How to Recognize Dissociative Fugue

When someone is suffering from dissociative fugue, they abandon their personal identities. This means they forget memories, personal characteristics, and many other mental pieces that identify them as a person. The patient can disappear for months, sometimes leading a completely alternate life with no memory of their first life. While not many people are affected by dissociative fugue (only 2 percent in the general population), it is important to recognize the signs of the disorder to ensure that if someone you know has it, they get the help they need.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for the predominant disturbance of dissociative fugue. This first disturbance is a sudden and unexpected disappearance from the person's home, or at least the location of their normal everyday activities. This accompanies an inability to recall some or all of his/her past. The disappearance is caused by the person traveling away from their normal area. This can sometimes be as brief as a few hours, or as long as a few months.

• 2

  Pay attention to see if the person has confusion about their personal identity. This will accompany the symptom described in Step 1. Their confusion may be so intense that they may even take on a new identity. Most fugues only involve confusion about personal identity, not creation of another. When another identity is created, however, it often displays more uninhibited and gregarious behaviors than the previous identity. The person could assume a new name, move to a new residence, and take part in social activities, which could make it hard to even notice a problem.

• 3

  Ensure there is no other possible reason for the behaviors described in Steps 1 and 2. A diagnosis of dissociative fugue cannot be given if the fugue takes place during a bout of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). The fugue also cannot be caused by the use of a substance, or by some other medical condition.

• 4

  Ensure that the condition meets the fourth criteria for dissociative fugue. That criteria is distress. The symptoms must cause significant impairment or distress in important areas of functioning in the person's life. These areas can include work, social, or school life.

• 5

  Keep an eye out for little clues that can go unnoticed. If someone meets the above four criteria, then they can be diagnosed with dissociative fugue. owever, as mentioned earlier, it is often hard to tell the difference between a healthy person and someone who has fugue. Most people with dissociative fugue are only brought to clinical attention when they begin to lack awareness of their identity, or when they start to suffer amnesia of recent events. Stay alert to signs of amnesia and confusion of personal identity.