Amnesia Facts

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Amnesia

• By Must4care

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Description of Amnesia by Must4care

• Amnesia is when a person can no longer memorize
  or recall information that is stored in memory.
  It is very rare, despite being a popular theme
  for movies and books.
• Being a little forgetful is completely different
  to having amnesia. Amnesia refers to a
  large-scale loss of memories that should not have
  been forgotten.
• These may include important milestones in life,
  memorable events, key people in our lives, and
  vital facts we have been told or taught.

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Fast Facts on Amnesia

• Amnesia is an inability to lay down new memories,
  recall old memories, or both.
• Other symptoms of amnesia can include confusion
  and uncoordinated movements.
• Alcohol abuse can lead to a type of amnesia known
  as Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis.
• Amnesia can be caused by many things including
  traumatic experiences and brain injury.
• Amnesia usually resolves without treatment.

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What is Amnesia?

• People with amnesia also find it hard to remember
  the past, memorize new information, and imagine
  the future. This is because we construct future
  scenarios on the basis of our recollections of
  past experiences.
• Our ability to recollect events and experiences
  involves a variety of complex brain processes. We
  still don't understand exactly what happens when
  we commit something to memory, or when we try to
  retrieve data stored in our brain.
• Most people with amnesia are usually lucid and
  have a sense of self. However, they may
  experience severe difficulties in learning new
  information, struggle to recall memories of past
  experiences, or both.

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Types of Amnesia

• Anterograde Amnesia
• The person cannot remember new information.
  Things that happened recently and information
  that should be stored into short-term memory
  disappear. This usually results from a brain
  trauma, when a blow to the head causes brain
  damage, for example. The person will remember
  data and events that happened before the injury.
• Retrograde Amnesia
• In some ways the opposite of anterograde amnesia,
  the person cannot remember events that occurred
  before their trauma, but they remember what
  happened after it. Rarely, both retrograde and
  anterograde amnesia can occur together.
• Transient Global Amnesia
• A temporary loss of all memory and, in severe
  cases, difficulty forming new memories. This is
  very rare and more likely in older adults with
  vascular (blood vessel) disease.

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Types of Amnesia

• Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis
• Extended alcohol abuse can lead to progressive
  memory loss that worsens over time. The
  person may also have neurological problems, such
  as poor coordination and a loss of feeling in the
  toes and fingers. It can also be caused
  by malnutrition, specifically a thiamin
  (vitamin B1) deficiency.
• Hysterical (fugue or dissociative) amnesia
• Rarely, a person can forget not only their past
  but also their identity. They may wake up and
  suddenly have no sense of who they are. Even if
  they look in the mirror, they do not recognize
  their own reflection. A driving license, credit
  cards, or ID card will be meaningless. It is
  usually triggered by an event that the person's
  mind is unable to cope with properly. The ability
  to remember usually returns either slowly or
  suddenly within a few days, but the memory of the
  shocking event may never come back completely.
• Childhood amnesia (infantile amnesia)
• The person cannot recall events from early
  childhood, possible because of a language
  development problem or some memory areas of the
  brain not fully maturing during childhood.

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Types of Amnesia

• Posthypnotic Amnesia
• Mustforcare says that in this Amnesia Events
  during hypnosis cannot be recalled.
• Source Amnesia
• The person can remember certain information but
  not how or where they got that information.
• Blackout Phenomenon
• A bout of heavy drinking can leave a person with
  memory gaps, where they cannot remember chunks of
  time during the binge.
• Prosopamnesia
• The person cannot remember faces. People can
  either acquire it or be born with it.

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Symptoms of Amnesia

• The ability to learn new information is impaired
  in anterograde amnesia.
• The ability to remember past events and
  previously familiar information is impaired in
  retrograde amnesia
• False memories may be either completely invented
  or consist of real memories misplaced in time, in
  a phenomenon known as confabulation.
• Uncoordinated movements and tremors indicate
  neurological problems.
• Confusion or disorientation may occur.
• There may be problems with short-term memory,
  partial or total loss of memory
• The person may be unable to recognize faces or
  locations.

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Causes of Amnesia

• Any disease or injury that affects the brain can
  interfere with memory. Memory function engages
  many different parts of the brain simultaneously.

• Medical Amnesia- Amnesia resulting from brain
  injury or damage. Possible causes are
• Stroke
• Encephalitis, or brain inflammation, due to a
  bacterial or viral infection or an autoimmune
  reaction
• Celiac disease may be linked to amnesia,
  confusion, and personality changes
• Oxygen deprivation, resulting, for example, from
  a heart attack, respiratory distress, or carbon
  monoxide poisoning
• Some medications, such as the sleeping drug,
  Ambien
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding in the area
  between the skull and the brain
• A brain tumor that affects a part of the brain
  involved in memory
• Some seizure disorders
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)), or electroshock
  therapy, a psychiatric treatment where seizures
  are induced for therapeutic effect, may lead to
  temporary memory loss
• Head injuries, which can lead to loss of memory
  that is usually temporary

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Causes of Amnesia

• Psychological amnesia- Also known as
  dissociative amnesia, this is caused by an
  emotional shock, such as
• A Violent Crime
• Sexual Or Other Abuse
• Military Combat
• A Natural Disaster
• A Terrorist Act

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Treatment of Amnesia

• In most cases, amnesia resolves itself without
  treatment. However, if an underlying physical or
  mental disorder is present, treatment may be
  necessary.
• Psychotherapy can help some patients. Hypnosis
  can be an effective way of recalling memories
  that have been forgotten.
• Family support is crucial. Photographs, smells,
  and music may help.
• Treatment often involves techniques and
  strategies to help compensate for the memory
  problem.
• This may involve
• Working with an occupational therapist to acquire
  new information to replace lost memories, or to
  use existing memories as a basis for acquiring
  new information.
• Learning strategies for organizing information,
  to make it easier to store.
• Using digital aids, such as smartphones, to help
  with daily tasks and remind patients about
  important events, when to take medications, and
  so on. A contact list with photographs of faces
  may be helpful.
• There are currently no drugs for restoring memory
  lost due to amnesia.
• Malnutrition or wernicke-korsakoff syndrome can
  involve memory loss due to a thiamin (vitamin b1)
  deficiency, so targeted nutrition can help.

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God Bless Us
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