An alcoholic blackout is temporary amnesia caused by excessive drinking. During a blackout, a person is engaged with and experiencing life. However, that person’s brain is severely impaired, and he or she has temporarily lost the ability to make a memory about what they are experiencing. After the person “comes to,” he or she is unable to remember exactly what happened during the blackout. There may be partial and/or vague memories of what happened (fragmentary blackout), or there may be no recollection of events whatsoever regardless of what occurred (en bloc blackout).
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