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By: Kelsey and Kari
PSYCHOGENIC AMNESIA
OUR 3 QUESTIONS
• 1) Are there other names for this disorder?
• 2) What’s the difference between Psychogenic Amnesia and Amnesia?
• 3) What type of people are at higher risk?
ARE THERE ANY OTHER NAMES FOR THIS DISORDER?
• Yes.
• Functional Amnesia
• Dissociative Amnesia
• Two types
• Global – sudden loss of personal identity
• Lasting a few hours to days
• Situation Specific – loss of memory occurs as a result of a severely stressful event
• Common in cases of severe or repeated trauma
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PSYCHOGENIC AMNESIA AND AMNESIA?
• With dissociative amnesia the memories still exist but are deeply buried in the individuals mind and can not be recalled
• Normal amnesia is caused by a head injury which damage was done to the brain
• amnesia is physical disorder and not considered a mental disorder
WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE ARE AT HIGHER RISK?
• Individuals who are at a great risk of getting psychogenic amnesia are people who have experienced a traumatic event.
• Soldiers
• Victims of domestic violence, sexual / physical abuse
• Terrorist attacks
• Natural disasters
• Child abuse starting at a early age is linked to the disorder
• Psychogenic amnesia falls under the category of dissociative disorders.
• What are dissociative disorders?
• Can be defined as: A condition which is often caused by trauma which a person disconnects from full awareness in order to block unpleasant realities or memories
CAUSES- Extensive psychological stress
- traumatic experiences
- internal problems
- major stressors
- guilt
- Drug use
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Freudian psychology – psychogenic amnesia is an act of self-preservation (alternative to suicide)
• Cognitive theory- repressing unwanted memories from entering the consciousness by altering neurotransmitters, affection formation and recall of memory
• Betrayal trauma theory suggests it is an adaptive response to childhood abuse
• Normal autobiographical memory processing is blocked by imbalance of stress hormones in the brain.
• Stress may directly affect the medial temporal system, inhibiting the retrieval of autobiographical memories and producing a loss of personal identity.
DEMOGRAPHICS
• Can appear in patients of any age past infancy. However, prevalence is unknown.
• Dissociative Amnesia is estimated at 0.2%, but it is much more common in connections with wars, accidents and natural disasters.
• Controversy among therapists regarding the increase in case reports of the disorder and the accuracy of the memories recovered.
• Psychiatrists in the Us and Canada have significantly different opinions of dissociative disorder diagnoses
• Only 30% of Canadian psychiatrists think that dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder should be included in the DSM -IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
SYMPTOMS
• Difficulty recalling information from their past
• Most patients that suffer from psychogenic amnesia have suffered a history of trauma
• Depression
• The feeling of memory loss is often overwhelming
• Sudden inability to remember past experiences or personal information
• Appear confused
THERAPIES AND TREATMENT• Psychotherapy:
• Primary treatment
• Talk therapy, counselling, psychosocial therapy
• Talking about your disorder and related issues with a mental health provider
• Your therapist will work to help understand the cause of your condition and to form new ways of coping with stressful circumstances
• Medication:
• No specific medication to treat dissociative disorders
• Anti-depression/ anti-anxiety medication may benefit and relieve stress and anxiety that comes with the disorder
REFERENCES• http://
my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/dissociative_disorders/hic_dissociative_amnesia.aspx
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16791779
• http://www.memorylossonline.com/glossary/psychogenicamnesia.html
• http://www.minddisorders.com/Del-Fi/Dissociative-amnesia.html