Dissociative Amnesia? It Might be Organic Memory Loss!

Dissociative amnesia Memory disorders Organic amnesia Psychogenic amnesia Retrograde amnesia Traumatic head injury

Journal

Topics in cognitive science
ISSN: 1756-8765
Titre abrégé: Top Cogn Sci
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101506764

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
02 Feb 2023
Historique:
revised: 19 01 2023
received: 20 10 2022
accepted: 20 01 2023
entrez: 2 2 2023
pubmed: 3 2 2023
medline: 3 2 2023
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

This article discusses the possibility of practitioners who mistake organic memory loss for dissociative amnesia. It starts with the case of a young man with complete retrograde amnesia due to a traumatic head injury. Because he did not show any gross neurological abnormalities, a neurologist thought his amnesia had a psychological origin. An extensive neuropsychological examination revealed that the man did have an organic reason for his amnesia. Next, the existence of dissociative memory loss as well as isolated organic retrograde amnesia is considered. While cases of organic memory loss are well-documented, there is hardly any evidence for dissociative amnesia. It is argued that organic memory loss might be mistakenly taken for dissociative amnesia. In line with the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, practitioners are advised to rule out the possibility of organic memory loss, before diagnosing a patient with dissociative amnesia.

Identifiants

pubmed: 36731123
doi: 10.1111/tops.12640
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© 2023 The Authors. Topics in Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Cognitive Science Society.

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Auteurs

Marko Jelicic (M)

Forensic Psychology Section, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University.

Classifications MeSH