Amnesia

People with amnesia, the ones who only lose their memory for a week or so or whatever. Do they remember that week they forgot? Do they regain their memory slowly? Do they know how to type? or eat? do they know how to walk?

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Answer #1

To answer your last question, he’s not going to forget this week, if that’s what you’re asking, it is hard to tell if he’ll remember what he forgot…

This is what I got from my notes…

What are the symptoms of dissociative amnesia? Unable to recall important information

When is dissociative amnesia usually triggered? Specific upsetting event

What are the 4 types of dissociative amnesia? a. Localized (circumscribed) – most common type; loss of all memory of events occurring within a limited period of time b. Selective – loss of memory for some, but not all, events occurring within a period of time c. Generalized – loss of memory, beginning with an event, but extending back in time; may lose sense of identity; may fail to recognize family and friends d. Continuous – forgetting of both old and new information and events; quite rare in cases of dissociative amnesia
What type of memory does dissociative amnesia affect? Episodic memory (one’s autobiographical memory of personal material)
What remains intact? Semantic memory – memory for abstract or encyclopedic information (so yes, they know how to do the things they did before, like eat, walk, etc)
What are the characteristics and treatment? Usually self-correcting, may need therapy to retrieve lost information
Symptoms of dissociative fugue? a. Forget their personal identities and details of their past AND b. Flee to an entirely different location
Is the fugue always severe? No a. Fugue is brief: they may travel a short distance but do not take on a new identity b. For others, the fugue is more severe: they may travel thousands of miles, take on a new identity, build new relationships, and display new personality characteristics
What triggers it? Stressful event Personal stress
Do fugues end gradually? No, tend to end suddenly
Before the fugue has ended, do patients recall their previous lives? Therapists may find it necessary to continually remind them of their own identity and location
Is the fugue reversible? Yes. Individuals tend to regain most or all of their memories and never have a recurrence
What are the characteristics? Memory loss Assume new identity/confused about old one Associated with intolerable situation End abruptly Adult onset

Answer #2

Hes here now, talking to his girlfriend, and he just said “do I love you?”

:( aawww.

Answer #3

c. Generalized – loss of memory, beginning with an event, but extending back in time; may lose sense of identity; may fail to recognize family and friends

Thankyou all for this information. He doesnt remember anything, he asked who he was. He asked who his mom was. He passed out yesterday so he’s in hospital and since then, no memory. He’s coming out today. They said he should start remembering people in a week or so.

But how do I act? What do I do when he comes home? Do I confuse him by telling me he’s known me for ages? Do I tell him hes lost his memory? What do I do?

Answer #4

Just act normal… And I’m pretty sure he knows he’s lost his memory :) You can help by filling in blanks when he’s confused

Answer #5

amnesia is just when someone forgets something… like when you fall out of a tree and hit your head your not going to remember what happened when you fell and probablly won’t remember anything from that day. It doesn’t affect functions like not eating or walking, they will still remember how to do that because those are long term things.

Answer #6

I don’t know a lot about the different parts of your brain, but as far as I know amnesia is only because one portion of your brain got damaged or temporarily out of order and that doesn’t include the long term part?

Answer #7

Apparently he should be ok within a week, but when he gets his memory back, will he remember the week without a memory?