Abstract
Objective: This study relates trauma-induced dissociative amnesia reported in World War I (WW I) studies of war trauma to contemporary findings of dissociative amnesia in victims of childhood sexual abuse.
Method: Key diagnostic studies of post-traumatic amnesia in WW I combatants are surveyed. These cover phenomenology and the psychological dynamics of dissociation vis-à-vis repression.
Results: Descriptive evidence is cited for war trauma-induced dissociative amnesia.
Conclusion: Posttraumatic amnesia extends beyond the experience of sexual and combat trauma and is a protean symptom, which reflects responses to the gamut of traumatic events.