Sudden and purposeful travel; can occur in dissociative amnesia. This phenomenon is known as what?

• A. Fugue
• B. Evolutionary perspective
• C. Feeding and eating disorders
• D. Dopamine hypothesis

Answer: (A)

Sudden, purposeful travel with loss of memory for personal details is known as dissociative fugue, a form of dissociative amnesia. In a fugue, a person may unexpectedly travel away from home, appear functionally normal while there, and yet be unable to recall past experiences or their own identity. Often this travel is a response to extreme stress, and memories of the personal past may return later, sometimes after the person has already resumed daily life or even without fully retrieving the forgotten events. The travel is not intentional deception but a dissociative coping mechanism that helps the individual escape overwhelming distress. This concept is distinct from other topics listed: the evolutionary perspective is a broad framework for understanding behavior through evolution, feeding and eating disorders are separate conditions involving food-related behavior, and the dopamine hypothesis concerns neurotransmitter theories for conditions like schizophrenia.