In Oliver Sacks’ short story, “The Lost Mariner,” Dr. Sacks evaluates a patient with retrograde amnesia as a consequence of Korsakov’s Syndrome (Korsakoff’s) caused by severe alcohol abuse. Jimmie G. was a forty-nine year-old man admitted to a Home for the Aged in 1975, with a note saying, “Helpless, demented, confused and disoriented.” When Dr. Sacks first met him, he appeared cheerful and friendly. He was able to state his name, birthday, and where he was born. In addition, he had fully detailed memories of his high school days and his years in the navy during WWII up until 1945. But that is where his memories stopped. He could not recall anything past 1945, even though he didn’t leave the navy until 1965. In conversing with Jimmie G., he still thought he was nineteen and had problems remembering what was discussed or happened seconds ago, a sign of anterograde amnesia. With further investigation into Jimmie G.’s past he had high mental skills in science and mathematics. He was good at simple games like tic-tac-toe and checkers, but games like chess were difficult since it took more time to think about moves and Jimmie G. would forget. When Dr. Sacks inquired into Jimmie G.’s history from the navy, hospitals, and his brother, he found that Jimmies’ problems started when he left the navy and started drinking heavily. There was signs of disorientation, memory loss, delirious excitement and confusion. Various tests were conducted, but found no evidence of massive brain damage. Hypnosis did not work, since he would forget the instructions from the hypnotist. Every now and then Jimmie G. would recall fragment memories from the 1960’s. He couldn’t express feelings or explain what life meant to him. Dr. Sacks gave Jimmie G. projects to do to see if he would improve his mental and concentration skills, like keeping notes, but he could not remember taking the notes. He tried typing for the home but became bored. It was in Communion that Dr. Sacks first observed Jimmie become involved and content. This was also observed when he worked in the gardens where Jimmie gained familiarity and showed some sense of content. This is how Jimmie G. spent his final years at the home.
It’s hard to imagine waking up one day with no memories of the last few years of your life. I can’t imagine how horrifying it would be to look in the mirror and be terrified of the person staring back at me as happened to Jimmie G. But in another minute I cannot even remember looking in the mirror. Having retrograde and anterograde amnesia is almost like waking up from a coma with no recollection of the time you have lost, but in this case you are unable to build new memories and even understand you have been in a coma. It would be terrible if I could not express whether I am happy or sad and cannot tell you what life really means me.
It’s difficult to know exactly what medical personnel should do in cases like this. Since patients cannot really express feelings, understand what is wrong with them, or even remember where they are. I think Dr. Sacks did the right thing in providing Jimmie G. with a sense of familiarity and purpose. He had to do this through trial and error by first having him keep a notebook and then use his typing skills. Both of these really didn’t work, since he couldn’t remember the purpose of the notebook or became bored with typing. It was when Dr. Sacks observed him in Communion that he seen him content and focused. Dr. Sacks seen something new in Jimmie G., that maybe somewhere inside him there was a soul or person that was alive with purpose. This was also observed when Jimmie G. worked in the gardens at the home and was at peace and showed familiarity.
The devastating part of Korsakov’s Syndrome is that there is no cure and no ability for patients to recall their past memories that are lost with retrograde amnesia and create new memories due to anterograde amnesia. It would be hard to watch a family member go through something like this, since you know there is something wrong with them. I don’t know if it would be hard to except if I was the person suffering from Korsakov’s Syndrome, since I have no knowledge of what is wrong with me. Even if I was told that I had retrograde and anterograde amnesia, I wouldn’t remember being told. I’m not happy, but I’m not sad. The only hope is to find a life with familiarity and contentment.