A sudden memory loss

[F3ctom]

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Hi!

I am writing a book about a young adult, who doesn't remember anything what he had done for the past week, like he had gone to bed and slept for the entire week. Although his family and friends saw him awake (going to school etc.)

So he ends up at a psychiatrist, but I have no idea what a psychiatrist would ask from a patient like that. So, could anyone help me out with the actions the psychiatrist would do in a case like that.

Also for the kids back-story: he was recently in a car crash and bumped his head quite hard, and he was not acting normal during the period of which he does not remember (took a random trip to Paris)

I'll add some details:
OK, so there's this teenager, who goes properly to school properly, doesn't do anything illegal what so ever and just lives a normal life. But one day he goes to school and everyone keeps asking where has he been for a week. Turns out, that he had walked walked out of class, skipped school, actually flew to Paris for no reason and came back 2 days later, but the kid has no memory of it. For him it feels like he had slept for a week, because the last thing he remembers is that he went to sleep a week ago. Then woke up in the same bed, as nothing bad had happened.

So he goes to the psychiatrist and I want to make the conversation between the kid and the doctor more realistic. I'd like to know what sort of tests might the doctor do, what questions might he ask and so on.

Also, the doctor will probably ask about trauma for which he has to reply, that he was in a car accident a few moths ago where he hurt his head quite bad (blacked out etc.) And nothing like that (I mean the memory loss) has occurred earlier.

 

[whopper]

If someone came into my office because they didn't remember what happened for a week, I'd first make sure it wasn't due to a physical reason. I'd tell them to go to an ER immediately.

If nothing was physically wrong, and there's nothing wrong aside from memory loss, I'd first consider a dissociative disorder.

Now all this is written without a heck of a lot of information, and making a lot of assumptions that in real-life I shouldn't make. If the person was older, I'd consider dementia, or delirium.

 

[HealthCampus]

I think the psychiatrist need to interview his relatives, other people close to him and those who knew what happened why his memory was lost. As for the possible questions that the shrink may ask to the guy can be:

• What is the last thing you did that you can remember?
• Who are the people involved in those activities you did that you can recall?
• What’s your happiest and worst experience?
• When did these happen?

These are just my personal ideas that can be asked to identify when was he last time that his memory functioned well.

 

[zenman]

Crap...forgot what I was going to say.😕

 

[wagonwheel]

A person with this history would be just as--if not more--likely to see a neurologist for this kind of history as well. The questions from neuro or psych might/should include:
-seizure history
-did you ingest any poisons/toxins/drugs/etoh? are you on any medications?
-has this ever happened before?
-any recent stress in your life.

 

[ghost dog]

If someone came into my office because they didn't remember what happened for a week, I'd first make sure it wasn't due to a physical reason. I'd tell them to go to an ER immediately.

If nothing was physically wrong, and there's nothing wrong aside from memory loss, I'd first consider a dissociative disorder.

Now all this is written without a heck of a lot of information, and making a lot of assumptions that in real-life I shouldn't make. If the person was older, I'd consider dementia, or delirium.

What is the psych community's view of Dissociative identity disorder?

From what I have read, it appears quite controversial.

Their appears to be a significant correlation with psychosocial stressors (i.e. abuse, etc.).

 

[OldPsychDoc]

What is the psych community's view of Dissociative identity disorder?

From what I have read, it appears quite controversial.

Their appears to be a significant correlation with psychosocial stressors (i.e. abuse, etc.).

What the OP appears to be describing here ("Soap-opera style amnesia") would more properly be described as a fugue state, not DID.

 

[whopper]

Agree with the above.

IMHO, psychiatry in general has become too medication driven. I believe that some doctors only diagnose based on their training. E.g. a particular motivational speaker in one of his lectures mentioned that he had an abnormal lab indicating higher than normal growth hormone and he went to 5 diffferent doctors. Each doctor told him it was something different and each one told him to do the treatment that was within their specialty. A neurosurgeon recommended immediate brain surgery.

Dissociation isn't something that in general responds to medications, and as a result, I believe several psychiatrists mentally steer away from this diagnosis whether or not it is accurate to do so.

 

[curiositykat]

Hi!

I am writing a book about a young adult, who doesn't remember anything what he had done for the past week, like he had gone to bed and slept for the entire week. Although his family and friends saw him awake (going to school etc.)

So he ends up at a psychiatrist, but I have no idea what a psychiatrist would ask from a patient like that. So, could anyone help me out with the actions the psychiatrist would do in a case like that.

Also for the kids back-story: he was recently in a car crash and bumped his head quite hard, and he was not acting normal during the period of which he does not remember (took a random trip to Paris)

I'll add some details:
OK, so there's this teenager, who goes properly to school properly, doesn't do anything illegal what so ever and just lives a normal life. But one day he goes to school and everyone keeps asking where has he been for a week. Turns out, that he had walked walked out of class, skipped school, actually flew to Paris for no reason and came back 2 days later, but the kid has no memory of it. For him it feels like he had slept for a week, because the last thing he remembers is that he went to sleep a week ago. Then woke up in the same bed, as nothing bad had happened.

So he goes to the psychiatrist and I want to make the conversation between the kid and the doctor more realistic. I'd like to know what sort of tests might the doctor do, what questions might he ask and so on.

Also, the doctor will probably ask about trauma for which he has to reply, that he was in a car accident a few moths ago where he hurt his head quite bad (blacked out etc.) And nothing like that (I mean the memory loss) has occurred earlier.

If you plan to be a writer, you should work hard to edit your own material. This group was generous in its suggestions, but, if you were to send the above letter to a publishing house, they wouldn't read past the first sentence.