is amnesia real?

Question

movies feature stories people afflicted with amensia. but does amnesia really exist?

Answer 1

I can't remember. :^) All kidding aside, yes, yes it is real BUT it is nowhere as frequent as one might hink by watching movies and TV.

A popular subject on the big screen and television (especially the daytime variety) is a form of memory loss known as amnesia. Stedman's Medical Dictionary defines amnesia as "a disturbance in the memory of information stored in long-term memory, in contrast to short-term memory, manifested by total or partial inability to recall past experiences." Amnesia is a condition in which someone can't recall stored memories, like their mom's maiden name or what happened last Christmas, but they may recall the knock-knock joke their little brother told them a few seconds ago. This is actually an example of retrograde amnesia.

Types of Amnesia
Anterograde amnesia - Inability to remember ongoing events after the incidence of trauma or the onset of the disease that caused the amnesia
Emotional/hysterical amnesia - Memory loss caused by psychological trauma; usually a temporary condition
Lacunar amnesia - Inability to remember a specific event
Korsakoff syndrome - Memory loss caused by chronic alcoholism
Posthypnotic amnesia - Memory loss sustained from a hypnotic state; can include inability to recall events that occurred during hypnosis or information stored in long-term memory
Retrograde amnesia - Inability to remember events that occurred before the incidence of trauma or the onset of the disease that caused the amnesia
Transient global amnesia - Spontaneous memory loss that can last from minutes to several hours; usually seen in middle-aged to elderly people

Answer 2

Yes it is very real! Due to a car accident and my brain being injured, I had amnesia for a week and a half. I was very lucky to come out of it...I didn't know what had happened to me or why I was in the hospital. I even signed some papers in the hospital, a totally different name. It was scary to say the least and very disturbing. I have no recollection of any of it.

Answer 3

Yes it certainly does exist and it comes in many forms.

It seems so surreal, I can only imagine what it must be like to have parts, or the whole, of your life wiped from your mind forever.

To look into the face of someone you loved and see nothing, damn.

Of course it sucks a lot more for them than you because with amnesia you don't remember, but still, damn.

Answer 4

Is Amnesia A Disease

Answer 5

There are 2 types of amnesia.

One is caused by stress and is a mental barrier for protection. These people usually forget everything, but it generally comes back.

The second is caused by brain injury and is more of a time period that gets lost. It may or may not heal.

Answer 6

Ha ha, I can't remember!

No, seriously now, I was in a car accident once and to this day I have no idea how, what or where it happened. I woke up in a major hospital covered in bruises.

Answer 7

Yes and it is very disturbing when some of your life goes missing in many cases never to be retrieved again.

Answer 8

Absolutely. A friend of mine had it. ( I found out he had it , and having taken psych. courses, I thought I could help him. I made a list of some key words of things in his life that were going on at the present time...threw in people he knew, and some places he shopped, and went to regularly . When I showed up, he looked at me as if we'd never met. I looked him in the eyes, and said " You know me" smiling. He smiled at me and told the nurse I looked familiar, but he didn't know from where. But said I could stay. When alone I said - So what's going on... he said " you tell me" -- I said "what do you know right now, ... about anything" He smiled and said," I know I'm in the hospital-I know my name cuz they told me... i know you look good in that shirt"...I read off my list, and 1/2 way down after naming his best friends, the kind of car he had, yadda yadda, he CLICKED when I said "Cox Communications"--He'd been getting the serious run around from Cox recently and the'd pissed him off- He points at me and goes " Cox communications --those bastards kept me on hold forever" I said "where were you?"-- in my apt.--me-- and who am I?( I asked him) he smiled and said " your Jakki"

Answer 9

well i always got short term memory loss or "amesia" everytime mr. Jack Daniels visit me

Answer 10

yes it does really exist!!

I however don't strongly believe in other mental disorders like split personalities and such.