Amnestic Disorders are a cluster of disorders that can be extremely debilitating and impair the normal functioning of an individual at social, emotional and personal levels. Individuals with these disorders cannot recall ongoing events shortly after they have occurred and are unable to create new memories and their ability to store new information is deterred. These disorders derive their name from ‘amnesia’ meaning partial loss of memory.

In a number of cases of Amnestic disorders, the immediate memory of individuals and to some extent, memory for events that have occurred just before the onset of the disorder may remain intact. The memory for words and concepts also remains undamaged. Such an individual tend to live only in the present or in the remote past. In certain cases, if these individuals are given cues about the events of the recent past, they might be able to recollect some information. The main aspect of these disorders is defective retrieval mechanism which can be extremely distressing.

Causes of Amnestic disorders:

There are several causes for these disorders such as trauma and other mental illnesses. Some of the most prominent causes include:

Traumatic brain injury such as concussion

Different types of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Parkinsonism etc.

Strokes and seizures

Oxygen deprivation to the brain

Brain tumors

Inflammation of the brain caused by encephalitis, rabies, meningitis etc.

Alcohol abuse

Cerebrovascular disease

Characteristics of Amnestic disorders:

The main characteristics of Amnestic disorders are:

The inability to recollect distant events or information.

Inability to learn or recall information of the recent past.

A number of patients with amnestic disorders cannot recall that they have a loss of memory and remain unmoved by it. Others feel that they do have some problem with their memory but are unable to identify it clearly.

A number of these individuals tend to undergo personality changes.

Some individuals may even attempt filling in memory gaps with concocted information.

These patients are often incapable of creating new memories.

Treatment of Amnestic disorders:

There is no sure shot cure for these disorders, but most psychiatrists and psychologists believe in treating the associated symptoms such as Alzheimer’s disease, trauma, central nervous system dysfunctions and seizures. A combination of drugs and psychotherapy is often used for the treatment of these disorders.