Dissociative amnesia is a type of amnesia in which you are unable to recall crucial details about your life, such as your identity, your family or friends, or your past. It may occur as a result of severe trauma or stress.
Types of Dissociative Amnesia
A dissociative disorder is a dissociative amnesia (DA). Mental illnesses include dissociative disorders. They are characterized by a disconnection from your surroundings, identity, and recollections.
You might experience a sense of disconnection from your environment if you suffer from a dissociative illness. Dissociative episodes can endure for a few hours, days, or even weeks or months in some situations.
There are Several Varieties of DA, Including:
- Localized. When this happens, you find it difficult to recall specific historical occurrences.
- Generalized. There is a total loss of recollection, including details about identity and past events. It’s pretty unusual.
- Fugue. When experiencing a dissociative fugue, you may lose most or all of your personal information and wander or venture to unusual locations. In more severe instances, you might even assume a completely different identity.
Symptoms of Dissociative Amnesia
- Memory Loss: Memory loss can be total (generalized) or specific to a temporal frame (localized). If you have DA, you may lose details like your identity, personal history, or past events, but you will likely remember more generic facts.
Some forms of forgetfulness, such as the kind linked to dementia, make it difficult for a person to create new memories. With the exception of amnesia, DA patients seem to be able to form new memories and retain cognitive abilities.
While other types of memory loss might be upsetting, people with DA frequently seem unconcerned about their forgetfulness. Additionally, most people regain their memories as DA lessens.
- Association with Trauma: Dissociative disorders like DA are frequently connected to a particularly traumatic or demanding life event. Examples include being subjected to maltreatment or taking part in combat.
Information pertaining to this traumatizing time period may not be remembered by those with DA. A victim of abuse could find it difficult to recollect specifics or facts from the time period in which the abuse took place.
Causes of Dissociative Amnesia
and severe or extremely stressful circumstances have been connected to DA. Examples include the following:
- Being abused sexually, emotionally, or physically while fighting in a war
- A natural disaster such as an earthquake or storm, becoming the victim of a crime or witnessing one being perpetrated, or experiencing extreme stress about your relationships, income, or employment.
Regarding the reasons why these occurrences could cause DA, there are many theories. It’s believed that a variety of them interact to contribute to the emergence of the condition:
- The brain dissociates itself from a traumatic experience in an effort to cope with or protect you from painful memories, and this leads in DA.
- Your brain’s capacity to recall specific memories associated with those times is hampered by the stress from traumatic occurrences.
- According to certain research, genetics may contribute to the emergence of dissociative episodes.
Diagnosis of Dissociative Amnesia
A comprehensive medical history and physical examination are the first steps a doctor will take to make the diagnosis of DA. They can utilize this to rule out additional amnestic factors like:
- Diseases
- Brain Injury
- Effects of Alcohol and Drugs
Your case will be sent to a mental health professional, such as a psychologist near me or psychiatrist, if a physical cause of your amnesia can be ruled out. This person has received training in recognizing and diagnosing a variety of mental diseases.
A psychological examination is to be done to gather data, acquire a clear picture of your life experiences, and assess your level of functioning. Along with your actions, emotions, and feelings, your symptoms will also be questioned.
A diagnosis may be made with the aid of additional techniques in addition to a psychological examination. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association is one illustration.
Treatment of Dissociative Amnesia
Through treatment, those who suffer from dissociative amnesia may suddenly or gradually regain their lost memories. The main objectives of treatment are to control behavior and alleviate symptoms caused by memory loss. When a patient tries to reintegrate their memories, it’s crucial for both the patient and their friends or family to be secure.
- Psychotherapy: The most common form of treatment for dissociative disorders, including amnesia, is psychotherapy, commonly known as talk therapy. Psychotherapy is frequently used to treat people with mental and emotional disorders. This course of treatment employs psychological strategies designed to promote discussion of conflicts in the patient’s life. Additionally, it could help the patient comprehend the underlying and related issues better.
- Cognitive Therapy: The goal of cognitive therapy, a particular genre of psychotherapy, is to alter the patient’s problematic thought patterns and the consequent behaviors and emotions. In order to redirect the patient’s thought patterns toward more uplifting and healthful ones, the therapist will collaborate with them.
- Family Therapy: The patient’s family is educated about the condition and its causes through family therapy. It is simpler for family members to spot signs of a recurrence when they are aware of the disease. The family may start to recognize circumstances that are generating the amnesia condition after it occurred because the patients do not always realize when it happens.
- Creative Therapies: Patients with dissociative amnesia may benefit from creative therapies like music or art therapy. These therapies give the patient the chance to explore and express their ideas in a secure yet imaginative setting.
- Medications: The dissociative amnesia itself is not treatable with drugs. However, some sufferers of dissociative amnesia could also exhibit signs of worry or sadness. These people may benefit from taking medications, such as an antidepressant or an anti-anxiety medication, during their treatment.
If you or a loved one is battling dissociative amnesia. Numerous therapy options for dissociative amnesia are provided by a group of top psychologists in India. To learn more about which programme might be suitable for you, connect “Best Psychiatrist near me” at Talktoangel.