Dissociative Fugue: A Rare Form of Amnesia

Let me paint a picture for you. Let's say you wake up one day and you are in the middle of a busy sidewalk. You stand there as people walk briskly past you making their way towards their destinations. You try to remember where you were going, but you don't know. You look around and try to remember where you are at, but you have no idea. You try to think of someone to call, a friend, a loved one, but no names come to mind. And then worst of all you try to remember who you were, but had no idea.

Welcome to the world of a person who suffers from dissociative fugue, a form of amnesia in which someone begins to suddenly travel (or continues to travel), sometimes long distances, and seem to fail to remember who they are or where they are going. Some of these people even have new personalities than they had pre-dissociative fugue.

Dissociative fugue can last for as little as a few hours to several years and can involve travel to another city, country, or even across seas. Sometimes dissociative fugue sufferers even commit crimes such as stealing cars or identity theft while they are in "survival mode".

They can even start new lives, with a new job and a new place to live. However, this "new" life is not necessarily normal. They are usually in the mind set for complete survival, so they draw very little attention to themselves and some even carry with them food and water in case they are in trouble.

During this dissociative fugue, the sufferer may only find out about their memory lost when someone begins asking them questions about their past.

Most people in dissociative fugue often have this amnesia trigger because of marital or financial problems, or depression. When they feel like they are "trapped" their mind might feel like the only way of dealing with the problem is running away. They unconsciously are trying to move away from traumatic circumstances, which is why many of these cases happen during war or other disasters such a tsunami's, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Scientists have a hard time trying to understand dissociative fugue because, by the time the patient is in medical care, their fugue state is over.

Usually sufferers will remember their thoughts after their fugue is over, however some seem to lose bits and pieces of their pasts. If their memories do not return right away, psychologists and doctors try to help them focus on resolving their underlying trauma.