Case Report - Psychogenic Amnesia
A 43-year-old construction worker was brought to hospital by colleagues. That morning, he had suffered a minor head injury when his forklift truck collided, at low speed, with an earth bank. Since then, he had a "complete loss of memory", with no recollection of any past events. He was unable to remember his own name and failed to recognize his colleagues or, when she arrived, his recently estranged wife. Despite this, there was no apparent difficulty in learning new information - he could recount in detail the events following his arrival at hospital. MRI of the brain was normal. It later emerged that, since an acrimonious separation from his wife, he had been showing signs of depression and drinking heavily. He had suffered a period of concussion following a motorcycle accident in his 20's.