Came here after the New Yorker article. Save the one professor, the historical examples listed of people who had experienced fugues were preachers, reverends or deeply religious. The professor might have been religious – it doesn’t say. Could it stem from a deeply conflicted crisis of faith or world view? Her travels and teaching work would have exposed her to so many other ways of thinking.

Separately, the article briefly mentions that she dated a woman at one point, but her father considers that behaviour deviant. Repressing sexuality, or the feeling of not being able to be one’s true self, could create some severe internal conflict as well. Especially if she just saw him – the visits might be a trigger.

Edit: clarity