Depersonalization disorder: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatment

Perhaps you are familiar with the Cartesian dream hypothesis where René Descartes shows the impossibility of distinguishing between dream and wakefulness, thus concluding that we cannot have any knowledge of the world around us, that we cannot even know if exists or not. But what if we suddenly start to feel like we're in a dream? Something that had not happened to us before suddenly appears and is established in us for a few minutes, hours and even becoming permanent.

Could Descartes then claim that the world around us is real and not a dream? Or for him it would be one more confirmation of the blurred limits between sleep and wakefulness? If you want to know what disorder can generate these sensations, keep reading! In this Psychology-Online article we explain more about the depersonalization disorder.

Index

1. What is depersonalization disorder
2. How long does depersonalization disorder last?
3. Causes of depersonalization disorder
4. Explanatory theories of depersonalization disorder
5. Symptoms of depersonalization disorder
6. Treatment of depersonalization disorder

depersonalization disorder is a dissociative disorder characterized, mainly, by experiences of distance from oneself while the sense of reality remains intact, generating discomfort in the day-to-day of the person who suffers from it, and without it having been induced by any substance or being within another mental disorder such as schizophrenia.

In some cultures and religions there are meditation and trance practices that can induce voluntary depersonalization and derealization, and this does not constitute the disorder of depersonalization

Depersonalization disorder has a varied course. Sometimes can be chronic and persistent marked by remissions and exacerbations as a consequence of real or subjective stressful life events, and on other occasions we can speak of brief and unique episodes.

As we always say, the causes of mental disorders are a combination of genetics and environment, without being able to determine with 100% reliability the specific cause in most cases. Even so, we know some factors that can favor its development:

• stressful events: according to the DSM-V, half of the adult population has suffered a depersonalization such as brief, single episode in a lifetime, usually caused by a stressful event serious.
• dangerous situations: Another cause that has been studied is dangerous situations that threaten life. Seeing that in approximately a third of these people depersonalization appears.
• Mental disorders: It has been proven that 40% of patients hospitalized for a mental disorder may develop a transitory episode of depersonalization.
• substance use: Some substances can evoke a transitory episode of depersonalization, sometimes having a poor prognosis and consolidating the symptoms in a depersonalization disorder.

Depersonalization due to dangerous situations

Depersonalization as a consequence of events that endanger the life of the individual usually appears suddenly during the traumatic situation. These events can be:

• military combats.
• Accidents, also those with multiple victims.
• Victims of a violent crime.
• Natural catastrophes, etc.

Some of the accepted theories to explain dissociative disorders are:

• Neo-dissociative theory (Hilgard, 1977): tells us that a divided consciousness is produced by the intervention of control executive, thus interrupting the integration and hierarchical organization of the control structures lower. So the connection is broken and there is a decrease in voluntary control.
• memory theory (Kihlstroom, 1990): This other theory tells us that the connection between the mental representation of the event and the self as the agent of the event is not correctly established.

If you ask yourself "How do I know if I have depersonalization disorder?", you should know that, very often, those people who suffer from depersonalization disorder depersonalization may have difficulty describing their symptoms, as well as fear of "going crazy" from the sensations they are experiencing. experiencing. The associated sensations and symptoms to depersonalization disorder are:

• Sensation of derealization, that is, the individual perceives the outside world as unreal or strange.
• Strange alteration of the shape and size of objects (macropsia or micropsia).
• People may seem unfamiliar or inanimate to you.
• symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.
• obsessive thoughts.
• Somatic concerns.
• Alteration of the subjective sensation of the passage of time.
• Hypnotizability and high dissociative capacity.

Diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-V

• Persistent and recurring experiences of estrangement or of being an external observer of one's own mental or body processes.
• The sense of reality remains intact.
• provokes clinically significant discomfort or deterioration in some of the areas of the individual.
• It does not appear within the framework of another mental disorder and is not a consequence of the physiological effects of a substance or medical illness.

It is a disorder that is not very well known, nor is its symptomatology, which is why most of the time patients come to consultation for anxiety symptoms, depression or panic.

This means that treatment is usually started in adolescence or adulthood, although sometimes it can be quite far from when it is started. manifests the symptomatology, since it may have started in childhood and not have been detected, or have been treated as an anxiety disorder or depression.

Treatment of depersonalization disorder will be based on symptom reduction associated, so that techniques can be applied to manage panic attacks, as well as to reduce anxiety. Next, the different tools will be exposed so that you know how to remove depersonalization disorder:

• cognitive restructuring: with regard to the cognitive sphere, sometimes a cognitive restructuring is recommended in order to minimize obsessive thoughts.
• Hypnosis: psychoanalytic currents suggest that hypnosis It is a good technique to apply in these situations, especially considering the significant increase in hypnotability associated with the disorder.
• work on trauma: in case the disorder has been triggered by a traumatic event, it is recommended, in this situation, work on psychological trauma, analyzing the mental processes involved in the event and work on acceptance of the same.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Depersonalization disorder: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• American psychiatric association, (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. Madrid Spain. Pan American Medical Publishing.
• Belloch, A., Sandin, B., Ramos, F., (2009). Manual of psychopathology, volume II. Madrid. McGraw Hill / Interamericana de España, S.A.U.