What does amnesia feel like?

[Kobold-Bard]

NCIS series 1, there is an episode with an amnesiac who gets back flashes of memories when she sees certain things, a necklace, a bald man etc. I'm just curious if anyone has gone through this, or knows someone who has, is this actually what it's like, or is it tv mumbo-jumbo?

[Blackjackg]

Retrograde amnesia, the type to which you're referring, can take a number of forms depending on which area of the brain is impacted and how severely. It's not uncommon (at least, relative to amnesia) to forget most of your life but retain a few vague details.

[Elfin]

Can't remember. :smallbiggrin:

[RabbitHoleLost]

Can't remember. :smallbiggrin:

You stole the words right out of my mind, buddy.

[Pyrian]

Yeah, that's pretty normal. There're all these connections between our memories. Amnesia might involve actual damage to memories, but it very frequently additionally (or instead) involves damage to some of the many many pathways that recall particular memories. So, the pathway of "who's my dad?" might be gone but the pathway of "that hat reminds me of my father" might still be there (as long as some relevant memory of your father remains somewhat intact).

[Tiger Duck]

NCIS series 1, there is an episode with an amnesiac who gets back flashes of memories when she sees certain things, a necklace, a bald man etc. I'm just curious if anyone has gone through this, or knows someone who has, is this actually what it's like, or is it tv mumbo-jumbo?

spoiler regarding that episode
wasn't she faking amnesia so she could explode the guy that order her death?

[Lysander]

Also, complete "I don't know who I am or remember anyone" amnesia is very rare, and exists on soap operas more than in real life. Partial memory loss is far more common.

I recommend reading some of Oliver Sack's books. He's a neurologist who writes very interesting books about some of the more unusual patients he treats. For example, one person he treated is unable to develop new memories just like in Memento, and he describes what that man is like to talk to.

[Kcalehc]

I think thats what it's like for most people no?

You aren't constantly remembering things that you did on days gone by; but events that you witness can bring up the memories into your mind.

I really couldn't, if asked, describe anything I did on a certain day in any year prior to this one. I just cannot remember with that much clarity beyond a few select days that were very important. However, given a clue of somekind, or seeing/hearing something similar to an event during that time, I can bring up a relevant memory reasonably easily. For example, if someone begins talking about a fishing trip, I can recall fishing trips that I have been on; but those memories would not have popped in my head all by themselves on a normal day to day basis. I'd assumed this was normal, though my explanation may be lacking.

[AstralFire]

spoiler regarding that episode
wasn't she faking amnesia so she could explode the guy that order her death?

By the end, yes (before they go to her workplace), but not initially. That was one of the few early good NCIS episodes, and a rare one where Kate wasn't boring.

[Blackjackg]

For example, one person he treated is unable to develop new memories just like in Memento, and he describes what that man is like to talk to.

That's Anterograde Amnesia, and is much more uncommon. If you're curious on the subject, you can find several fine videos of Clive Wearing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmktix2Y) online.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Global (anterograde and retrograde) amnesia is a living hell, plain and simple. For weeks after I came out of my coma, I'd wake up for the very first time ever each morning and have to face that I was essentially going to die each night because I had no memory of the past and I was going to lose my memories of the day as I slept.

Can you even grasp how it would be to feel like you only had a life span of only one day? To know that it's going to happen over and over again unless something, that you have no control over, changes? The damage has mended a good deal since then though. I can now recall short flashes of what went on, and it is the stuff nightmares are made of.

[Rutskarn]

Can't remember. :smallbiggrin:

God dammit.

[Destro_Yersul]

Might not be technical amnesia, but I've experienced the alcohol based variety. :smalltongue:

I've got this collection of maybe ten-fifteen five minute flashes of memory over a space of four hours. The rest is just gone. It's a little odd to be missing bits of your life. I imagine amnesia would be something like that on a much larger scale.

[Blackjackg]

Global (anterograde and retrograde) amnesia is a living hell, plain and simple. For weeks after I came out of my coma, I'd wake up for the very first time ever each morning and have to face that I was essentially going to die each night because I had no memory of the past and I was going to lose my memories of the day as I slept.

