A woman lost in the cemetery: A case of time-limited amnesia

Neurocase. 2010 Feb;16(1):23-30. doi: 10.1080/13554790903193182.

Abstract

A 43-year-old woman one day experienced a dissociative fugue which she could not recall. She was married, nulliparous, with no history of dissociative disorder or other psychiatric disorders. She had been sexually abused during late childhood-early adolescence. She was examined thoroughly from both psychiatric and medical standpoints to exclude organic causes for her condition. Magnetic Resonance Imaging showed only some non-specific abnormalities. On personality tests, a histrionic structure of personality emerged, with obsessive and narcissistic traits accompanied by rigidity and anxiety, dysphoria and high risk for depression; some impairment was found in executive function tests. Final diagnosis was one of dissociative fugue. In fact, organic traits were not sufficient to establish a diagnosis of Transient Global Amnesia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Amnesia, Transient Global / diagnosis*
  • Amnesia, Transient Global / physiopathology*
  • Dissociative Disorders / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Personality Disorders
  • Personality Inventory
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales