Dissociative Amnesia and Dissociative Fugue Tyler Pascocello, Caroline Edwards, and Nassir Adderly

What is Dissociative Amnesia? Formerly called psychogenic amnesia mental illnesses that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, consciousness or awareness, identity and/or perception—mental functions that normally operate smoothly

Causes Overwhelming Stress Children subjected to physical, sexual or emotional abuse Traumatic Events(war, natural disasters, etc.) Genetics Injuries interacting with the brain Abuse of alcohol and/or drugs

Symptoms of Dissociative Amnesia Inability to remember past experiences or personal information Some people with disorder might also suffer from depression and/or anxiety

Treatments of Dissociative Amnesia Try to get the patient in a safe and supportive environment Try hypnosis or get the patient into a drug induced hypnosis state. When the bad memories that originally caused the state are recovered, the patient may need psychotherapy to help deal with the memories.

Complications of Dissociative Amnesia Dissociative amnesia will interfere with a person’s general life. It will affect poorly the patient’s social life, work life, and relationships May also cause anxiety or depression Dissociative Amnesia can also lead to substance abuse.

Jodi Arias Said to suffer from dissociative amnesia and that’s why she can’t remember the day she killed her boyfriend http://www.azcentral.com/commun ity/mesa/articles/20130318expert- arias-suffers-from-dissociative- amnesia.html

What is Dissociative Fugue? One or more episodes of amnesia in which the inability to recall some or all of one’s past and either the loss of one’s identity or the formation of a new identity occur with sudden, unexpected, purposeful travel away from home.

Cause Same as dissociative amnesia

Symptoms of Dissociative Fugue The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of Dissociative Identity Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., temporal lobe epilepsy). Sudden and unplanned travel away from home Inability to recall past events or important information from the person's life Confusion or loss of memory about his or her identity, possibly assuming a new identity to make up for the loss Can be partial or complete Extreme distress and problems with daily functioning (due to the fugue episodes)

Treatments of Dissociative Fugue There are many treatments for dissociative fugue. 1. psychotherapy will help get insight into the main source of the problem 2. cognitive therapy will help change bad thinking patterns. 3. anxiety or depression medication may help because it is often a patient with Dissociative fugue will suffer from anxiety or depression. 4. creative therapy involving music or art.

Complications of Dissociative Fugue Can lead to traveling far away from home. There can be a state of confusion about who the patient thinks they are and might create another identity May lead to heavy drinking that will lead to black outs. Will interfere with everyday functioning.

Celebrities with Dissociative Fugue Roseanne Barr- also a sufferer of Dissociative Identity Disorder, claimed she was a victim of sexual abuse when she was a child Hershel Walker- winner of the Heisman Trophy, detected in him when he claimed he didn’t remember ever winning the trophy in the past

Background Info Dissociative amnesia is more common in women than in men Dissociative Fugue is considered to be a rare disorder Dissociative amnesia, unlike other types of amnesia, does not result from other medical trauma such as a blow to the head Most fugues don’t last very long, range from less than a day to several months People suffering from dissociative amnesia often have memories return, but in some cases are never able to retrieve their buried memories

Video of Dissociative Amnesia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1is6S4sCK4