Sudden Loss Of Memory

Abstract

The aetiology of sudden loss of memory has been investigated in two series of cases, totalling 74 patients who were submitted to a full neurological and psychiatric examination. In both series a large proportion suffered from undetected gross organic nervous disease. In the majority, whether organic disease was present or not, a simple psychogenic cause was found and the amnesia could be demonstrated to be a psychological escape mechanism. There is evidence that organic nervous disease may predispose to this type of psychological mechanism. Sudden amnesia is a temporary state that responds well to simple psychotherapy, which can be given, if necessary, in a casualty department. It is essential in such cases to seek the causes of the patient's underlying maladjustment not only in his life and circumstances but in his central nervous system as well. © 1957, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.