Memory loss include long periods of time and beyond a normal forgetting.
Unlike the usual amnesia, memory in dissociative amnesia still have in mind, but the patient is not able to call or recall memories.Dissociative amnesia is considered part of a psychological disorder called dissociation.
The following steps will show you how to diagnose dissociative amnesia.
1. Assess the patient's mental status. Patients should still be able to understand and respond to the conversation later.
Attention span may be limited but without the hyperactivity or slowing the response of the patient.
Memory of the past should still intact despite recent memory may be slightly disturbed.
2. Look for special signs indicating dissociative disorders.
Anxious mood commonly seen, but patients should still show the conceptual organization.
In addition, patients may experience limitations in assessing the ability of something (judgment).
3. The emergence of suicidal thoughts or wishes of violence caused by the frustration of weight due to dissociation. Patients may even have a mind like a killer.
4. Find information on history of patients with high risk of dissociation.
Dissociative amnesia is most common in war veterans, victims of child abuse, torture victims, concentration camp survivors, and victims of natural disasters. The trauma can trigger a variety of dissociative amnesia.
5. Distinguish amnesia dissociative amnesia with other types. Memory loss caused by substance abuse (eg drugs) is usually gradual and partial.
This is in contrast with dissociative amnesia. Many patients suspect suffered amnesia due to substance abuse, but the cause is more than that.
