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1–24 hours – the injury is moderate in severity and full recovery is expected. The patient may experience some minor post-concussive symptoms (e.g. headaches, dizziness). 1–7 days – the injury is severe, and recovery may take weeks to months. The patient may be able to return to work, but may be less capable than before the injury.
In extreme cases, individuals may completely forget who they are. Generally, this is a more severe type of amnesia known as global , or generalized amnesia. [ 12 ] However, memory loss can also be selective or categorical, manifested by a person's inability to remember events related to a specific incident or topic.
Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases, [1] but it can also be temporarily caused by the use of various sedative and hypnotic drugs. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that is caused. [2] There are two main types of amnesia:
When people experience physical trauma, such as a head injury in a car accident, it can result in effects on their memory. The most common form of memory disturbance in cases of severe injuries or perceived physical distress due to a traumatic event is post-traumatic stress disorder, [3] discussed in depth later in the article.
Drug-induced amnesia is amnesia caused by drugs. Amnesia may be therapeutic for medical treatment or for medical procedures, or it may be a side-effect of a drug, such as alcohol, or certain medications for psychiatric disorders, such as benzodiazepines. [1] It is seen also with slow acting parenteral general anaesthetics. [citation needed]
Motivated forgetting is a theorized psychological behavior in which people may forget unwanted memories, either consciously or unconsciously. [1] It is an example of a defence mechanism, since these are unconscious or conscious coping techniques used to reduce anxiety arising from unacceptable or potentially harmful impulses thus it can be a defence mechanism in some ways. [2]
People with anterograde amnesic syndromes may present widely varying degrees of forgetfulness. Some with severe cases have a combined form of anterograde and retrograde amnesia, sometimes called global amnesia. In the case of drug-induced amnesia, it may be short-lived and patients can recover from it.
The neurological cause of psychogenic amnesia is controversial. [5] [7] Even in cases of organic amnesia, where there is lesion or structural damage to the brain, caution must still be taken in defining causation, as only damage to areas of the brain crucial to memory processing is possible to result in memory impairment. [7]