We are talking about a particular topic and, suddenly, we forget something, as if the information we had available in our minds had been erased. What happened? How is it possible that I no longer remember what I was going to say? The pressures and demands we live with tend to fill us with responsibilities that are difficult to deal with. In this sense, it is common for certain forgetfulness and oversights to arise.
Although this fact may be very common today, in some cases carelessness can have unfavorable consequences for the development of the person’s daily life. Do you want to know more about it? In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about Mental blackouts: what they are, symptoms, causes and treatment.
What are mental gaps?
What does it mean to have gaps? When we talk about mental blackouts, we are referring to those periods of time in which the loss of a memory, situation and/or identity. Due to its qualities, this problem corresponds to a health disorder.
The alterations caused by blackouts, also called amnesia, interfere with the development of daily activities carried out by an individual. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the intensity of the gaps will depend on the severity of the condition, as well as the characteristics of the affected person.
Symptoms of blackouts
Mental blackouts have certain manifestations that appear both on the physical level and in the emotions and behaviors of the people who suffer from them. Below we show you the main symptoms of people with gaps:
- Memory loss.
- Decreased attention span.
- Confusion.
- Difficulty thinking.
- Lack of personal memories and/or lived situations.
- Inability to store new information.
- .
- Anxiety.
- Fluctuating mood.
- Social withdrawal.
- Loss of identity.
- Difficulty in
- Bewilderment.
Beyond the symptoms mentioned, it is important to highlight that the isolated presence of any of them does not necessarily constitute a diagnosis of mental lapse.
For this reason, it is essential that the evaluation of the disorder be carried out by a mental health professional who analyzes the personal characteristics of the patient, taking into account aspects such as age, genetic background, pre-existing diseases or family history, among others. .
Causes of blackouts
Why do mental blackouts occur? In order to develop strategies that manage to reduce the symptoms of mental blackouts, it is necessary to determine their origins. Next, we show you the main causes associated with this mental disorder:
Organic factors
There are certain neural connections that allow us to store the information we receive from the environment. However, when some complexity arises in neural transmission, memory can be impaired.
Likewise, we must take into account that the Genetic heritage It may also be related to memory impairments. In other words, if one of the parents has suffered from mental lapses, there is a good chance that this will manifest in their child. Another of the most relevant causes of the loss of memories is agesince with the passage of time memory loses functionality.
Psychological factors
Episodes linked to lack of memories may be the product of painful experiences From the past. When a person goes through one, his mind tries to look for different alternatives to eliminate the pain caused. For that same reason, the fear of reliving bad memories can make a person forget certain moments in their life.
Likewise, we must consider that the intensity of the experiences is directly related to the resources that each person has in the face of this type of situation.
Types of mental lapses
The concept of mental lapses is not only reduced to the loss of information available in memory. There are different types of mental gaps that have different qualities from each other and which we explain below:
- Dissociative amnesia: consists of the appearance of difficulties in remembering information from the past based on an event in a person’s life.
- lacunar amnesia: This is an alteration to remember facts about the specific moment in which a traumatic event occurred. However, the particularity of this type of mental lapse is that the person can resort to memories before and after that event.
- fragmentary lagoon: This type of mental lapse consists of interruptions in the person’s memory. In general, when a situation arises that affects the correct functioning of this function of the body, certain periods appear in which the person does not remember anything.
- total amnesia: This type of mental lapse implies an absolute loss of information from the past. When this happens, it is difficult to recover previous data, which is why total amnesia is the most serious type of blackout.
Treatment of mental lapses
Despite the complications that this disorder can cause, today there are various treatments that have proven to be effective in treating blackouts and reducing their symptoms. In this section we will explain the main treatments available to deal with memory loss:
Psychological therapy
Blackouts can lead to feelings of insecurity, discomfort, anguish and low self-esteem. Psychological therapy can help in these cases, as it allows the patient to reflect and learn about the personal aspects associated with the effects of the gaps. In this way, with psychological therapy it is possible work on emotions, behaviors and thoughts that are causing the patient’s loss of memories.
On the one hand, long-term therapies aim to find the origin of the person’s symptoms from the memory of childhood situations. From this, situations of stress and/or anxiety can be faced in a more pleasant way. On the other hand, short-term therapies aim to develop strategies to reduce the feelings that cause discomfort.
Pharmacological medication
There are those that reduce anxiety and can be given in these boxes to reduce symptoms of memory loss. However, it is important to remember that these medications can have adverse effects and can only be consumed if they have been indicated by a mental health professional.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Muñoz, M. (2007). From neuropsychology to the neuroanatomy of declarative memory. EduPsykhé Magazine, 6 (2), 223-243.
- Román Campos, G. (1981). Brain gaps. Magazine of the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Colombia, 39 (2), 115-125.