Depersonalization is a symptom that leads to disturbances in the perception of oneself - the patient may have the impression that he is only an observer of his own life, or it may seem that his body is in fact completely foreign. The cause of depersonalization are mental disorders, but also diseases from other fields of medicine - both neurological and even internal diseases can lead to depersonalization. Read about the causes of depersonalization and learn how to deal with depersonalization - how it is treated.
Depersonalizationis a psychiatric problem in the field of perception disorders and it consists in the fact that the patient loses his sense of himself. A phenomenon similar to it is derealization, in which the patient begins to feel that the world around him is unreal and untrue.Depersonalizationis classified as a disorder related to psychopathology. In fact, however, not only a variety of mental disorders can lead to depersonalization - there are an exceptionally large number of potential causes of this problem.
Depersonalization: reasons
Patients may experience depersonalization in the course of a variety of mental disorders and diseases. The cause of the problem can be various types of anxiety disorders, but also mood disorders - e.g. depression or bipolar disorder. The basis of depersonalization are also personality disorders, e.g. in the form of borderline personality disorders or schizoid personality disorders. Still other psychiatric entities that may cause depersonalization in patients are schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In broad terms, depersonalization is sometimes considered to be one of the subtypes of dissociative disorders, and in such a case, it can be triggered by, for example, chronic severe stress or experiencing an extremely traumatic event (such as a rape or some kind of communication accident).
Patients who use various types of psychoactive substances may struggle with depersonalization. A change in the perception of oneself may result from the use of means of actionhallucinogenic, alcohol abuse or taking compounds from the group of cannabinoids. In the case of such reasons, depersonalization may appear both during the use of various psychoactive substances, as well as appear as one of the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome (which occurs after a long-term abuse of a substance is suddenly discontinued by the patient).
Typically depersonalization is associated with psychiatry, but in reality this problem may appear in the course of various diseases classified as completely different fields of medicine. Neurologists may encounter an altered self-perception - the causes of depersonalization can be both migraine headaches and various types of epileptic seizures.
Still other possible causes of depersonalization are internal diseases - it can occur in patients with endocrine disorders (such as, for example, hypothyroidism), it is even possible that depersonalization will occur through the development of Lyme disease in the patient.
Depersonalization, however, is not always related to the existence of a disease entity in a patient. Episodes of this problem (especially those whose duration is very short) may appear in completely he althy people who are, for example, extremely exhausted.
It is easy to see that a wide variety of he alth problems can lead to depersonalization. But what exactly is this depersonalization?
Depersonalization: symptoms
Depersonalization - as it was mentioned at the very beginning - consists in a changed perception of oneself. The patient experiencing this disorder may feel as if he is an outside observer of himself (as if dreaming or watching a movie), as if he is actually standing on the sidelines. In the case of depersonalization, there may be the impression that the activities that a given person undertakes or the thoughts that appear in their head are completely independent of them. There may also be disorders related to relationships with other people - a person experiencing depersonalization may feel that they are separated from their relatives by some wall or some other type of barrier.
A symptom of depersonalization may also be the feeling of alienation of certain parts of the body. The patient may have the impression that, for example, his arm or leg are not integral parts of his body, or that these structures are "detached" from the entire body.
The feeling of depersonalization occurs in patients at different times. Some people experience short onesepisodes of depersonalization (lasting minutes or even seconds), in other people depersonalization may occur chronically.
Depersonalization: recognition and treatment
Depersonalization is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms that patients present. Typically, a person experiencing depersonalization goes to a psychiatrist, where the problem is diagnosed after a psychiatric examination. However, the mere statement that the patient is struggling with depersonalization is not enough - it is necessary to carefully examine the condition of the patient experiencing disturbances in self-perception.
The need to take a closer look at the general state of he alth of a depersonalized patient is due to the fact that it is the cause of depersonalization that is actually treated. An altered self-perception is not really a disease entity, it is essentially a symptom of some medical problem that the patient is having. For example, if depression or anxiety disorders have led to depersonalization, antidepressants may be administered. If the cause of depersonalization are some organic diseases, then starting treatment of them may lead to the fact that the patient will stop experiencing disturbances in the perception of himself and his life.
Patients with depersonalization are sometimes offered not only pharmacotherapy. Other influences - mainly in the form of psychotherapy - can be used especially when a psychological trauma led to depersonalization or when the problem arose due to the existence of a personality disorder in the patient. Working through various unresolved psychological conflicts through psychotherapy can lead to restoring the patient's correct perception of himself and his life.
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.