A case of a 37-year-old man who survived a suicidal hanging attempt & subsequently suffered amnesia, dementia, apathy & behavioural abnormalities is reported. A clinical diagnosis of hypoxic brain damage was made, but upon autopsy 6 years later, extensive pseudosystematic thalamic degeneration & mammillary body atrophy were found, indicating status post Wernicke encephalopathy. Precipitation of the disease is attributed to the synergetic effect of cerebral hypoxia/ischemia & thiamine deficiency.