What happens when people get amnesia?

Do they actually think they are someone else like on tv? Or is that fake?What happens when people get amnesia?
The kind of amnesia that usually appears in TV and movies is the rarest kind. It is very, very uncommon for a person to forget who they are.



More commonly, amnesia causes problems with forming new memories, rather than losing old memories. An extreme movie example would be "50 First Dates", where Drew Barrymore's character lives the same day over and over and forgets that Adam Sandler is trying to fall in love with her every night. Once again, a case that extreme is rare, but it does happen. It's usually more mild than that.What happens when people get amnesia?
The "TV amnesia" where you forget your past is VERY rare. What's much more common is diseases or brain injuries that interfere with new memories forming. Most people with amnesia lose a few hours.



Yes, the TV amnesia has happened to a few people. There are a few people who forgot who they were after a car acident. Usually someonefinds them and tells them who they are. The TV amnesia scenerio where they "think they are someone else" requires both extremely rare symptoms, along with them not having a wallet on them (or any friends with them). It is more common for a criminal to claim it happened to them then for it to actually happen

I did hear on NPR a news story about a guy who had a bad reaction to some prescription medications while on vacation, and lost his memory. The local cops though he was a stoner/druggie, made him call to apologize to his parents, etc.What happens when people get amnesia?
They just can't remember things. Or they have a short-term memory and can only remember things from a certain time.
thats not amnesia... they just forget some of their past and have some short term memory