Can you even grasp how it would be to feel like you only had a life span of only one day? To know that it's going to happen over and over again unless something, that you have no control over, changes? The damage has mended a good deal since then though. I can now recall short flashes of what went on, and it is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Forgive me, but I'm dubious. To my knowledge, daily memory loss does not exist (outside of the movie "50 First Dates," which was totally fictional). With our current understanding of the brain, there is no reason someone could lose their memory overnight. Anterograde amnesiac patients have memory spans of only a few seconds, not one day.

[Quincunx]

Stop appealing to my baser sources of amusement!

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Forgive me, but I'm dubious. To my knowledge, daily memory loss does not exist (outside of the movie "50 First Dates," which was totally fictional). With our current understanding of the brain, there is no reason someone could lose their memory overnight. Anterograde amnesiac patients have memory spans of only a few seconds, not one day.

There's no shame in your knowledge on the subject having some holes in it.

There is/was (I don't recall the details so well) a case one of my docs was telling me about that was even more horrifying. Same thing as far as the daily reset goes, only his would never get better. The best I can remember the story, he is locked up for life (I forget his crime[s]), wakes up each day not knowing why he's in prison, AND gets to find out (from his collection of papers) that his daughter is dead (has been for years, but her gets to recall seeing her 'just yesterday'). This has gone on for years. I'd think a death sentance was an act of mercy as far as he's concerned.

[FdL]

Can't remember. :smallbiggrin:

Mah joke! Well, if others thought of it, then it's proof that it was good :3

[Blackjackg]

There's no shame in your knowledge on the subject having some holes in it.

There is/was (I don't recall the details so well) a case one of my docs was telling me about that was even more horrifying. Same thing as far as the daily reset goes, only his would never get better. The best I can remember the story, he is locked up for life (I forget his crime[s]), wakes up each day not knowing why he's in prison, AND gets to find out (from his collection of papers) that his daughter is dead (has been for years, but her gets to recall seeing her 'just yesterday'). This has gone on for years. I'd think a death sentance was an act of mercy as far as he's concerned.

Ok, now I'm really curious. I've been scouring medical and psych journals for a good chunk of the afternoon, and I can not come up with anything regarding the syndrome you're describing (except for a few non-scientific articles that say it doesn't exist). Was your case written up in any journal? Do you remember what part of your brain was damaged, or if the doctors had ruled the condition psychogenic?

[Hadrian_Emrys]

It was a story recited to me. I have no idea where a record of it can be found. I suppose I could dig up the contact information and ask him. I do not know if my case merited being written down anywhere save for hospital records. I am, as you can tell by my ability to recall some things, recovering.

As for the damage, I cannot recall exactly what got whacked, but the worst of the damage was supposed to be along the front and left side of my brain where two of the six fractures were near fatal. I do not recall what they said about the nature of my memory loss other than they said it was induced by severe brain trauma, and they expected the most amount of recovery at around 4 few years' time from the event.

As it stands, the attending medical was taken aback by how I acted when I came to. Most people get angry and difficult to manage in response to the areas that were bashed around. Yet, by all accounts, I came to quite mild-mannered and pleasant to be around, something like a shy child in an adult's body.

[Mordokai]

Might not be technical amnesia, but I've experienced the alcohol based variety. :smalltongue:

That's why you have buddies who are kind enough to document everything for you and later put it on local version of youtube. Lousy bastards...

[Toastkart]

I've never heard of anterograde amnesia that lasts on a daily cycle, either. What makes it anterograde is that new memories can't be formed, or rather, can't be transferred to long term memory. HM, the most famous case of this kind of amnesia, could learn new motor skills of various kinds, but had no memory that he'd ever learned them. Also, people who have anterograde amnesia usually have a temporally graded retrograde amnesia as well, however those with retrograde amnesia usually don't have anterograde amnesia.


Also, I second the recommendation for Oliver Sacks' story entitled The Last Hippie, which is found in an Anthropologist on Mars.

[AstralFire]

Throwing in my hat with the "I've never heard of this condition in my studies." What causes anterograde amnesia is damage between your immediate memory and the rest of memory storage, meaning a lapse of attention results in immediate loss of your short-term memory - and it's not typically caused by frontal lobe damage.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Throwing in my hat with the "I've never heard of this condition in my studies." What causes anterograde amnesia is damage between your immediate memory and the rest of memory storage, meaning a lapse of attention results in immediate loss of your short-term memory - and it's not typically caused by frontal lobe damage.
This.

