Imagine waking up and not knowing who you are, what you have done, or what you stand for. Imagine knowing you were now a blank slate, so you run off to make something of yourself, but the life you had before is forever haunting you – the unknowing. Or better yet you don’t know you don’t remember. If you don’t know what is the harm, right?
Amnesia is a condition in which one’s memory is lost. It could be all your memory or just partial lost due to an extent of damage that was caused, or intense stress. We all know amnesia as forgetting all memories, right? Well that form is actually rare. Some factors that causes amnesia is mental disorder, post-traumatic stress, or defense mechanism. Here is a list of different types of amnesia:
- Physical causes:
- Anterograde amnesia: can’t remember new memories after brain damage
- Retrograde amnesia: can’t remember old memories before brain damage
- Post-traumatic amnesia: generally due to a head injury after trauma and can vary what you can or can’t remember (i.e. anterograde, retrograde, etc.)
- Dissociative amnesia: is caused by a psychological factor as opposed to a physical trauma this includes:
- Repressed memory
- Dissociative fugue: usually happens after a stressful event in time. A person will forget who they are and will run off and make a new life and after some time they will remember their former life. (usually spontaneous)
- Korsakoff’s syndrome: usually caused by long-term alcoholism or malnutrition. It is brain damage due to a lack of vitamin B1, and will progress if your diet is not modified.
That is just a few from an extensive list that I could think of on the top of my head. Honestly, I can go on about this. It fascinates me how it can just happen with no cause. We literally become a prisoner of our own mind. Here is a video from CBS where a well educated man forgets even his own name. This man spoke many different languages, and clearly was influential and forgot everything. It is absolutely terrifying to wake up one morning, or just blink, and forget who you are. The video also has a doctor and goes into details about how and why this can happen. Enjoy!
It is scary to wake up and not remember anything from your life. Amnesia is a risk many people could go through who has gone through brain damage. This disorder can be very frustrating for someone who is trying to put together a puzzle of their own life. Your video was very interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember that theater show we did in high school, Fuddy Meers? The main character wakes up everyday with a clean slate not even remembering her own name the next morning and had a book with need-to-know facts like her name family and stuff. Your post just reminded me of that and how amnesia can also be a cause of a very traumatic experience.
ReplyDeleteIt could be quite interesting to decide whether to be lost or found? Remembering certain things or forgetting others. For many who become diagnosis with some form of amnesia don't really have a choice. They can only hope that they again their ability to recall their once lost memories. It could lead them to a storm of frustrations and fears trying to make sense of their amnesia.
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