Selective amnesia happens when a person can recall only small parts of events that took place in a defined period of time. For example, an abuse victim may recall only some parts of the serious of events around the abuse. Generalized amnesia is diagnosed when a person's amnesia encompasses his or her entire life. Systematized amnesia is characterized by a loss of memory for a specific category of information. A person with this disorder might, for example, be missing all memories about one specific family member.
Dissociative fugue is a rare disorder.
An individual with dissociative fugue suddenly and unexpectedly takes physical leave of his or her surroundings and sets off on a journey of some kind. These journeys can last hours, or even several days or months. Individuals experiencing a dissociative fugue have traveled over thousands of miles. An individual suffering from DID has more than one distinct identity or personality state that surfaces in the individual on a recurring basis. For more information on this, request the NAMI factsheet on dissociative identity disorder.