This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Psychogenic amnesia

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Memory loss presumed to have a psychological, rather than neurological, cause; and is either ‘global’ or situation-specific (1).

  • Global psychogenic amnesia characterized by sudden loss of autobiographical memories for the whole persons’ past.
  • Situation-specific amnesia refers to gap in memory for a traumatic incident and can arise in a variety of circumstances (post-traumatic stress disorder, or being a victim of an offence).

This is uncommon. The reaction can follow traumatic events, in particular head injury, and can be provoked by physical or psychological stress.

Most commonly, important personal information is forgotten, and the recall of events during a circumscribed period fails. This often bears relation to a traumatic episode, i.e. a car accident.

During the period of memory loss cognitive skills are entirely intact.

Recovery is usually complete with no residual memory impairment (typically within 48 hours), and recurrence is rare.

Reference:


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.