According to Groome (1999), the causes of amnesia can be of two types which are the physical cause (organic amnesia) and psychological cause (psychogenic amnesia). Organic Amnesia occurs when there are physical damages or injuries to the brain. Some examples of organic amnesia includes Alzheimer disease, Korsakoff’s syndrome (Korsakoff’s amnesia), Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE), temporal lobe surgery, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other injuries affecting the brain such as stroke, Huntington disease and Parkinson’s disease (Groome, 1999).
Whereas Psychogenic Amnesia is related to psychological aspects such as one’s forgetting of self-identity following from a trauma or tragic experiences. The triggers for physical cause of amnesia includes:
• Stroke
• Encephalitis
• Coeliac disease
• Oxygen deprivation like carbon monoxide poisoning
• Some medications like sleeping pills
• Brain tumor
• Seizures
Where the triggers for psychological cause of amnesia includes:
• Victim of a violent crime
• Victim of child abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Being involved in a natural disaster
• Being present during a terrorist attack
On the other hand, based on findings of Banich and Cohen (2003), they argue that the causes of amnesia are divided into two major types which is the injury to the
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He also stated that the cells of hippocampus are the brain’s most energy-hungry and fragile and most easily disrupted by anoxia, general aesthetic, toxins and other threats. Hence if the hippocampus is impaired, a person will suffer difficulties in forming new memories. If a person suffers damages to the hippocampus in both halves of the brain, such as result from encephalitis, he or she may develop complete anterograde amnesia, inability to form any new narrative