Dissociative Amnesia
DEFINITION
- Dissociative amnesia is classified under the Dissociative Disorders section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)[1].
- Previously known as psychogenic amnesia, renamed dissociative amnesia in DSM-IV[2]
- Characterized by an apparent disruption of and/or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior
- The DSM-5 lists the defining feature as inability to recall important autobiograpical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.
- This is a controversial diagnostic entity that incorporates elements of psychogenic fugue states (psychogenic amnesia), repressed memory, traumatic amnesia, and conversion.
- The concept of repression (repression of memory regarding traumatic events) remains controversial, with scientific studies often being interpreted as supportive of both sides of the argument.
- May overlap with dissociative fugue, which is apparently purposeful travel or bewildered wandering that is associated with autobiographical amnesia[1]
- The DSM-5 lists a variety of memory disturbances that can occur in dissociative amnesia[1]:
- Localized amnesia (the most common form): failure to recall events during a circumscribed period of time
- Selective amnesia: can recall some, but not all parts of a circumscribed period of time or traumatic event
- Systematized amnesia: loss of memory for a specific category of information
- Continuous amnesia: loss of memory for each new event as it occurs
- Generalized amnesia (rare): acute onset of complete loss of memory for one’s life history
- May lose semantic knowledge, procedural knowledge, and/or personal identity
- Some authors feel this disorder is more common in combat veterans, sexual assault victims, and extreme emotional stress or conflict, while others see this as a disorder of vulnerable individuals with comorbid psychiatric conditions, problematic life circumstances, and/or personality vulnerabilities.
- Controversy exists whether dissociative amnesia should be conceptualized as a dissociative disorder or included in the symptom clusters for PTSD and acute stress disorder, emphasizing its relationship to trauma[3].
There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.
Last updated: May 2, 2017
Citation
Hosein, Megan M, and Glenn Treisman. "Dissociative Amnesia." Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide, 2017. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787157/all/Dissociative_Amnesia.
Hosein MM, Treisman G. Dissociative Amnesia. Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. 2017. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787157/all/Dissociative_Amnesia. Accessed May 30, 2023.
Hosein, M. M., & Treisman, G. (2017). Dissociative Amnesia. In Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787157/all/Dissociative_Amnesia
Hosein MM, Treisman G. Dissociative Amnesia [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. ; 2017. [cited 2023 May 30]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787157/all/Dissociative_Amnesia.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Dissociative Amnesia
ID - 787157
A1 - Hosein,Megan,M.D.
AU - Treisman,Glenn,M.D., Ph.D.
Y1 - 2017/05/02/
BT - Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide
UR - https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787157/all/Dissociative_Amnesia
DB - Johns Hopkins Guides
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -