What is the difference between dissociative amnesia and dissociative amnesia with fugue?

Treatment of dissociative amnesia is aimed at the restoration of missing memories while treatment of dissociative fugue is focused on the recovery of memory for identity and events preceding the fugue.

How are dissociative amnesia and fugue related?

Per the DSM-5, dissociative amnesia with dissociative fugue is the “purposeful travel or bewildered wandering that is associated with amnesia for identity or for other important autobiographical information.”1(p156) As the name fugue implies, the condition involves psychological flight from an overwhelming situation.

How does it differ from dissociative amnesia?

Dissociative amnesia is different from amnesia caused by medical problems, such as illnesses, strokes or brain injuries. In medically caused amnesia, recovering memories are rare and generally a slow and gradual process. Most cases of dissociative amnesia are relatively short.

Which characteristic is common with dissociative fugue?

Dissociative fugue is characterized by the sudden, unexpected travel away from home or one’s customary place of daily activities, with inability to recall some or all of one’s past. As in the previous disorder, amnesia is present, causing a sense of confusion about personal identity.

What is fugue amnesia?

Dissociative fugue is a type of amnesia that is caused by an extreme psychological trauma instead of physical trauma, illness, or another medical condition. It’s a form of dissociative amnesia that’s severe, and it’s considered rare.

What does dissociative fugue mean?

The word fugue comes from the Latin word for “flight.” People with dissociative fugue temporarily lose their sense of personal identity and impulsively wander or travel away from their homes or places of work. They often become confused about who they are and might even create new identities.

What causes fugue states?

Causes. The onset of a dissociative fugue state is usually sudden and follows a traumatic or highly stressful event. Dissociative fugues are associated with difficult events, such as natural disasters and wars, as well as severe marital or financial distress, alcohol abuse, depression, and a history of child abuse.

How common is dissociative fugue?

Dissociative fugue is rare with some estimates being around 0.2 percent of the population. It is more common in adults than in children, and also more common in people already diagnosed with other dissociative disorders.