What Is Dissociative Amnesia?

Dissociative amnesia is a condition that causes you to forget important information. Learn more about it, including symptoms and treatments.

January 17, 2025 · 6 min · 1214 words · Vanessa Austin

Table of Contents

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Dissociative Amnesia?SymptomsDiagnosisCausesTypes of Dissociative AmnesiaTreatmentCoping

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

What Is Dissociative Amnesia?

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Causes

Types of Dissociative Amnesia

Treatment

Coping

Close

Dissociative amnesia is a condition that causes you to forget important information about your life.

Dissociative amnesia is a relatively rare condition. In a small study, it was shown only to affect about 1% of men and 2.6% of women.The memory loss could last for minutes, hours, months, or in some rare cases, years.

In severe cases, a person might completely forget their life history, their family, and friends. They might even have apparently purposeful travel or confused wandering known as dissociative fugue.

Symptoms of Dissociative Amnesia

The main symptom of dissociative amnesia is the inability to recall important autobiographical information. People with this condition either forget specific events or areas in their lives or important information about their identities and those around them.

In many cases of dissociative amnesia, the person with the condition might not be aware that they have suffered a memory loss and will only appear to be confused or flustered. Other symptoms of the disorder include:

Dissociative amnesia could also be associated with some of the following conditions:

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

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How Dissociative Amnesia Is Diagnosed

If you or someone you know is displaying symptoms of dissociative amnesia, it’s crucial to speak to your doctor or healthcare provider to get a definite diagnosis.

For a diagnosis to be made, your doctor will look into your medical history and carry out a physical examination. While there is no medical test that can help identify dissociative amnesia, some medical tests like X-rays and bloodwork will be carried out to rule out other causes of amnesia, such as brain injury or side effects of an illegal substance or drug.

According to theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition(DSM-5), the following criteria must be met for a diagnosis of dissociative amnesia to be made:

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Causes of Dissociative Amnesia

Causes of Memory Loss

There are different types of dissociative amnesia, classified according to how severe the memory loss is and what kind of information is lost.

Generalized Amnesia

Here, the memory loss affects significant parts of your life history and identity. You might not remember your name, where you worked, or who your family and friends are. This type is rare.

Localized Amnesia

Localized amnesia, as the name might imply, affects a specific area of a person’s life. For instance, you might not remember details about a particular circumscribed period of time.

In most instances, the memories being blocked out are tied to significant trauma. For example, a person who was abused as a child mightblock out any childhood memoriesaround the time they were abused. Memories before and after the event will remain intact.

Dissociative Fugue

Dissociative fugue is a severe form of dissociative amnesia. Here, not only will you forget important details about your life and your identity, but you might purposefully travel or wander in a bewildered way.

A person with this form of amnesia might often travel unexpectedly and take on a whole new identity.

Treatment for Dissociative Amnesia

Treatment for dissociative amnesia focuses on helping a person with the condition recover their memories which often entails assisting them in dealing with the negative impacts of experiencing or witnessing the traumatic events that brought on the amnesia.

It’s believed that with the proper treatment, your recall for your memories will likely come back on their own. Treatment for this condition typically depends on the nature and severity of your symptoms and the presence of co-occurring conditions.

Psychotherapy

Different forms of psychotherapy are used to treat dissociative amnesia. Some of the most common include:

Medication

There’s currently no medication for the treatment of dissociative amnesia. However, your doctor might sometimes prescribe medication to deal with other symptoms that might be associated with the condition. These symptoms typically include anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances.

People with these symptoms might be prescribedanti-anxiety medicationorantidepressants.

How to Cope With Dissociative Amnesia

Unlike other forms of amnesia, memories lost in dissociative amnesia are likely to come back. This could either happen on its own or during treatment for the condition. However, in some cases, memories are never recovered.

Coping with this condition involves understanding the condition, optimizing stress, utilizing supports, and seeking appropriate treatment.

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8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MSD Manual Professional Edition.Dissociative amnesia - psychiatric disorders. March 2021Cleveland Clinic.Dissociative amnesia: symptoms, causes, management & treatment.November 23, 2020NHS UK.Dissociative Disorders. August 10, 2020Nidirect.Dissociative disorders.Leong S, Waits W, Diebold C.Dissociative amnesia and dsm-iv-tr cluster c personality traits.Psychiatry (Edgmont).2006;3(1):51-55.John Hopkins Psychiatry Guide.Dissociative Amnesia. May 2, 2017Historical society of Pennsylvania.The Ansel Bourne Identity: A 19th century mystery.March 28, 2014National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative Disorders.2021

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MSD Manual Professional Edition.Dissociative amnesia - psychiatric disorders. March 2021Cleveland Clinic.Dissociative amnesia: symptoms, causes, management & treatment.November 23, 2020NHS UK.Dissociative Disorders. August 10, 2020Nidirect.Dissociative disorders.Leong S, Waits W, Diebold C.Dissociative amnesia and dsm-iv-tr cluster c personality traits.Psychiatry (Edgmont).2006;3(1):51-55.John Hopkins Psychiatry Guide.Dissociative Amnesia. May 2, 2017Historical society of Pennsylvania.The Ansel Bourne Identity: A 19th century mystery.March 28, 2014National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative Disorders.2021

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

MSD Manual Professional Edition.Dissociative amnesia - psychiatric disorders. March 2021Cleveland Clinic.Dissociative amnesia: symptoms, causes, management & treatment.November 23, 2020NHS UK.Dissociative Disorders. August 10, 2020Nidirect.Dissociative disorders.Leong S, Waits W, Diebold C.Dissociative amnesia and dsm-iv-tr cluster c personality traits.Psychiatry (Edgmont).2006;3(1):51-55.John Hopkins Psychiatry Guide.Dissociative Amnesia. May 2, 2017Historical society of Pennsylvania.The Ansel Bourne Identity: A 19th century mystery.March 28, 2014National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative Disorders.2021

MSD Manual Professional Edition.Dissociative amnesia - psychiatric disorders. March 2021

Cleveland Clinic.Dissociative amnesia: symptoms, causes, management & treatment.November 23, 2020

NHS UK.Dissociative Disorders. August 10, 2020

Nidirect.Dissociative disorders.

Leong S, Waits W, Diebold C.Dissociative amnesia and dsm-iv-tr cluster c personality traits.Psychiatry (Edgmont).2006;3(1):51-55.

John Hopkins Psychiatry Guide.Dissociative Amnesia. May 2, 2017

Historical society of Pennsylvania.The Ansel Bourne Identity: A 19th century mystery.March 28, 2014

National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative Disorders.2021

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