Traumas and memories, in other words, memory, are processes that are closely linked and this means that when we experience a stressful or traumatic event, our minds can try to forget it to protect ourselves or make us flee from the threat we have experienced. We are talking about dissociative amnesia, an alteration that implies the inability to remember important autobiographical information and that triggers a situation governed by anxiety.
According to the DSM-5, its prevalence in adults is higher in women, and the onset of this amnesia is usually due to a typically intolerable event, that is, traumatic.
This disorder can start suddenly or gradually. Most cases remit spontaneously, although a chronic form of amnesia can also develop, so it is important to see a mental health professional if we experience this. What is dissociative amnesia? How to overcome a traumatic experience? In this article we give you some tips to overcome the traumas that do not let you remember, take paper and pencil and let’s start!
Dissociation: when we distance ourselves from reality
- Between 2 and 3% of the population suffers from dissociation, a general term that encompasses a wide variety of experiences, ranging from a slight detachment from reality or the immediate environment, to a more serious detachment from physical and emotional experience.
- Thus, the main consequence of these dissociative phenomena consists in distancing from reality. It is not a question of losing contact with reality, as would occur in psychosis, but of distancing from it.
- But dissociation is one thing and suffering from a dissociative disorder, something more serious, is another; it is estimated that up to 10% of the population suffers from a dissociative reality disorder. Among these disorders we find dissociative amnesia.
- Dissociative disorders usually appear immediately after living a severe traumatic experience or a stressful situation that favors the appearance of anxiety.
- That is why their incidence is higher in these cases; Up to 73% of people exposed to a traumatic event, for example, suffering the loss of a loved one, experiencing or witnessing a traffic accident, experience dissociative states during the incident or moments after, be it hours, days or weeks after. Normally these states disappear on their own over time, but sometimes it will be essential to ask for psychological help.
Dissociative amnesia: a dissociative disorder
- The DSM-5 (2013) defines dissociative amnesia as an inability to remember autobiographical information, that is, information related to our own life or our memories. It is a disorder that causes intense discomfort and/or interference in daily functioning, and that goes beyond ordinary forgetfulness, which is why it forms part of dissociative disorders.
- But what are dissociative disorders? The essential characteristic of these types of disorders, among which are included dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, dissociative identity disorder, is the impairment of the normal integration of emotion. For example, experiencing an absence of emotional reactivity, sensations, movements, or thoughts.
- Another characteristic is that the person does not have any physical disorder that could explain the symptoms, despite the fact that dissociative disorders are often crude imitations of well-known organic disorders, such as amnestic disorder, where there is difficulty remembering.
- In addition, in these disorders there are usually traumatic psychological stressors that are usually the triggers of the disorder. That is, these stressors precede the onset of the disorder.
- As a curious fact, the people most likely to suffer from a dissociative disorder, such as dissociative amnesia, are those who have a high degree of suggestibility.
- Suggestibility is defined as the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions, opinions, or expectations of others. These people tend to fill in the empty gaps in memory to remember, even with false information.
Other Features of Dissociative Disorders
In dissociative disorders there is memory loss limited to psychologically significant material, that is, the information that is no longer remembered is important to the person. Long-term and short-term memories are equally affected.
Another feature is that acute symptoms are temporarily relieved by tranquilizers. Furthermore, memory loss, in the specific case of dissociative amnesia, develops in the context of intense emotional stress. If stress increases, so do the symptoms.
Dissociative amnesia: what is it?
- Dissociative amnesia is defined as an inability to recall important autobiographical information, usually traumatic or stressful in nature. This inability is incompatible with ordinary forgetfulness, that is, it is not simply a question of not remembering small things in our lives, but of forgetting an important and traumatic event.
- In order to speak of a true disorder, the symptoms must cause clinically significant discomfort or deterioration in life at a social, work, academic level, etc.
- In addition, this alteration is not caused by the physiological effects of a substance, such as alcohol or other drugs, a medication, nor is it caused by another medical or neurological condition, such as brain trauma or epilepsy. It is also not better accounted for by another disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), neurocognitive disorder, or multiple identity disorder.
Who can suffer from dissociative amnesia?
Dissociative amnesia has been observed in children, adolescents, and adults. In children there may be greater difficulty for the evaluation, because they have difficulties to understand issues about amnesia, and the evaluators may find themselves in trouble when asking questions of this type of population.
It is also important to know that dissociative amnesia in children can be difficult to differentiate from other disorders such as inattention, anxiety, oppositional behavior or learning difficulties. In these cases, information from other sources is necessary, for example, teachers or therapists, in order to make a proper diagnosis.
How is dissociative amnesia treated?
- Although in many cases the symptoms of dissociative amnesia subside over time, asking for help is important. Treatment for dissociative amnesia includes psychotherapy and some types of drugs, such as antidepressants and anxiolytics. Of course, the latter should be ideally complementary to psychological therapy.
- That is, drugs can serve as a way to facilitate psychotherapeutic work with the patient and as a tool to reduce high levels of anguish and anxiety, but they should never be the first therapeutic option.
- Going back to psychological therapy, one of its objectives is for the person to be able to process and understand what they experienced. To do this, we will work on the traumatic event and on the psychological consequences that it is producing today in the person, specifically in its memory.
- Also, it is important to keep in mind that people with dissociative amnesia disorder may feel very confused and distressed, and others may feel uncaring. All of this must be considered with a view to therapy, which, on the other hand, must be personalized and have a clear empathic and flexible approach. Thus, symptoms secondary to the disorder should be addressed, such as anxiety or anguish generated by the fact of not being able to remember.
In these cases, cognitive restructuring, that is, changing dysfunctional thoughts, if you have them, for more adaptive and realistic thoughts, and deactivation techniques such asrelaxation, muscle relaxation, or meditation may help.