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Psychology and Mental Health Dictionary Definitions - Psychogenic amnesia - Psychforums.com
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Psychogenic amnesia
Psychogenic
amnesia, also known as functional or
dissociative amnesia, is a disorder characterized by abnormal memory functioning in the absence of structural brain damage or a known neurobiological cause; severe cases are very rare. It is defined by the presence of retrograde amnesia or the inability to retrieve stored memories and events leading up to the onset of amnesia and an absence of anterograde amnesia or the inability to form new long term memories. In most cases, patients lose their autobiographical memory and personal identity even though they are able to learn new information and perform everyday functions normally. Other times, there may be a loss of basic semantic knowledge and procedural skills such as reading and writing.
There are two types of psychogenic amnesia, global and situation-specific. Global amnesia, also known as fugue state, refers to a sudden loss of personal identity that lasts a few hours to days. This is preceded by severe stress and/or depressed mood. Fugue state is very rare, and usually resolves over time, often helped by therapy. Situation-specific amnesia is a type of dissociative amnesia occurs as a result of a severely stressful event, as in post-traumatic stress disorder. Dissociative amnesia is due to psychological rather than physiological causes and can sometimes be helped by therapy.
Read and post in our
Psychogenic amnesia forum.
Source :
Wikipedia.org
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