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Hello everyone,
My name is Allison and I’m seeking advice and guidance for my partner. She is 26 years old, a PhD student, and she has been dealing with some difficulties with something we are calling blackouts. We are writing this post together as an attempt for us to reach out to find what good next steps would be since they are causing her a lot of distress.
The blackouts started a year and a half ago and occur irregularly, averaging 2-3 times a month, and we are still trying to identify their cause. She doesn’t use drugs, and hasn’t drank alcohol since this began. They happen at various times of the day. Sometimes they seem to be triggered by a stressful interaction with another person, but other times they come out of nowhere. During the blackouts she continues to do normal things: she eats, talks with people, and on one occasion she even wrote herself a reminder and apparently drove to pick up dinner. Despite that, she does not act like herself during the blackouts. She varies in how she acts: sometimes quiet, sometimes talkative. In general however, she tends to say things that she would not otherwise. Sometimes they are harsh or out of character. On a few occasions she has even been hostile.
These actions alone are distressing for her but following the blackout she has no memory of what happened. Anything she said, wrote, or did is completely lost to her as though she has amnesia for that period of time. These have all been isolated incidents and she has thankfully been able to function normally outside of these blackouts.They seem to occur outside her school and work times and to mainly occur when she is interacting with people she is intimate or close with.
She has been to her general practitioner doctor, a neurologist, and a neurosurgeon, and had an MRI and EEG, all of which confirmed there is no neurological cause for the blackouts and they suggested it might have to do with stress. She has also confirmed with her gynecologist there are no hormonal issues. She is on a waiting list for a psychiatrist but the timeframe for it is uncertain. To make matters worse, she had a very unhelpful experience with the therapist she’s been seeing for the past year. Her therapist said she was “stumped” and at a loss on how to proceed. She was really hoping that therapy would provide guidance and hope for her with these difficulties. She also recently visited a local general mental health support group which was full of kind people, but it wasn’t very helpful for her particular problem.
We are hoping for a few things here. Firstly, it would be nice to hear from others who experience something similar to blackouts. My partner is feeling very alone with what she’s dealing with and the lack of assistance from medical professionals has made things very daunting. Secondly, suggestions on next steps or good resources would be very appreciated. At this point, we are in a bit of waiting game for the psychiatrist and it would be good to have more immediate steps.
Any help, insight, guidance, or advice is much appreciated. Thank you very much from both of us.
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