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A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury

BACKGROUND: It is well known that traumatic brain injury often changes the way the patient perceives reality, which often means a distortion of the perception of self and the world. The purpose of this article is to understand the processes of identity change after traumatic brain injury. CASE REPOR...

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Autores principales: Pachalska, Maria, MacQueen, Bruce Duncan, Kaczmarek, Bozydar L. J., Wilk-Franczuk, Magdalena, Herman-Sucharska, Izabela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: International Scientific Literature, Inc. 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3524703/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21278697
http://dx.doi.org/10.12659/MSM.881381
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author Pachalska, Maria
MacQueen, Bruce Duncan
Kaczmarek, Bozydar L. J.
Wilk-Franczuk, Magdalena
Herman-Sucharska, Izabela
author_facet Pachalska, Maria
MacQueen, Bruce Duncan
Kaczmarek, Bozydar L. J.
Wilk-Franczuk, Magdalena
Herman-Sucharska, Izabela
author_sort Pachalska, Maria
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: It is well known that traumatic brain injury often changes the way the patient perceives reality, which often means a distortion of the perception of self and the world. The purpose of this article is to understand the processes of identity change after traumatic brain injury. CASE REPORT: We describe progressive deterioration in personal identity in a former physician who had sustained a serious head injury (1998), resulting in focal injuries to the right frontal and temporal areas. He regained consciousness after 63 days in coma and 98 days of post-traumatic amnesia, but has since displayed a persistent loss of autobiographical memory, self-image, and emotional bonds to family and significant others. Qualitative ‘life-story’ interviewing was undertaken to explore the mental state of a patient whose subjective, “first person” identity has been disengaged, despite the retention of significant amounts of objective, “third person” information about himself and his personal history (though this was also lost at a later stage in the patient’s deterioration). Identity change in our patient was characterized by a dynamic and convoluted process of contraction, expansion and tentative balance. Our patient tends to cling to the self of others, borrowing their identities at least for the period he is able to remember. Identity is closely connected with the processes of memory. CONCLUSIONS: The results will be examined in relation to the microgenetic theory of brain function. The brain mechanisms that may account for these impairments are discussed. Findings from this study have important implications for the delivery of person-focused rehabilitation.
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spelling pubmed-35247032013-04-24 A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury Pachalska, Maria MacQueen, Bruce Duncan Kaczmarek, Bozydar L. J. Wilk-Franczuk, Magdalena Herman-Sucharska, Izabela Med Sci Monit Case Study BACKGROUND: It is well known that traumatic brain injury often changes the way the patient perceives reality, which often means a distortion of the perception of self and the world. The purpose of this article is to understand the processes of identity change after traumatic brain injury. CASE REPORT: We describe progressive deterioration in personal identity in a former physician who had sustained a serious head injury (1998), resulting in focal injuries to the right frontal and temporal areas. He regained consciousness after 63 days in coma and 98 days of post-traumatic amnesia, but has since displayed a persistent loss of autobiographical memory, self-image, and emotional bonds to family and significant others. Qualitative ‘life-story’ interviewing was undertaken to explore the mental state of a patient whose subjective, “first person” identity has been disengaged, despite the retention of significant amounts of objective, “third person” information about himself and his personal history (though this was also lost at a later stage in the patient’s deterioration). Identity change in our patient was characterized by a dynamic and convoluted process of contraction, expansion and tentative balance. Our patient tends to cling to the self of others, borrowing their identities at least for the period he is able to remember. Identity is closely connected with the processes of memory. CONCLUSIONS: The results will be examined in relation to the microgenetic theory of brain function. The brain mechanisms that may account for these impairments are discussed. Findings from this study have important implications for the delivery of person-focused rehabilitation. International Scientific Literature, Inc. 2011-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3524703/ /pubmed/21278697 http://dx.doi.org/10.12659/MSM.881381 Text en © Med Sci Monit, 2011 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
spellingShingle Case Study
Pachalska, Maria
MacQueen, Bruce Duncan
Kaczmarek, Bozydar L. J.
Wilk-Franczuk, Magdalena
Herman-Sucharska, Izabela
A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title_full A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title_fullStr A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title_full_unstemmed A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title_short A case of “Borrowed Identity Syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
title_sort case of “borrowed identity syndrome” after severe traumatic brain injury
topic Case Study
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3524703/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21278697
http://dx.doi.org/10.12659/MSM.881381
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