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Heather Meadow
Heather Meadow asked in Social SciencePsychology · 9 years ago

What happens to you if you lose your memory?

"Retrograde amnesia (RA) is a loss of access to events that occurred, or information that was learned, before an injury or the onset of a disease." - Wikipedia

If you wake up without any memory of who you are, where you came from or even your name, and nobody comes to collect you from the hospital. What do they do with you?

Assuming that there are no other side affects or impairments. Do they just send you on your way, set you up with a job, detain you until your identity is verified, or what?

Update:

There has been at least one case of isolated retrograde amnesia, memory loss with no other effects, however the patient remained anonymous, so further research is difficult.

There are also at least two cases of retrograde amnesia where the patients have been able to continue with their lives almost normally. One patient even graduated high school and went on to further education, despite her condition.

I'm aware that they have to be re-integrated into society, I'm just wondering how that might happen.

4 Answers

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  • MacG
    Lv 7
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I think that it is actually very, very rare. It isn't like on tv and in movies, where it is always used as a cheap plot device. You never, ever read in newspapers or see on tv news instances where authorities are looking to find the identity of live person.

    Probably someone would be hospitalized and/or in a long-term care facility for a while. They'd likely receive support to reintegrate into society.

  • Les
    Lv 5
    9 years ago

    They usually put an appeal on the news and in the papers, if they can't find out that way it depends how severe the condition is. If they need treatment (physical or mental) they'll probably keep them in hospital

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    Dam, I knew the answer to that one..... Nope, It's gone

  • Molly
    9 years ago

    Sorry, what was the question again?

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