While it’s no wonder that filmmakers omit the less glamorous aspects of amnesia from their movies, it means that many people are totally unaware of the sudden decline and overwhelming fear that can occur in acute-onset amnesia.
Words: Zoe Price (she/her)
Imagine going to bed completely sound of mind and waking up unable to retain any thoughts or memories. This is what sufferers of transient global amnesia (TGA) experience. Suddenly, with no apparent indication, these individuals lose the ability to form new memories due to what is called anterograde amnesia.
You’ve likely seen anterograde amnesia depicted in film and TV before – this is the stereotypical representation where a character undergoes a blow to the head and suddenly can’t remember anything they’re told, repeating questions constantly, mimicking a goldfish. Of course, the accuracy of these depictions varies wildly. Christopher Nolan’s Memento is widely praised for its depiction of amnesia, which the protagonist Leonard Shelby develops after an attack in which his wife is killed and he is seriously injured. Another example is Peter Segal’s 50 First Dates, which features Henry (Adam Sandler) trying to woo Lucy (Drew Barrymore), who suffers from amnesia following a car accident and her memory is “reset” every night. This results in Henry comically organising various schemes to meet Lucy and win her over each day. Though the movie is inspired by the true story of Michelle Philpots, who suffered retrograde amnesia caused by seizures following a car accident, its depiction of amnesia is generally thought of as being entirely fictional, with the idea of a nightly memory reset bearing no relation to any known memory disorders.
This dramatised portrayal of amnesia in TV and film often feeds into the misconception that memory loss is a sudden and irreversible condition. However, in reality memory loss can be much more complex. Unlike in the movies, TGA isn’t the result of some dramatic injury or a reset of the brain but rather a temporary interruption of the brain’s ability to form new memories, leaving the person caught in a cycle of short-term confusion. It’s a short-lived phenomenon, lasting anywhere from 1-24 hours, and can seemingly occur with no warning. Individuals may be confused, often repeating themselves, and may be aware that something is wrong without understanding what that is.
For those who suffer from TGA, the experience can be both terrifying and frustrating – not just for the individual suffering from the condition, but also for the people around them who are trying to provide support. It is especially scary as TGA is a wildly unknown condition, and most people assume that their loved one is experiencing a stroke.
The media portrayal of amnesia rarely shows the fear that comes along with the condition. Instead, filmmakers more commonly focus on the comedic aspects of losing your memory, such as in Finding Dory, or on the grief that others experience when losing their loved ones to permanent neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s. But in reality, suddenly losing your memory is absolutely terrifying. While it’s no wonder that filmmakers omit the less glamorous aspects of amnesia from their movies, it means that many people are totally unaware of the sudden decline and overwhelming fear that can occur in acute-onset amnesia.
As a medical student I see patients on the wards who suffer from delirium on a daily basis. This is when a patient suddenly becomes confused, distressed, or drowsy in response to a physiological change such as infection or constipation. Delirium is curable by treating the underlying cause, but unlike TGA which resolves in less than a day it can take up to 3 months to settle. This can be horrifying for the patient’s family who are faced with seeing their loved one, who was fine only days ago, now needing assistance with eating, going to the bathroom, and no longer recognises their own family.
However, despite delirium being one of the most common forms of memory loss, affecting up to 40% of hospital patients and 80% of intensive care patients, it is vastly unknown to the public. There are many reasons why this may be including the fact that medical professionals themselves disagree on the definition of delirium, often using it interchangeably with another term ‘encephalopathy’ which describes a very similar syndrome of symptoms. Another possibility is that the public knows little about delirium because they rarely see it unless they or a loved one experience it first-hand.
I don’t pretend to have the answer to how visibility of conditions such as delirium and TGA could be improved. Certainly, it is not the job of medical professionals to dictate how art and cinema should be produced or what content should be made. However, I do think filmmakers have a responsibility to portray memory loss in an accurate way if they are choosing to use amnesia as a plot device. The ramifications of misinformation are immense and can cause hurt and confusion for those who do suffer from memory loss in real life.
