A case of hysterical amnesia is presented together with psychometric, psychophysiological and behavioural data. In the early stages of the amnesia the patient appeared preoccupied with death which was stress-related as measured by the Dektor Psychological Stress Evaluator. Any attempt to reduce the amnesia made the patient become markedly suicidal. The findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that in certain circumstances dissociative amnesia can be a substitute for suicide.
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