Southwest Airlines has an advertising campaign that poses this very question. These commercials customarily show a character in an uncomfortable situation, like backing into their neighbor’s car or a rock star yelling out the name of the wrong city in front of a huge crowd of people. Current events being how they are, I would love to see one of these commercials starring John Edwards with his wife at an oncology appointment getting a cell phone call from his mistress. What a classy guy. I’m getting off track here.
Imagine a good friend of yours packed up scant belongings and fled your hometown for Thail
and. He doesn’t speak Thai. He left behind his car and most of his possessions. There’s a rare and interesting condition called dissociative fugue (previously amnestic) where the afflicted engages in this behavior. More interestingly, the person doesn’t retain memory of their past life. No memory of childhood or family. He doesn’t remember his own name or his address. Kind of like the movie Memento but less tattoos and more frequent flyer miles. Plus it’s real.
and. He doesn’t speak Thai. He left behind his car and most of his possessions. There’s a rare and interesting condition called dissociative fugue (previously amnestic) where the afflicted engages in this behavior. More interestingly, the person doesn’t retain memory of their past life. No memory of childhood or family. He doesn’t remember his own name or his address. Kind of like the movie Memento but less tattoos and more frequent flyer miles. Plus it’s real. The American Psychiatric Association describes this condition as a “sudden, unexpected travel away from home or one's customary place of daily activities, with inability to recall some or all of one's past”. That pretty much says it all. These folks really wanna get away.
As a skeptic, physician and above all a student of science I have been very apprehensive of psychiatry. It’s difficult to deal with conditions that have no confirmatory lab tests or imaging studies. No path reports to spell out a diagnosis for me. I confess that these tests do diminish the art of medicine and emphasize the science, but when someone is sick and it’s your responsibility you take whatever you can get. I have admittedly been hard on psychiatry, but I have also seen amazing progress in otherwise very sick individuals and I’m thankful for their contribution. But I’ve also seen a lot of fakers. Again the medical term for this behavior is malingering. But I prefer to be direct about it:They’re fucking fakers, we all know what that means, right?
In today’s litigious society where many would rather collect disability pay than deal with the daily 9 to 5, it’s impt for a doctor to be aware of all the situations surrounding pat
ient’s symptoms. I’ve seen plenty of pseudo-seizures and people faking muscle weakness or loss of sensation. It’s difficult to fake loss of sensation when someone is replicating the sensation known as “sharp, severe pain”. That one is easy to weed out.
ient’s symptoms. I’ve seen plenty of pseudo-seizures and people faking muscle weakness or loss of sensation. It’s difficult to fake loss of sensation when someone is replicating the sensation known as “sharp, severe pain”. That one is easy to weed out. Dissociative fugue? I really don’t think this one is bullshit. If you’re willing to drop all your existing assets and move away from your family and friends, something must really be up. I’ve never actually seen a case of this condition, but apparently there is a strong link to head trauma. Given this information I’d like to volunteer to Mr. Edwards one, solid punch to the head.
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