects of controlling peoples' memories be & would it be a healthy thing?
Scientists in the Netherlands have been conducting trial experiments (with human subjects) in erasing/blocking traumatic memories - take a pill and all the bad memories are gone.
While I can see the value for victims of violence and such, I'm still left questioning the long-term consequences of such "treatments".
It's likely that the "treatment" will be far more readily available in first world countries - leaving third world countries with their bad memories.
There is already such a mental divide between wealthy & poor countries - just look at how unconcerned people are with the conflict in Darfur & how long people have been struggling to get the "powers that be" such as the US & certain European countries to actually give a damn. Administer this pill to the populations of western societies and we'll widen the gap between people.
Take a person who has no recollection of any violence or painful life experiences & let them try & relate to a child war veteran in some African country who watched their family get massacred at the age of 4 & has been killing people for the ten years since...
While the potentials for this magical eraser pill need to be considered, there are so many other things that come into play - when you consider it in a global light.