Trauma-induced dissociative amnesia in World War I combat soldiers

Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1999 Feb;33(1):37-46. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00508.x.

Abstract

Objective: This study relates trauma-induced dissociative amnesia reported in World War I (WW I) studies of war trauma to contemporary findings of dissociative amnesia in victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Method: Key diagnostic studies of post-traumatic amnesia in WW I combatants are surveyed. These cover phenomenology and the psychological dynamics of dissociation vis-à-vis repression.

Results: Descriptive evidence is cited for war trauma-induced dissociative amnesia.

Conclusion: Posttraumatic amnesia extends beyond the experience of sexual and combat trauma and is a protean symptom, which reflects responses to the gamut of traumatic events.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Amnesia / diagnosis*
  • Amnesia / etiology*
  • Child
  • Child Abuse, Sexual / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Combat Disorders / psychology*
  • Data Collection
  • Dissociative Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Dissociative Disorders / etiology*
  • Dissociative Disorders / psychology
  • Humans
  • Malingering / diagnosis
  • Malingering / psychology
  • Military Personnel / psychology*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Repression, Psychology
  • Warfare*