April 3, 2015

"Shortly after the accident, it became clear that PA had lost much of his memory; he didn't recognize his family..."

"... and the woman he'd been cheating with — whom he'd gone so far as to proclaim the 'love of [his] life' — was now a stranger to him, too. But more than that, it appeared he'd lost his own sense of self. He tended to 'cling to the identities of others,'his physicians write in the case report, by which they mean that he often believed he was whoever he happened to be around at the moment."

9 comments:

Levi Starks said...

Like

MadisonMan said...

Interesting. I'd think dogs would know you by scent, but this story makes me think it's body language that's important.

Bob Boyd said...

There are variations on Borrowed Identity Syndrome.
For example, I heard about a guy who thinks his right hand is Scarlet Johansson.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Wouldn't want to be that guy. Not a good time to become completely dependent on your wife. In fact, a very bad time.


Unknown said...

and that's how Obama became President

tim in vermont said...

They made a movie about him, they being Woody Allen.

rhhardin said...

There's another romantic comedy on this, where the girl doesn't recognize her husband.

Taking her on dates to where they'd done this or that didn't work.

Breakup.

Dating her anew as a new person worked in the end.

I think this one had a based on a true story thingy.

Which DVD it was in the pile I can't say.

traditionalguy said...

Borrowed personality/identity may be a coping mechanism in all human brains. It could explain the Stockholm Syndrome and also per pressure conformity.

We will know the day Meade wakes up after watching way too much basketball and compulsively starts wearing shorts everywhere.

whitney said...

That was the most interesting thing I've read recently