Dissociative Amnesia
What It Is & How It Relates to Trauma
Amnesia is a condition in which memory is disturbed or lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into the “organic” or the “functional”. Dissociative amnesia is one example of a functional type, meaning there is no underlying physical cause (such as brain injury).
Dissociative amnesia is classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as a dissociative disorder, which is usually associated with trauma in the recent or distant past, or with an intense internal conflict that forces the mind to separate incompatible or unacceptable knowledge, information, or feelings.
Dissociative amnesia is considered a disorder when the symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Dissociative fugue is a subtype of dissociative amnesia, and it pertains to the loss of personal identity accompanied by sudden aimless wandering and ‘lost time’. Although rare, it is commonly associated with victims of sexual abuse.
Dissociative amnesia as a symptom often occurs in people diagnosed with other dissociative disorders, such as
Depersonalization~ Derealization; A state of profound detachment from the self in which a…
