I want to start out early with an idea... About a man with memory loss

I had this idea in the hospital today, thinking about Scrubs, in the episode with that guy who tried to commit suicide and ended up loosing his memory.

So, I want to do something like that.

But instead of making a big, elaborate plot to start with, I want to go little-by-little. I don't even know if I want it as a movie or television show yet.

Basically, so far I have:

Man is driven to suicide. He wakes up in a hospital completely loosing his memory. Little nostalgia brings him back some, but vaguely at first. The situation is awkward for people who he had known, and he also makes friends with some people in the hospital/a support group/ some sort of place for people with mental and otherwise problems (burn victim, paralyzed, [Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking/tourette's], etc. ) .

Now, ideas for any of these characters or plot improvement? I could think it up myself, but I'd much rather have other ideas.

What comes to my mind is to ask the question "Why did he attempt suicide to begin with?" He doesn't remember, of course. Does anyone else? I can imagine that anyone who does know is avoiding talking about it, for fear that he might be driven to try again.

Maybe there are a handful of different things, each of which would be terrible but manageable on their own, but collectively were enough to drive him into despair.

Maybe most of his friends only know about one or two of the things on the list, with the result that everyone's protecting a different secret.

Maybe none of the things his friends think led to his attempt had anything to do with it; there's a secret he's held closely and preciously, that has served as his drive and reason to live, that went wrong without anyone else knowing about it; and even after he's learned everything his friends can tell him about his life before, the idea that something is still missing nags at the back of his mind, drawing him into the mysteries of his own past in search of it...

Maybe I should have warned you that I like psychological thrillers beforehand.

No, that's good.

It's like... to him, his own identity is like a third-party that he just hears about. Gradually, he gains more of his memory and becomes more familiar, but because it's slow, he isn't as depressed later.

Some of the hospital people I'm thinking of including are a teenager with tourettes (regular psychologist appointments), burn victim, and someone paralyzed in the chest area-down. Any more ideas for these?

One comment: please don't give him only anterograde (pre-accident) amnesia without any other brain damage. That's so unrealistic. Besides, you can do a lot of interesting stuff with him realizing that due to his brain damage, he's no longer the same person he was. Maybe it even cured whatever made him suicidal (eg if he was overcontrolled and then got frontal lobe damage, or had chronic anxiety and then got amygdala damage).

It's like... to him, his own identity is like a third-party that he just hears about. Gradually, he gains more of his memory and becomes more familiar, but because it's slow, he isn't as depressed later.

Other hospital people... Well, I guess that kind of depends on what you think might make for interesting characters, and/or on what elements of your main character you want to highlight in the relationships he develops (which depends on what of their own personality elements are brought out by their history and their current situation). Random ideas:

• Concerned parent(s) of a newborn being treated for a birth disorder of some kind
• A patient having surgery for an artificial replacement larynx
• Doctors and nurses of various kinds, of course.
• Err... that's about all that comes to mind off the top of my head.

It might also be interesting to include someone with Asperger's Syndrome, an Autistic Spectrum Disorder sometimes referred to as "geek syndrome". They might have psyschology visits, like the Tourette's patient already mentioned. You probably know what autism is, but Asperger's Syndrome is basically a form of autism where the person doesn't seem to have any development problems and sometimes has above-average IQ, but lacks motor skills, avoids eye contact, is extremely awkward in social situations to the point of near phobia, has obsession in narrow fields, does lots of monologuing about their interests, notices small details/strings of information easily, takes things literally (takes a while to understand Sarcasm Mode) and has trouble analyzing intentions/ emotions from facial expressions/ body language/ etc. Some Aspies find it easier to make friends with people outside of their age group. They throw tantrums when routines are disrupted/ they're upset over something a normal person would brush off, and are often victims of bullying, sometimes without knowing it. They might also have some repetitive behavior. Unlike motor tics, these usually stay for life or for a VERY long time.

I have it.

I had a friend with aspergers before. He was homeschooled and liked some shows on Nick Jr. even as a teenager, but was really intelligent. Apparently he got made fun of most of the time.

So it would be good to have a character like that.

^ I should have checked before launching the lecture. Oops.

I watched Playhouse Disney until middle school.

Anything planned for love interests, by the way?

Obviously relationships the man had, some trying to help despite not seeing him in years.

Maybe have the paralyzed guy long for one, as well as the socially-awkward aspergers patient and the normal-but-with-ticks guy.

XD I'm thinking of getting the paralyzed man with a hot nurse.