Amnesia is a disorder of memory (memorization, storage, or reproduction). It can act as a separate disease or be combined with other neuropsychiatric disorders (aphasia, agnosia, apraxia).
The hippocampus, part of the limbic system of the brain, is functionally connected with memory and acts as a repository of fresh information. With its damage, deterioration of blood supply, and, consequently, a lack of oxygen, it ceases to function normally. So there is retrograde amnesia. It can be transient, as a result of epilepsy, migraine, and can progress, and this already indicates the presence of serious diseases, such as a brain tumor.
The main types of amnesia are islet, lacunar (anterograde and retrograde) and total or retroanterograde amnesia (combines the characteristics of the first two subspecies and has a progressive character). Anterograde amnesia is characterized by the exclusion from memory of events that occurred immediately after the onset of the disease, which caused memory impairment.
Retrograde amnesia extends to events of the recent past that occurred immediately before the disease, and the events of bygone days are remembered quite easily. With this form of memory loss, the information in it is postponed, but not reproduced. Therefore, the playback function suffers.
Memory disorders are a characteristic symptom of brain damage in traumatic brain injury, in strokes (subarachnoid hemorrhages), acute intoxications (in case of carbon monoxide poisoning), as well as in chronic organic brain diseases (atherosclerosis, atrophic diseases of the brain, tumors). Retrograde amnesia occurs after any coma, after epileptic seizures, when removed from anesthesia after surgery. Another reason is the lack of vitamins, in particular B vitamins, or their poor digestibility in the body.
The human psyche has a protective reaction. It can block the memories of those events that lead to thoughts of suicide, depression or psychosis. For the body itself, if memory is blocked, good, but not for humans. This condition is very painful. The patient wants to remember everything, but cannot.
With retrograde amnesia, a person sometimes does not remember his name, does not recognize any of his relatives, cannot remember what happened to him. Moreover, his behavior looks quite normal. A person is sufficiently efficient if his occupation does not require the use of memory. One of the most prominent characteristic symptoms is false memories or fiction. They are trying to fill the patient’s memory gaps with the help of imagination. At the same time, he cannot distinguish real events from fictional ones. But it is impossible to convince him. Very often, such phenomena occur in people with alcoholism, and with age-related dementia.
Retrograde amnesia can last from several months to several years. A major role in recovery is played by the patient's desire to remember everything. The way out of the state of amnesia is rather unpleasant for a person, but then the joy that the memory has returned has the upper hand, and it is recovering.
Retrograde amnesia is difficult to treat. Neuropsychological rehabilitation methods have some therapeutic effect. From medication prescribed drugs that improve metabolic processes and blood circulation in the brain (nootropic drugs). With retrograde amnesia, treatment by a psychoanalyst sometimes helps. Permanent hypnosis sessions will not interfere. Only then will normal memory return to some patients.