Dissociative fugue is the coolest term I've yet to hear in behavioral science. It references the musical element, also called a fugue, where a tune is played by one instrument or orchestral section and then begun again by other instruments but changed slightly. Though technically a canon, a good similar example is "Row Row Row Your Boat", where each part jumps in on top of the one before it. The video above shows a beautiful visual representation of a fugue of Bach's. Pay attention to the colored melodic shapes at teh top to see how each line plays over the last.
The behavioral term of fugue creates a beautiful metaphor with frightening implications. With this disorder, a person experiences amnesia, forgetting the life they had previously led and starting anew even though the memories of the old life are still there in the subconscious (sound familiar?). Then at some point they revert back to the previous life and typically forget the new one. Each life led is slightly different than the previous and separated by time, just like the melodies of a musical fugue.
TIL: ADD was renamed ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in 1987. Why do I even know the term ADD, given I was born the same year it was invalidated?! In my own experience I feel like the switch only happened maybe 10 years ago, not 25+. It just goes to show how slowly information disseminates among both stubborn medical professionals and the public at large.
ADHD is not simply inattention, but a loss of self-control in general. Kids with this disorder will also have problems with planning and delaying gratification.
Persons with dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder) can experience a sort of auditory hallucination but they recognize that the voices are in their heads not separate from them as in schizophrenia.
No comments:
Post a Comment