A well groomed person wandering purposefully away from home denying amnesia.

A person missing from home, is found wandering purposefully. He is well groomed, and denies of having amnesia. Most likely diagnosis is:

A. Dissociative fugue
B. Dissociative amnesia
C. Schizophrenia
D. Dementia

Answer is A. Dissociative fugue.
The following are the features of Dissociative fugue:

• Sudden onset of complete amnesia for his earlier life.
• The affected person usually wanders away from home.
• Adopts a new purposeful identity
• Absence of awareness of amnesia

All the features mentioned in the question are consistent with dissociative fugue.

In contrast, in dissociative amnesia, memory loss is patchy and incomplete. It is characterized by sudden inability to recall important personal information, particularly concerning stressful or traumatic life events. Patients do not adopt new identity and awareness of amnesia may be present in the post-amnestic period.