What are the symptoms of anosognosia?

What are the symptoms of anosognosia?

People with anosognosia usually show that they can't recognize a medical problem they have, either through action or what they say. In some cases, people with this condition will rationalize what’s happening to them, or they may try to cover up symptoms. They may recognize some symptoms but not others.

Anosognosia means a person can’t do one or more of the following:

• Recognize that they have an illness or medical problem.
• Recognize the signs and symptoms of the condition that they experience.
• Connect their signs and symptoms to that condition.
• Understand and agree that the condition is serious and needs treatment.

In some cases, a person with this condition may avoid the truth about their condition, and they might do so consciously or without even realizing it. Some might confabulate, which is when a person’s mind fills in gaps in their memory with false memories.

Anosognosia can also happen in certain ways with specific symptoms, with some examples below.

One-sided sensory and movement problems

Anosognosia got its name from French neurologist Joseph Babinski in 1914, who created the term to describe someone who’d lost the ability to use or feel the left side of their body. That person was unaware of the problem, even though they couldn’t use the left side of their body.

Anosognosia that has this one-sided effect more commonly affects the left side of your body, but it can affect the right side. The two key symptoms that happen with this are:

• Hemiplegia. Pronounced hem-ee-plee-gee-uh, this is paralysis on one side of the body. A person with anosognosia who can’t move one side of their body will still believe they can.
• Hemisensory loss. This is a loss of your senses, including vision, hearing and touch, on one side of your body.

Anton’s syndrome (visual anosognosia)

Anton’s syndrome is an extremely rare type of anosognosia that affects eyesight in one of two ways:

• Denial of blindness. This is when a blind person can’t recognize that they are blind. This usually affects both eyes, but there are a few exceptions. One such exception is "gun-barrel vision," when a person can see only in the center of their field of vision.
• Denial of vision. This is when a person says and believes they're blind but shows signs they can still see. This type is much rarer than denial of blindness.