An Unusual Function of an Amnesia

A middle-aged patient reported in her analysis that she had barely any recollection of her mother prior to the age of five or six. Whereas she recalled other adults who spent time with her, such as an aunt, a maid, and her siblings, she could not remember that her mother spent any time with her as a child. This was blatantly contrary to the objective evidence she received from others that her mother had devoted most of her time to her upbringing and went to work only after the patient had reached an age when longer-lasting daytime separations are usually tolerated by the child.

Her recollections of her mother during the period after her mother started to work away from home flowed with greater richness and consistency. She recalled distinctly that her mother phoned home one day and told the maid that she had found employment. The maid seemed happy about it, but the patient "did not know why she was so happy." At other times the event was described in greater detail: "I was home during lunchtime. X [the patient's next older brother] was there. The maid was excited. I remember clearly I felt as if something had been put over on me. I felt different from X. I had a feeling I was apart from the two other people there. It came as a shock. I must have been aware that mother was looking for a job. I did not want her to have a job. I experienced it as meaning that she would be in a different world, as if she were going on a long trip, as if it had nothing to do with me and that I would be isolated. It is the only memory that has emotions. I felt confused and did not know what was going on. I am sure I felt hurt." The patient had spoken previously about this event as if she had not responded emotionally to it, but she explained that at her first report she recalled only the way she reacted but not the way she felt on hearing of her mother's employment. Thus we can say that this moment divided her life into two parts: prior to it almost no recollection of