Therefore, I'm pretty sure, Hadrian's case would be written up in at least a dozen case studies and a good chance that it would be all over the news. If not on Fox or CNN then at least in a bunch of medical/neurological journals.

[AstralFire]

Especially since its similarity to a fairly popular movie a few years ago would make for a great news story.

[Zuki]

I'm going to call B.S. here. I think you're making this up, or severely exaggerating. It looks and feels much more 'Hollywood' than my actual medical knowledge of amnesia, whereas if I compare it to what I actually know, things just don't match up.


Global (anterograde and retrograde) amnesia is a living hell, plain and simple.


The only global amnesia I'm aware of is called global transient amnesia, which is extremely different than what you describe. But, assuming I haven't heard of everything new under the sun, this all still seems fishy.


I do not know if my case merited being written down anywhere save for hospital records. I am, as you can tell by my ability to recall some things, recovering.

As for the damage, I cannot recall exactly what got whacked, but the worst of the damage was supposed to be along the front and left side of my brain where two of the six fractures were near fatal. I do not recall what they said about the nature of my memory loss other than they said it was induced by severe brain trauma, and they expected the most amount of recovery at around 4 few years' time from the event.



Most people I know with complex medical conditions make a point to be very well-informed about them--proper names, details, causes. It's only a good idea, since you'd have to describe them to any new doctor or medical professional you'd work with. I'd also imagine that the rehabilitation process for the double-whammy of a friggin' coma and severe amnesia would be extensive. How long have you been 'out' and on your own, out of the hospital or primary care, etc?

Also, with brain damage as severe as you describe, there would very likely be a host of other neurological problems you might have developed. Temporal Lobe damage on the left side of the brain is mostly associated with language and word-related difficulties and only some more general memory-related issues. The hippocampus is located deep within the brain and I find myself skeptical that the details of what you've given us match up with what I know of neurology.

Additionally, frontal lobe damage rarely has any connection with memory loss, instead being related to perceptual, cognitive, and attention-related difficulties. Changes in personality are also not unknown, such as in the famous case of Phinneas Gage.

If I'm being presumptuous and making light of a serious thing, I apologize in advance. But with the information you've given us, I have a hard time squaring it all away with my knowledge of The Way Things Work (tm).

Please, could you elaborate a bit more?

[Blackjackg]

The only global amnesia I'm aware of is called global transient amnesia, which is extremely different than what you describe. But, assuming I haven't heard of everything new under the sun, this all still seems fishy.

Global amnesia is the correct term for comorbid retrograde and anterograde amnesia. That being said, it is even rarer than either of them individually (not surprising), and is traditionally somewhat different from what he describes.

It feels odd to be defending Hadrian, seeing as I was the first to find fault with his story, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. Particularly knowing that psychogenic effects (that is, created by the mind as ego defenses(if you like your psychodynamics)) can take many forms. Alternatively, if he was under heavy sedatives, it's entirely possible that he could lose entire days (like an alcohol-induced blackout) , which might resemble day-by-day amnesia. In either case, it wouldn't resemble our classic "organic" amnesia caused by physical damage to the memory-making parts of the brain, but it could very much feel that way.

Of course, it's also possible it's just a made-up story to make him look cool. But calling B.S. on the internet is so easy... if it is a made-up story, we could do the hard thing and just let him enjoy it.

[Zuki]

That's what bugs me, though. While he did say,


I can now recall short flashes of what went on, and it is the stuff nightmares are made of.

which suggests psychogenic-style amnesia, he later goes on to talk about 'when I got whacked'.

So which is it? Psychogenic, or post-traumatic injury? His descriptions are a bit inconsistent and very general.

It also doesn't square very well with what I know of repressed memories due to past trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, or the various dissociative disorders and their effects on memory.

And if this is all just a good yarn spun at our expense, well, I wouldn't have minded being told that at the beginning. As far as amnesia milked for pathos and angst goes, he seems to have it pretty down. At first I thought his first post sounded like someone speaking from an 'in-character' perspective, albeit a rather melodramatic one.

[Coidzor]

This topic keeps reminding me of the question "What does madness taste like?"

