A diagnosis is made via a medical professional’s evaluation.
Medical professionals may suspect dissociative fugue when individuals seem confused about their identity or are puzzled about their past or when confrontations challenge their new identity or absence of one.
Sometimes dissociative fugue cannot be diagnosed until individuals abruptly return to their pre-fugue identity and are distressed to find themselves in unfamiliar circumstances.
Usually, dissociative fugue is diagnosed after the fact, when a medical professional reviews the history and collects information that documents the circumstances before the individual left home, the travel itself, and the establishment of an alternative life.
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