Considering that I was a psychology major, I feel kind of foolish. I was doing a little research on amnesia for my novel and remembered that my story might not involve 'normal' amnesia at all. It seems more like dissociative fugue. It has been at least four years since I took abnormal psychology, so I didn't remember all of the specific differences, and I found some conflicting information online. It was also hard to say because dissociative fugue involves a person assuming a new identity and physically moving elsewhere... and as of now I have planned to have my character stay where she is. I needed to look into this more, because this could change things. I may need to iron out how my character would act before I can decide. I prefer the idea of a dissociative fugue (mis)diagnosis, if it is possible, if only because it isn't nearly as overdone.
I wanted to find the technical clinical requirements. I do own a copy of DSM-IV, but on top of it being somewhere in Knoxville it is also now somewhat outdated. DSM V will be published next year, I believe.
I went to the DSM website (www.dsm5.org) and finally had a little luck. Evidently, dissociative fugue used to be its own disorder, but it has been proposed that it be entered in as a subtype of dissociative amnesia (general episodic amnesia) in the newest edition. A few of the criteria in DSM IV included travel away from home, loss of episodic memory, and confusion regarding one's identity. Some of my questions were answered, but I still was not sure of all I wanted to know. What if the person in question seems to think that they are someone else but either doesn't have the chance to leave or else does not try? Why is going elsewhere a requirement? Then I found a notation. The travel aspect is an inconsistent feature of dissociative fugue. I may be in business.
Still, I'm wondering if I can stop by and see my old abnormal psychology professor. He still works in my department, and I occasionally see him, but he probably doesn't remember me anymore. Maybe if I can do that I'll understand a little better and then will be able to decide how to tackle this. I may not have to find a reason for my character to up and leave as a part of my plot.
Now, a question. I hadn't expected my novel to go into much detail on the facts and details on all this (retrograde vs. anterograde amnesia, episodic memory, dissociative amnesia vs. dissociative fugue) but for the story to be credible I would have to include the scenes where a doctor explains these nuances. Would that make for boring reading? Maybe I can find a way to get one of the characters to spice it up. Maybe I can make a character lose their mind and start speaking in tongues.
I didn't write much today. I had a movie night tonight and I wanted to get to read more of Before I Go to Sleep. I did do a little revising. Editing as you go can be kind of risky, but I like to read through what I've written sometimes, and when I do I'd rather it not feel so raw. I might not have increased my word count by much, but I improved some of what I already had. At least it's something.
Total Word Count: 9,320
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