Bethlehem, PA Man Missing for 7 Days Suffered from Transient Global Amnesia?

A Bethlehem, PA man goes missing for a week, then reappears with no recollection of his missing days. Could transient global amnesia be to blame?

NOTE: the names of those involved have been kept secret to protect the privacy of those involved.

A story about possible transient global amnesia
BETHLEHEM, PA. A wife becomes concerned when her husband does not return home on the night of June 29. It is uncharacteristic of her husband to not be home on time, and she begins to call friends to see where he's gone. It quickly becomes clear that something is wrong, and she files a missing person's report.

Soon, an entire community is mobilized to find the missing man. They have no luck looking for him in Bethlehem, PA. The Fourth of July comes and goes. At last, at 9:30 PM on July 6th, the wife gets a call.

Her husband is three hours away from Bethlehem, PA, tired, sore, and unable to remember what has happened over the past week. Doctor's initial diagnosis: transient global amnesia.

What is transient global amnesia?
The Mayo Clinic defines transient global amnesia as: "a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that can't be attributed to a more common neurological condition, such as epilepsy, ischemic attack, stroke or head injury." In other words, transient global amnesia is memory loss that is not caused by a trauma.

Symptoms of transient global amnesia
Before agreeing that the Bethlehem, PA man had this frightening mental condition, the classification of transient global amnesia must be considered. Transient global amnesia is diagnosed primarily by its namesake symptom: amnesia. What makes the diagnosis of this disorder different is the ruling out of multiple different causes of amnesia.

These factors must be identified in order for memory loss to be classified as transient global amnesia:

1. Sudden memory loss must be verified by a witness
2. The person in question must be able to remember his identity
3. The person in question must retain the ability to remember and classify basic objects
4. There must be no trauma to cause the memory loss
5. Missing period must be no more than 24 hours
6. Memory returns gradually over time
7. No seizures during the period of memory loss
8. No history of epilepsy

There are many other symptoms, but these are used to most often classify the disorder.

Did the Bethlehem, PA man have transient global amnesia?
Strictly following the Mayo Clinic's guidelines, the Bethlehem, PA man would be disqualified from having transient global amnesia by the fact that his memory loss was well over 24 hours. The Bethlehem, PA man has a full week of activity that is unaccounted for.

So what happened to the man in Bethlehem, PA who was diagnosed with transient global amnesia? What could have happened during that missing week?

Feel free to offer your thoughts and suggestions in the comments area beneath.