Dissociative Amnesia Related to Pregnancy

Dissociative amnesia, formerly called psychogenic amnesia, involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, consciousness or awareness, identity and/or perception – mental functions that normally operate smoothly. Dissociative amnesia is not the same as simple amnesia, which involves a loss of information from the memory, usually as the result of disease or injury to the brain. With dissociative amnesia, the memories still exist but are deeply buried within the person’s mind and cannot be recalled. However, the memories might resurface on their own or after being triggered by something in the person’s surroundings. This case highlights an uncommon presentation of dissociative amnesia related to pregnancy (German J Psychiatry 2007; 10: 119-121) .