Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Can you get retrograde amnesia without any physical brain damage? maybe just being traumatized?

Is that possible? or is amnesia only possible when there's physical damage to the brain?



what are the conditions of retrograde amnesia if it is possible without physical damage? is it not as severe or hard to recover from?Can you get retrograde amnesia without any physical brain damage? maybe just being traumatized?
Retrograde amnesia (As well as anterograde amnesia) are only brought about when there is a brain injury, neurological disease, or even drug effect present. In order for someone to actually be diagnosed with retrograde amnesia they have to have damage to specific brain structures. The brain structures involved are the hippocampus (which deals with long-term memories) and the medial temporal lobes (which deal with declarative memories).



Amnesia that is produced by trauma is a bit different and is not caused by brain damage or injury. This is better known as dissociative amnesia. Amnesia is a common symptom found in those diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Dissociative symptoms also include depersonalization and emotional numbness. Simplified, dissociative amnesia is a form of denying the trauma, as a coping mechanism. But unlike retrograde amnesia, those with dissociative amnesia may begin to recall the trauma over time because there is no brain injury preventing these memories from surfacing.Can you get retrograde amnesia without any physical brain damage? maybe just being traumatized?
Selective subconscious amnesia, is common, and is most often topical, as the result of an unpleasant experience.Can you get retrograde amnesia without any physical brain damage? maybe just being traumatized?
I'm not sure if you'd call it "retrograde amnesia" exactly, but you can definitely have memory loss without physical brain damage. Any kind of severe emotional trauma can cause it. Say a child is molested by her father who she adores. She might completely block out the memory because she can't deal with the fact that her beloved Daddy did this to her. It might be very hard for her to keep those memories buried, they might keep trying to come back-- or she might live to a ripe old age and never remember that it happened. It's different for everyone.
Yes, definitely. And then the person may get spontaneous recovery by bits and pieces, or at times, all at once. Being reminded of certain events may trigger some memory recovery.



Usually retrograde amnesia of emotional origin occurs from severe emotional trauma. Generally, it is not as severe as RA occurring due to brain damage.



You can find a helpful further discussion of RA at the website below.

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