|
|
Post by Anurag Prabhu P on Aug 6, 2015 11:06:49 GMT -4
The article for the week of Aug 3rd is interesting but a little disorganized. It was more like a collage of different stories rather than a deeper understanding of amnesia. I would have loved to have read more about amnesia per se instead of the stories of people with amnesia.
Wait, what were we talking again?? let me just go back and check.. alright.., amnesia, right?
Yes, it sucks to have problems with memory. Especially if you're a med student. I've had issues with "memory" too and because the article is a collage of various cases let me put my own experience with periods of "amnesia"/"med student amnesia".
So, back when I was in my final year of my med school and the final exams were about to start in a week, I had to do all-nighters just so that I could score that "one extra point" and do good in my exams. I worked really hard and on the day of my exam, I took two deep breaths and went in. I'm pretty sure the 1st question I had was to explain the etiopathogenesis,diagnostic tests and management of an 80 yo pt with CVA. "oh wow! I know this. lets start. so, the etiology.. etiology.. wait a minute.., I have read this just the other day,right? alright, 2 deep breaths.. ok 2 more.." and that went on for like 5-10 min. I passed the test and I did well but I can never forget those 5 min of horror in my life.
Being a med student myself, I have to confess I "relate" to people with amnesia. There were days during my internship,when I used to forget little things while I was in a hurry to go to the ER. So, yes, I do know what amnesia is and working in a Psychiatric clinic, I do understand the plight of people with memory loss.
Not just Jason Bourne, which is an interesting character but one to which people cannot relate to. I would rather choose to use the role of Justin Timberlake's father in Friends with Benefits. His character in the movie is present in many households not just in the US but all over the world. You understand the plight of people with dementia/amnesia/SDAT/Alzheimer's only either through movies like those or if you're a Psychiatrist yourself.
The story of Ms.Susannah Cahalan was quite intriguing. Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis?? 217th case to be diagnosed worldwide? This may sound selfish but I so wish I had the chance to meet her and speak to her.
TEA - transepileptic amnesia sounds really scary though. I just feel bad for the doctor and the lawyer. But the thing which disappointed me was the lack of a decent explaination for TEA & usage of vague terms like cerebellum,basal ganglia etc.
I liked the foot note reminding the readers that anyone of us can be affected with Amnesia and for aspiring psychiatrists, statements like those help us in being more receptive, understanding, patient and not judgmental or get irritated when we see patients with such strange complaints.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stephanie Anyikude on Aug 6, 2015 13:42:47 GMT -4
This article was extremely interesting and enlightening. The brain is a powerful organ which facilitates several functions throughout the human body. From this article, I learned about two new terms and concepts. Psychogenic amnesia, one forgets their personal identity and life primarily due to a psychosocial stressor in their life. Often times, these people are placed on the "missing persons List" even though they are not actually missing. Rather, the police authorities are looking for family members to claim them, so their true identity can be revealed.Many of the patients as described in the article take on a new identity, such as a name, residence, purpose of living, career etc. The actual pathophysiology behind Psychogenic Amnesia is unknown; however, it is know that the condition affects the temporal lobe. Transient Epileptic Amnesia (TEA), a silent seizure affecting the temporal lobe which affects the forming of new memories and recalling old memories. The person may appear normal in your presence. The story of patients in this article really touched me. Each person genuinely had experience that many could only envision as movie plot but for these respective persons, it was their reality. Their mind had temporarily failed them due to a specific pathological reason or psychosocial stressor.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ishminder Singh on Aug 6, 2015 15:31:48 GMT -4
This was an interesting article that explained amnesia from the eyes of the patients. Its not only the patients that go through a difficult tough, but usually the family as well. The example of fugue was an ideal example, and families are left wondering where their loved ones have gone and if they will return. A future article showing what families go through with their loved ones having amnesia would be great for doctors to help understand and provide proper support. One interesting point I noted was how amnesia may actually be good for someone if its a specific situation, and help many with PTSD. If someone witnesses something traumatic, such as a car accident or murder, having specific amnesia may actually be very helpful for that person. Transient epileptic amnesia was something I had never heard of before, and it was intriguing to learn about how complicated procedures such as diagnosing a patient with a medical condition or fighting a lawsuit can be done without any recollection. It is kind of a scary thought, but helps explain to us how complicated our brain is and how much more we still have to learn about it.
