O van der Hart1, P Brown, M Graafland. 1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. onnovdh@wxs.nl
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.
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.