One these drugs is propranolol. For 25 years, this drug has been used to treat people with high blood pressure. Dr Brunet of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, has discovered that propranolol helps to reduce the painful impact of bad memories. Dr. Roger Pitman of Harvard University has also had good results working with this drug. He found that patients given propranolol shortly after a distressing event are less emotional when recalling the experience.