|
|
Claire-Louise Young
Guest
|
Post by Claire-Louise Young on Aug 6, 2015 15:46:07 GMT -4
Every year, people watch their loved ones lose their memories, whether though Alzheimer’s, traumatic accident or causes like Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. It is painfully difficult to see, it’s almost as if the person is ceasing to exist. Still, the exact mechanism is largely unknown. Is the memory lost forever? Is the memory present in the brain and it’s a cognitive failure to connect the memory? What type of memory is lost? In some stances, people are able to carry through with actions without a conscious awareness. This is mentioned in the article with the lawyer defending the case and having no recollection of doing so. Memory comes in many forms such as procedural memory, episodic, semantic, long term, short term. When we talk about people losing their memory we most refers to people loosing their episodic memory (explicit memory). These are things that refer to what makes the person who they are or simply what happened yesterday? Or what happened 10 years ago? Reading the article jogged my memory of the infamous subject H.M. , who we were so similar with during undergraduate psychology classes. The subject H.M gave significant contributions to the use of the hippocampus in memory. By studying his hippocampus transection scientists were able to see hippocampus’ role in creating new memories. H.M.’s ability to not form new memories after the operation begs the question: what was his quality of life? He was not able to form any new explicit memories after the age of 27. We cease to be able to be self-actualized without the use of our memory. As future practitioners, we should look closely at a patient’s memory condition as it detrimental to their well being. We should not tread lightly on our patient’s concerns regarding memory loss.
|
|
|
|
Post by Venkateshram Singa on Aug 6, 2015 16:06:03 GMT -4
The brain is the seat of a person which includes memories, thoughts, knowledge, and feelings of a person. It is the command center of a person which commands other parts of the body to perform and not perform through the use of signals consisting of nerve impulses and chemical mediators. Memory loss is a powerful of who one is and what is important in one's life is ultimately devastating. Not knowing who one is totally frustrating and takes time to relearn again for one who is going through that process. I have tried to forget certain people in my life and no matter how hard I tried, they will always be a part of my memory. Now if there was a way to just forget about that particular person or group of person with extinction of any kind of memory associated with that person or group of persons, I would be delighted to find out especially if it causes forgetfulness of that group of people without affecting other parts of memory.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brittany Egeh on Aug 6, 2015 16:25:15 GMT -4
The Article, “Memory Loss what makes people forget who they are?” discusses how several individuals go on psychogenic fugues, due to encephalitis, immune attacks, or just life stresses develop memory loss. Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage due to psychological trauma. Each of the individuals discussed in this article lost their personal identity and it was all thought to be to some type of psychological stress. Can psychological stress really cause a person to have long-term memory loss? Do patients that suffer from conditions such as MDD, PTSD, and other psychological illnesses increases their changes of developing dementia, because they are under conditions of long term stress due to some event that happened in their life. This article was actually very interesting to me, because it caused me to ask different questions about stress and dementia, and leads me to believe that the more stress an individuals body or mind is under the more likely they are to become demented or find themselves in situations as the ones cited in this article. Honestly after working with some depressed patients, I believe there is evidence that can be provided illustrating that, depression could lead to fugue like states.
|
|
|
|
Post by Prashanthi on Aug 6, 2015 16:52:10 GMT -4
The idea that an individual can loose the entire make up of their memories and that too form false ones in replacement is truly terrifying. Memories are markers for who we are as people and the relationships and the lives we hold. Without it, one can become homeless in their own bodies. As in the cash of Susannah Calahan and the others mentioned in this article it is enough to turn lives upside down. To view yourself and your actions on account of a third person as the journalist who was affected with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, is a very fascinating phenomenon. Another example of the neurologist and lawyer being able to execute their professional skills yet loosing track of their identities as people, open up several question into the unending complexity of the human brain and its infinite capacity. Learning now that there are a variety of contrtibuting factors that can lead to disaassociative fugue is very helpful because being able to identify a physical cause can help scientists come up with direct cures to these traumatizing experiences, as in the case of the anti NMDA encephalitis as well as the TEA induced amnesia. I also do believe that man is made up of his memory in a huge way, because without it the notion of "experience" would cease to exist and an individual will never develop the insight of learning from past experiences and avoiding future complications based on such memory aided insight.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nader Raffi on Aug 6, 2015 21:27:03 GMT -4
The article, "memory loss: what makes people forget who they are" discusses how people live altered lifestyles based on thought of as identities. For example, a person can totally lose memory of who they are and take on a new identity called dissociative fugue in which they have a completely altered identity they created for themselves due to trauma of some kind. In some ways, stress can put more stress on the mind and body causing one to forget tidbits of memory as in the case with test taking and if a person does not know how to handle the stress, they can actually forget when the need arises and will remember after the stressor is removed at that particular time.
|
|
