a.c.t. definition depersonalization depression disorder disorders dissociation dp ideas interesting me memory mental mental-illness mentalhealth mentalillness narrativas nuts pd psico psicologia psychiatry psycho psychology toread2

My tags:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Depersonalization (or depersonalisation) is a mental condition where a subject feels independent or detached from their everyday or normal self. It is a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation.^[1] It can be considered desirable, such as in the use of recreational drugs, but it usually refers to the severe form found in anxiety and, in the most intense cases, panic attacks. A sufferer feels that he or she has changed and the world has become less real, vague, dreamlike, or lacking in significance. It can sometimes be a rather disturbing experience, since many feel that, indeed, they are living in a "dream".

Depersonalization is a subjective experience of unreality in one's sense of self, while derealization is unreality of the outside world. Although most authors currently regard depersonalization (self) and derealization (surroundings) as independent constructs, many do not want to separate derealization from depersonalization.^[2] The main reason for this is nosological, because these symptoms often co-occur, but there is another reason of great philosophical importance, namely, that the phenomenological experience of self, others, and world is one continuous whole. Thus, feelings of unreality may blend in and the person may puzzle over deciding whether it is the self or the world that feels unreal to them.

Chronic depersonalization refers to depersonalization disorder, which is classified by the DSM-IV as a dissociative disorder. Though depersonalization-derealization feelings can happen to anyone who is under temporary severe anxiety/stress, chronic depersonalization is more related to individuals who have experienced a severe trauma or prolonged stress/anxiety, see depersonalization disorder.) Depersonalization-derealization is the single most important symptom in the spectrum of dissociative disorders, including Dissociative Identity Disorder and Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. It is a very prominent symptom also in some other, non-dissociative, disorders - such as anxiety disorders, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, migraine, sleep deprivation, and some types of epilepsy.

Contents 1 Description 2 Prevalence 3 Non-psychological causes 4 Treatment 5 Popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Description

Individuals who experience depersonalization feel divorced from their own personal physicality by sensing their body sensations, feelings, emotions and behaviors as not belonging to the same person or identity.^[3] Often a person who has experienced depersonalization claims that life "feels like a movie" or things seem unreal or hazy. Also a recognition of self breaks down (hence the name). Depersonalization can result in very high anxiety levels, which further increases these perceptions.^[4]

One way to describe the physical manifestation of the feeling is to compare it to a film technique called the vertigo shot or dolly zoom. In this technique, the subject of the picture stays fixed within the shot while the surrounding background is pulled away, providing a sense of vertigo or detachment. People may perceive this feeling in a cyclical manner, where the feeling is experienced back-to-back in succession.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Prevalence

The symptom of depersonalization is the third most common psychological symptom, after feelings of anxiety and feelings of depression.^[5] Depersonalization can also accompany sleep deprivation (often occurring when suffering from jet lag), migraine, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress, and anxiety; it is a symptom of anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder.^[6] Interoceptive exposure is a non-pharmacological method that can be used to induce depersonalization.^[7]

A study of undergraduate students found that individuals high on the depersonalization/derealization subscale of the Dissociative Experiences Scale exhibited a more pronounced cortisol response. Individuals high on the absorption subscale, which measures experiences of concentration to the exclusion of awareness of other events going on around them, showed weaker cortisol responses.^[8]

[edit] Non-psychological causes

Depersonalization may also be a desirable effect, such as in the case of recreational drugs. It is a side effect of dissociatives and hallucinogens, as well as caffeine, alcohol, cannabis, and minocycline.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} It is a classic withdrawal symptom from many drugs.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Benzodiazepine dependence which occurs with long term use of benzodiazepines can induce chronic depersonalization symptomatology and perceptual disturbances in some people, even in those who are taking a stable daily dosage and it can also become a protracted feature of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.^[18][19]

[edit] Treatment

Treatment is dependent on the underlying cause, whether it is organic or psychological in origin. If depersonalization is a symptom of neurological disease, then diagnosis and treatment of the specific disease is the first approach. Depersonalization can be a cognitive symptom of such diseases as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis (MS), neuroborreliosis (Lyme disease), or any other neurological disease affecting the brain. For those suffering from depersonalization with migraine, lamotrigine and nortriptyline have been proven helpful.^{[citation needed]}

If depersonalization is a symptom of psychological causes such as developmental trauma, the treatment depend on the diagnosis. In case of dissociative identity disorder or DDNOS as a developmental disorders, in which extreme developmental trauma interferes with formation of a single cohesive identity, it requires proper psychotherapy, and - in the case of additional (co-morbid) disorders such as eating disorders - team of specialists treating such an individual. It can also be a symptom of borderline personality disorder, which can be treated in the long term with proper psychotherapy and psychopharmacology.^[20]

The treatment of chronic depersonalization is considered in depersonalization disorder.

[edit] Popular culture

• Matthew Perry's character, Hudson Milbank, suffers from depersonalization disorder in the movie Numb.
• The alternative rock/metal band Linkin Park sing about depersonalization in a number of their songs, including "Numb" and "Crawling".
• Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, in his book On Killing, suggests that military training artificially creates depersonalization in soldiers, suppressing empathy and making it easier for them to kill other human beings.^{[citation needed]}
• Existentialists use the term in a different context. The treatment of individuals by other people as if they were objects, or without regard to their feelings, has been termed depersonalization. Determinism has been accused of this. See also objectification.
• R. D. Laing used depersonalization to mean a fear of the loss of autonomy in interpersonal relationships by the ontologically insecure.
• In the memoir Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kayson describes her experience in a mental institution, where she later bit into her hand because she had "to see if she had bones"; she was later diagnosed with a depersonalization attack.
• In the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho and the 2000 film adaptation of the same name, the protagonist, serial killer Patrick Bateman, remarks repeatedly through first-person narration his feelings of depersonalization. Throughout the story, Bateman experiences at some point or another most, if not all, the symptoms of DPD: he frequently experiences panic attacks, hallucinations, random fits of crying, and confusion over his personality (or lack thereof), the latter exacerbated by his compulsion to "fit in" and the inability of his acquaintances to tell him and others apart. Bateman occasionally addresses his ailment directly, including a monologue where he laments, "There wasn't a clear, identifiable emotion within me, except for greed and, possibly, total disgust. I had all the characteristics of a human being—flesh, blood, skin, hair—but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that the normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning."
• Adam Duritz, lead singer and songwriter for the Berkley, California based band, Counting Crows, suffers from a form of Depersonalization disorder.

[edit] See also

• Depersonalization disorder
• Derealization
• Dissociation (psychology)
• Dissociative disorders (DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders)
• Alienation
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Trauma
• Cognition
• Brain fog
• Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder
• Out-of-body experience
• Ego death

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• King's College, London - Depersonalisation Research Unit