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thewolfinsideIn case you haven't heard the news, Gabe somehow has amnesia. He's forgotten about the last fifteen and a half months of his life, back somewhere about the 18th or 19th of June of last year.
All I ask, is that you don't offer any information from the last year to him. If he asks, answer with the least amount of detail possible, until he asks for more.
"The memory loss may just affect specific “classes” of memory. For instance the victim, a concert pianist before, may still remember what a piano is after the onset of retrograde amnesia, but may forget how to play. The relearning rate for often used skills such as typing and math is typically faster than if they had never learned it before. While there is no cure for retrograde amnesia, “jogging” the victim’s memory by exposing them to significant articles from their past will speed the rate of recall.
The victim of retrograde amnesia may feel embarrassed or stressed that they no longer remember key people and significant events. Typically the victim may be overwhelmed by the rush of well-wishers who seek to reacquaint themselves. It is important to let the amnesiac go at his or her “own pace,” so they are not overly stressed. Forgotten relations forget that they are effectively meeting the victim for the “first time” and may make the victim uncomfortable through displays of friendship such as kissing or slapping on the back that, while appropriate for longtime relationships, are not appropriate for “first time” meetings."
That's what I got from Betsy, my therapist. Obviously, there is a reason that Gabe has forgotten what he did and as much as he did. If you trigger the wrong memory, you could make things worse, or cause a psychotic break. It goes without saying that we don't want either of those things happening.
As for right now? He doesn't know anything that happened after about the third week of June last year. So, be careful what you say and do around him, you don't want him to rip your head off for not understanding you.
All I ask, is that you don't offer any information from the last year to him. If he asks, answer with the least amount of detail possible, until he asks for more.
"The memory loss may just affect specific “classes” of memory. For instance the victim, a concert pianist before, may still remember what a piano is after the onset of retrograde amnesia, but may forget how to play. The relearning rate for often used skills such as typing and math is typically faster than if they had never learned it before. While there is no cure for retrograde amnesia, “jogging” the victim’s memory by exposing them to significant articles from their past will speed the rate of recall.
The victim of retrograde amnesia may feel embarrassed or stressed that they no longer remember key people and significant events. Typically the victim may be overwhelmed by the rush of well-wishers who seek to reacquaint themselves. It is important to let the amnesiac go at his or her “own pace,” so they are not overly stressed. Forgotten relations forget that they are effectively meeting the victim for the “first time” and may make the victim uncomfortable through displays of friendship such as kissing or slapping on the back that, while appropriate for longtime relationships, are not appropriate for “first time” meetings."
That's what I got from Betsy, my therapist. Obviously, there is a reason that Gabe has forgotten what he did and as much as he did. If you trigger the wrong memory, you could make things worse, or cause a psychotic break. It goes without saying that we don't want either of those things happening.
As for right now? He doesn't know anything that happened after about the third week of June last year. So, be careful what you say and do around him, you don't want him to rip your head off for not understanding you.
