What marks amnesia in DID patients?

Dissociative amnesia, also known as dissociative anterograde amnesia or post-traumatic amnesia, is characterized by an inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that occurred after a traumatic event or over a period of time (typically more than a month). This can include anything from forgetting one's name or identity to forgetting entire periods of time in one's life. It can also involve memory loss for specific events, such as the details of a car accident or a sexual assault.

In DID patients, dissociative amnesia is often used as a defense mechanism to protect the individual from the overwhelming psychological trauma of their experiences. It allows the individual to temporarily "forget" or block out the traumatic memories, allowing them to function and cope in everyday life. However, this can also lead to problems with memory, identity, and relationships, as the individual may struggle to recall important personal information or may experience periods of "missing time" or gaps in their memory.