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Fugue state
Other namesFugue state, psychogenic fugue
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SpecialtyPsychiatry

Dissociative fugue, formerly fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a mental and behavioral disorder classified as a Dissociative disorder and a Dissociative [conversion] disorder. The disorder is a rare psychiatric abnormality characterized by reversible amnesia for one's own personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state can last days, months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. It is a facet of dissociative amnesia, according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

After recovery from a fugue state, previous memories usually return intact, and further treatment is unnecessary. Additionally, an episode of fugue is not characterized as attributable to a psychiatric disorder if it can be related to the ingestion of psychotropic substances, to physical trauma, to a general medical condition, or to dissociative identity disorder, delirium, or dementia. Fugues are precipitated by a series of long-term traumatic episodes. It is most commonly associated with childhood victims of sexual abuse who learn over time to dissociate memory of the abuse (dissociative amnesia).

Signs and symptoms