Dissociative fugue: Recurrent episodes in a young adult

Abstract

Dissociative fugue is a rare disorder which has been described as sudden, unexpected, travel away from home or one's customary place of daily activities, with the inability to recall some or all of one's past. There is no systematic data existing on it and very few cases reported in the literature. Here we report a case of fugue in a young adult male who travelled 8 times away from his home during last 1½ year. He has a loss of memory for episodes with patchy recall of few events. Longest duration of fugue episode was of 1-month. The case describes mode of presentation to hospital and treatment given to restore his identity and reunite him in society and family.

The Peregrinating Psychiatric Patient in the Emergency Department

“…(This patient may have true protein C deficiency as well.) Patients with dissociative fugue present complaining of amnesia or confusion 9,10. Elucidating the patient’s history through a collateral informant, clinicians typically identify a profound social stressor precipitating migration.…”

“…Patients with dissociative fugue present complaining of amnesia or confusion. 9 , 10 Elucidating the patient’s history through a collateral informant, clinicians typically identify a profound social stressor precipitating migration. Gander syndrome, another dissociative disorder, may be present among travelers and is characterized by vorbeireden , in which approximate answers are given to questions, but those answers suggest the patient has a sense of the correct answer.…”

Modern faces of hysteria, or some of the dissociative disorders

“…The literature most frequently mentions traumatic experiences from early childhood [8], a dramatic loss of loved ones [9], violence [10], sexual abuse, catastrophes, war, natural disasters, traumatic experiences associated with pregnancy and the perinatal period [6], and protracted interpersonal and intrapsychic problems. [7,11,12,13,14,15]. According to Janet, overly strong emotions felt as a result of traumatic experiences lead to the detachment of these experiences and their transfer to the subconscious [6,16].…”

“…They are often associated with a traumatic event or a painful loss. This disorder can last for several hours, days, weeks or even months [2,5,12].…”

“…According to the various authors, some individuals show bizarre, disorganised or even dangerous behaviors during fugue. Glisky et al have reported a case of fugue in which the patient both lost their own memories and biographical facts, as well as they were unable to speak their mother tongue [2,12]. Załuska et.…”