@_@

The biggest problem I see with this story is the lack of a journal detailing everything.

[Zuki]

I'm not sure what madness tastes like, but I had a friend who tried battery acid when she was younger and silly. She said it tasted like the way it feels if you bonk yourself on the nose sharply with the heel of your hand.

Also, in the interest of being vaguely on-topic, I'd definitely reccomend that the O.P. look into Oliver Sacks' books, like another poster suggested. They're full of all kinds of stories and explanations of neurological oddities, and would probably give you some more insight into what amnesia 'feels' like.

As I understand it, it's not always very predictable. Sometimes ordinary and familiar things will bring flashes of memory back to mind, yes, but that's also a popular literary device. Memory has also been known to return suddenly for no apparent reason at all, sometimes months or a few years later. Someone's level of distress at their amnesia will also vary greatly, I think. Some people treat it like no big deal, it seems, sort of a 'I don't know what I'm missing' situation.

[Em Blackleaf]

God dammit.
That's exactly what I thought!

Also, amnesiac is the word for a person with amnesia? Hm, I didn't know that.

Looks like I have a new favorite word. :smalltongue:

[Serpentine]

In high school, a friend of mine was injured when a snow-laden tree branch fell on the ute she and her family were riding in (her little sister died, I think most others got off with minor wounds or the odd broken bone). She was gone for quite a while, and we'd heard that she had amnesia, but by the time she got back she mostly just had a big scar on he forehead, was slightly crosseyed and a touch slow, and had some trouble remembering some people. She had people coming up to her all the time asking "do you remember me?!"

[FdL]

That's exactly what I thought!

Also, amnesiac is the word for a person with amnesia? Hm, I didn't know that.

Looks like I have a new favorite word. :smalltongue:

Really, never heard that before? Why, it's the name of one of the best known Radiohead albums from 2001. One of their best IMHO too.

Plus it follows the word formation rules of similar words of latin origin like insomnia -> insomniac.

(could be greek, not sure)

[Berserk Monk]

I'd tell you, but I've forgotten what amnesia feels like,

[Coidzor]

Hmm, I must admit, I am curious as to how much of it could be noticed by a person if other people were not around to 1. know what amnesia was and provide the explanation or 2. bring up questions/situations which would touch upon/require the knowledge from the affected subjects/areas so as to cause distress.

What kind of stress is it for an amnesiac to be pressed for details about something they've had deleted/corrupted from their memory?

What's it feel like to try to access that which is no longer there?

What does it mean for more knowledge than experience memories to come back if they've been able to be learned again just in terms of the brain as sorting cabinet?

I hope the earlier mentioned/referenced writings on the subject provide some insight.

Though I think the last one is... neurophysiology?

[Extra_Crispy]

My own brush with amnesia was really strange. Mine was not from any head injury but actually from overall trauma and the seditives the doctors game me. Many of you know about my car accident, as part of that accident I was electricuted and from that moment (I dont remember being electricuted and the whole accident is a little fuzzy) untill I was taken off the seditives in the hospital I dont remember anything. My parents have told me I would wake once in a while and talk to them, or even have wierd wide awake dreams (like yelling at my mother for taking "my guns" as I was reaching for my hips) but every time I went back to sleep I forgot everything that was done while I was awake. So there are 2 months I have no memory of, in my case this is a good thing and nothing during that time I have ever tried to remember. Good because memory lose = not remembering 17 surgeries, 2 x a day bandage changes, and scrubbing of the burns = LOTS OF PAIN. The first thing I do remember is opening my eyes to see my mother and asking her "so mom how long have I been here, a few days" and her slight chuckle/cry of "it has been 2 months"

The mind is an amasing thing and when it get overwhelmed by things like what happened to me many times it can protect itself by "forgeting" Even though I had NO drugs in my system until paramedics arrived and then probably only pain medication I only have vague memories of the accident and only the sound of helicopter blades for when I was air lifted to the hospital. My parents also tell me that when they got to the hospital I was completely awake and alert and told them "I think I have whip lash because my neck hurts" I have NO memory of this. My mind just shut off most of the pain and did not remember the whole situation.

Again though mine was mostly caused by drugs the doctors were giving me, and I have never tried to remember those days in the hospital. The months of physical therapy afterwards are painfull enough to remember.