As far as the brother is concerned, he had reported that the patient looked dirty and exhausted but was fully conscious and alert on arrival at his house without any assistance. After this, he experienced overwhelming fears and after two days, he discovered himself with his younger sibling in South-Western Nigeria, which is 634km away from his university. He saw the whole room turning with everything inside becoming unstable and unreal. At the same time, the patient claimed he felt uneasy and uncomfortable. In fact, while studying in his room alone at night, the patient reported witnessing a full human skeleton reading at the same table with him on the opposite side. Prior to this incident, the patient was extremely stressed as he was under severe economic and academic pressures. He was missing for ten days as his whereabouts were unknown. The case study is about a 28-year old patient who is a male final year medical student from the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Also, while the person may look normal after the initial trauma, reminders of an earlier trauma could trigger dissociative fugue.Ī study 3 represents a case where it was reported that dissociative fugue is often related to stressful life events and can occur with a comorbid depressive disorder. In addition, it is also assumed that there may be a genetic link as any family member of the person with a dissociative disorder is more likely to experience the condition. It must be noted that the trauma can either actually happen to the victim, or he/she may have witnessed some incident happening to others that have left the person severely traumatized. Long-term emotional or physical abuse in childhood.Intense emotions of shame or embarrassment.A common cause of dissociative fugue is severe sexual trauma of some sort. It is assumed that the condition occurs as the means for a person to escape the stress that they can’t otherwise cope with. Causes Of Dissociative Disorderĭissociative fugue is a condition that is caused by an extremely emotionally stressful situation. However, doctors can usually identify the two conditions separately as malingerers intensify and dramatize their symptoms or fake memory loss. Thus, the dissociative fugue is often misunderstood as malingering (faking physical or psychological symptoms to obtain a benefit) as both conditions can give people an excuse to avoid their responsibilities, accountability for their actions, or to reduce their exposure to a known hazard. If the fugue lasts several days or longer, the person tends to travel far from home, forms a new identity, and begins a new job, ignorant of any change in his/her life.Īgain, in many cases, fugues appear to represent a hidden wish-fulfilment or the only possible way to escape from stress or embarrassment. If the fugue is a brief episode, the person simply misses some work or comes home late. Given the fact that it is a rare disorder, the prevalence rate of dissociative fugue is nearly 0.2% 2 across the population. Additionally, the personality split is the underlying defense mechanism used by an individual to cope with traumatic memories. Traumatic events resulting in an altered state of consciousness backed by a wish to flee are assumed to be the underlying cause. The symptoms can also interfere with a person’s general functioning, including social and work activities, and relationships as well.Īs per a study 1, dissociative fugue is a ”rare psychiatric disorder identified by sudden or unexpected traveling from one’s customary place of living or work”. However, what makes it difficult to observe this condition is the fact that such patients do not exhibit any signs of illness, a strange appearance, or odd behavior. They often confused about their actual identity and may even create a new identity while suffering from an episode. The word fugue is derived from a Latin word for “flight.” Individuals with this condition temporarily lose their sense of personal identity and impulsively wander or travel away from their homes or places of work. It involves wandering or unplanned travel, in which the person may establish a new identity in a new location very different from their old life. This type of temporary amnesia may last hours, days, weeks, months, or longer. Dissociative fugue is a form of reversible amnesia that involves personality, memories, and personal identity. Dissociative fugue, formerly known as psychogenic fugue, is a type of dissociative disorder.
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