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An extroverted, flirtatious, rather immature twenty one year old married woman, the mother of a young
infant, on awakening from the anesthesia after an appendectomy, experienced complete amnesia for the
previous five years. At sixteen she had been briefly unconscious following an automobile accident, and she now
believed that she was hospitalized because of the accident. Taken home a few days after the appendectomy, she
did not recognize her husband or child. When told who they were, she did not challenge their identities and said
they were "nice". While convalescing, she greatly enjoyed reading magazines designed for teenagers. The
amnesia and five year regression were responses to an immediate stress situation: her husband was about to
graduate from college and take a job in the family business in his native city. She did not want to leave her
friends and she feared living under the watchful eye of her mother-in-law, a very dominant and critical woman.
Just before the surgery, the mother-in-law, had come to stay with the family and help them get ready to move.
She had been out spoken and critical of her daughter-in-law's housekeeping habits and juvenile manner of dress.
The amnesia episode psychologically eliminated the mother-in-law's existence, for the patient had no
responsibilities and no child to care for. The amnesia cleared up with hypnotic treatment.
Diagnosis: