Who is most susceptible to disociative fugue?
The etiology of the fugue state is related to Dissociative Amnesia, (DSM-IV Codes 300.12[2]) which has several other subtypes[3]: Selective Amnesia, Generalised Amnesia, Continuous Amnesia, Systematised Amnesia, in addition to the subtype Dissociative Fugue[1]. Unlike retrograde amnesia (which is popularly referred to simply as “amnesia”, the state where someone completely forgets who they are), Dissociative Amnesia is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication, DSM-IV Codes 291.1 & 292.83) or a neurological or other general medical condition (e.g., Amnestic Disorder due to a head trauma, DSM-IV Codes 294.0)[4]. It is a complex neuropsychological process[5]. As the person experiencing a Dissociative fugue may have recently suffered the reappearance of an event or person representing an earlier life trauma, the emergence of an armoring or defensive personality seems to be for some, a logical apprehension of the situation. Therefore, t
