What Is Dissociative Fugue?
2. Symptoms
Dissociative fugue has two distinguishing characteristics: amnesia and unexpected travel or wandering. While in a fugue state, the affected individual loses all memory of his or her identity or past experience prior to the initiation of the fugue. When the fugue eventually ends, he or she usually regains memories of his or her former life but will have amnesia of all events that occurred while in a fugue state.
Amnesia is common to other dissociative disorders, but what characterizes dissociative fugue is the travel away from home, which is unplanned and occurs suddenly. Some people with this condition lose any sense of identity during the fugue state. However, others assume a completely new identity that is often very different from the one from which they’ve dissociated. They do not construct this identity purposely; it happens on a subconscious level. If the new identity is challenged, people with dissociative fugue can become very defensive and confrontational.
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