The Drama of Trauma
By: Morgan Ermenio
What is amnesia due to trauma?
This is a state of confusion or memory loss immediately after a traumatic brain injury. Sometimes, the victim is unable to remember his/her name or others around them.
Why did I chose this topic?
This topic interests me that the victim has to relearn everything all over again, but that they are so willing to do. For example, if they are married, but don't remember their spouse, they have to fall back in love with them all over again.
Research & Psychologists
There have been studies on different age groups and different lengths of time following the injury. Psychologists such as Bowlby and Harlow state that the response is a biopsychosocial one, needed further research. Freud looked upon amnesia as a sympton resulting for repression.
The brain during amnesia
There is damage to the frontal or anterior temporal lobe which creates problems with creating new memories after the injury. Typically, this amnesia is not permanent so once the lobes are repaired, the memory should be restored. However, if there is ample amount of traumatic stress, the volume of the hippocampus may be decreased, which processes memories.
Other interesting stuff
Amnesia lead to a great writing called Studies of Hysteria, written by Freud that explained his view on amnesia. There is a movie called The Vow, which the spouse does not remember the other when they wake up, which is actually based on a true story.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXqkBmjPeBs
http://www.human-memory.net/disorders_traumatic.html
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Dp2gi8t8zLEC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=amnesia+after+trauma+psychologists+and+research&ots=l-Im0pT2ek&sig=itJon4wFCyxO1r5Z6phde0aQu0w#v=onepage&q=amnesia%20after%20trauma%20psychologists%20and%20research&f=false
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/amnesia.aspx
http://www.human-memory.net/disorders_traumatic.html
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Dp2gi8t8zLEC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=amnesia+after+trauma+psychologists+and+research&ots=l-Im0pT2ek&sig=itJon4wFCyxO1r5Z6phde0aQu0w#v=onepage&q=amnesia%20after%20trauma%20psychologists%20and%20research&f=false
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/amnesia.aspx