Dissociative Amnesia is a psychological condition in which a person is unable to recall important personal information, usually related to traumatic or highly stressful experiences. The memory loss is more extensive than ordinary forgetting and it might not be explained by a physical condition, substance use, or typical memory problems.
Key Features
- Inability to remember important autobiographical information.
- May be linked to trauma, abuse, accidents, disasters, combat, or overwhelming stress.
- Memory loss may involve specific events, certain time periods, or, in rare cases, a person’s entire life history.
- The forgotten information is stored in memory but becomes temporarily inaccessible to conscious awareness.
Types of Dissociative Amnesia
- Localized Amnesia
- Inability to remember events during a specific period of time.
- Most common type.
- Selective Amnesia
- May recall some, but not all, aspects of a traumatic event.
- Generalized Amnesia
- Loss of memory for one’s entire life history or identity.
- Rare.
- Systematized Amnesia
- Memory loss related to a particular person, place, or category of information.
- Continuous Amnesia
- Inability to form conscious memories for ongoing events from a certain point forward.
Possible Symptoms
- Memory gaps concerning personal history.
- Confusion or distress about missing memories.
- Difficulty recalling traumatic experiences.
- Feeling detached from oneself or reality (sometimes occurring alongside other dissociative symptoms).
Dissociative Fugue
A rare subtype in which a person:
- Suddenly travels away from home or work.
- Becomes confused about their identity.
- May assume a new identity temporarily.
Possible Causes
- Severe trauma or overwhelming stress.
- Childhood abuse or neglect.
- Combat experiences.
- Natural disasters.
- Interpersonal violence.
- Major emotional conflicts.
Possible Treatment
Treatment may focus on safety, stabilization, and gradual processing of underlying trauma:
- Psychotherapy (the primary treatment)
- Trauma-focused therapies
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Clinical hypnosis (when appropriate and conducted by trained professionals)
- Stress management and grounding techniques
Shervan K Shahhian
LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 