Depersonalization Disorder
Depersonalization disorder is characterized by persistent or recurring experiences of feeling detached from and/or as if the individual is an outside observer of, his/her mental processes or body. It is often referred to as dissociative episode and individuals that do experience this describe it as leaving one's body and watching events happen from above or feeling like they are having "an outer body experience" and viewing the events that they themselves are in from "the back seat" or on "a movie screen."
Such experience can be quite frightening to most people, but during such experiences, that individual's ability to know the difference between reality and non-reality (e.g., hallucinations, dreaming state) remains intact. For many, dissociative episodes cause clinically significant distress, impairment, or dysfunction in important areas of their life, such as work, family, and/or school life. It is important to distinguish that dissociative episodes are different from hallucinations or delusions (be it they are from thought disorders like schizophrenia or substance induced). It is not uncommon that individuals that suffer from other dissociative disorders have dissociative episodes. But diagnostic difference is that people with depersonalization disorder does not have diagnostic criteria of other dissociative disorders.
Persons with depersonalization disorder can benefit from psychotherapy (e.g., EMDR or DBT) that works on dealing with and processing traumatic events that often lead to disorders like depersonalization disorder. It is of utmost importance that those who suspect that they may have dissociative disorders of any kind to connect with a mental health professional that specializes in treating such issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment