Treatments for AmnesiaTreatment for amnesia that is based on psychological causes tends to rely heavily upon counseling techniques, hypnotherapy and in some cases drug therapy. The idea is to help the person get past the stress, trauma or other psychological event that precipitated the blockage in memory.

The success of this amnesia treatment is somewhat dependant on the therapist being able to determine what the event is or the period of time the event occurred. This may involve interviewing family members or others familiar with the patient to see if they can shed light on what may be the root issue. The therapist may also use some general counseling to probe the individual and see if they can get closer to the source. Once this is done the therapist can more effectively tailor their treatment for amnesia to match what needs to be resolved. For deeply buried root causes hypnosis or drugs may be needed, but there are many questions around the reliability of those methods.

Amnesia treatment for causes by physical sources is more problematic. Often physical causes of amnesia inflict physical damage to the brain itself. If the damage is severe enough them healing may not be possible. While the brain can recover from some damage given time and there are those examples of head trauma where the person recovers their memory after the brain has had time to adjust, often there is some amount of loss that is permanent.

There are cognitive rehabilitation techniques which teach individuals how to cope as best they can with the demands of daily life. Some of these techniques take advantage of the individuals' remaining abilities, such as procedural memory. However, depending on the severity of the memory deficit, the benefits of rehabilitation may be limited. Rehabilitation is usually most successful in people whose memory deficit is mild, and who do not have other kinds of impairments. It is less likely to be successful in people whose memory deficit is severe and who have additional problems such as attentional impairments or cognitive impairments.

Some common rehabilitation techniques include using a memory notebook (write down daily events, plans for the week, etc. and reference it regularly), putting notes around the house that are reminders of important events or tasks, and lastly, repetition. For certain types of memory deficits, repetition of information is beneficial. It may also help to learn how to associate new information with old memories: in effect, "attaching" the new information to old information that is already well-stored in memory

If the physical damage is the result of an age related disease like Alzheimer's then treatment for amnesia is more likely to center around preventing further memory loss rather than trying to restore what was lost. This can also involve drugs that help protect the brain or slow down the loss of memory. Side effects can be harsh though. Nausea, vomiting, loss of sleep or appetite can sometimes be caused by these drugs.