AMNESIA IN THE VOW

PSY 101

Alexandra Stoddard

W H A T I S R E T R O G R A D E A M N E S I A

o As discussed in the power point and lecture video,

retrograde amnesia is a memory mishap.

o This most commonly comes about after a

traumatic brain injury.

o It presents itself as a loss of memory from a

portion prior to the accident.

AMNESIA IN THE VOW

oThe vow is a movie in which a married couple

(Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams) get into an

accident. Throughout the movie, it recounts the very

happy and blissful life that they had prior to the

accident. This movie is based off of a true story.

Events like these happen to real people.

AMNESIA IN THE VOW

oTo a certain extent, Paige (Rachel McAdams) still

had a memory, but it was from before she was

married to her husband. What she remembered

occurred when she was engaged to a different man

about five years ago. At that time, she also lived

with her upper class family and was enrolled in law

school.

AMNESIA IN THE VOW

oA therapy that is commonly used and that was used

in the movie is to immerse the amnesia patient back

into their normal routine to try to help them regain

the memory.

oToward the end of the movie, Paige mentions a

place that they used to go and her husband thinks

she may have remembered but she tells him that it is

something that her friend had told her.

AMNESIA IN THE VOW

oPaige also had a passion for art, and previously, she

had been enrolled in law school but them dropped it

due to lack of interest

oWhen she came out of her sedated state after the

accident, she reverted back to her former life in law

school.

oAccording to our text, when amnesia happens,

personalities and passions can be brought up again

or they can be completely changed from what they

once had been.

CORRELATION

oPaige constantly tells Leo(Channing Tatum) that she

doesn’t know what to believe because there is no evidence

that she was even with him due to her lack of memory.

oRetrograde amnesia can usually be restored to some extent

over time, but her memory wouldn’t return despite their

many efforts.

oBecause of her lack of memory, she was fearful to go back

to her life with Leo the way it had previously been.

THE CONCLUSION

oUnfortunately, Paige never regained her memory.

oIn the movie, Paige and Leo decided to create new

memories and start over.

oAt the end of the movie, viewers are told that in the

real life story, they end up getting re-married and

having two children, but she never re-gained her

memory.