A few days ago I was contacted by Tomasz Stawiszynski, a Hungarian journalist. He wanted to talk to me about a story he was working on. A man had been found wandering in the forests of the Tatry Mountains of southern Poland suffering from hypothermia. He was reasonably well dressed, but not for the two or three days of extreme weather conditions he seemed to have endured. When asked his name the man replied ‘I don’t know’, and when asked where he came from he remained silent. A colleague had persuaded Tomasz that his ideas on amnesia, largely gleaned from Hollywood, were far from accurate, and suggested that he contact me. What could I tell him?
I first reassured him that his colleague was correct. Amnesia has long provided a useful and dramatic component of film scripts. A typical plot might be as follows…. The hero, who is happily married, is involved in a traumatic accident, a car crash or an accidental blow on the head and comes round with no memory of who he is or where he comes from. He begins a new life in his changed location until by chance, he meets his wife, and although he fails to recognise her falls in love all over again. Finally, as a result of an emotional shock or a blow on the head, his memory comes back and they live happily ever after.
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