Depersonalization is a disorder that makes normal recognition of the self a distorted concept.
From the word itself, (de-personalization), it entails symptoms of being removed from oneself.
Awareness of self as the person’s own becomes hazy and many actions of the self is not
recognized by the person. Often, this phenomenon is described as “feeling as if one is in a
dream”. A person feels like he is observing his own self from a detached, third person
perspective.
This disorder is classified under the larger umbrella of dissociative disorders, where aspects of
personality and reality become removed or distorted. In a normal person, the recognition of self
is intact and all actions are attributed to the self. In depersonalization and other dissociation type
of disorders, this recognition of the self blurs and gives rise to the different symptoms that we
see.
Episodes of depersonalization can range from a few seconds of self detached states to a
chronic or recurrent state of the self. This phenomenon is often interconnected with a host of
other diseases and conditions.
This disease is also often interchanged with “derealization”. The main difference with
depersonalization is the point of view from which the anomaly of awareness takes place. In
depersonalization, the person feels detached to his own self whereas in derealization, the
person feels detached from the surroundings or the outside world.
Shortened Version:
Depersonalization is a disorder of self awareness, leaving one feeling empty and removed from
their own bodies.
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Depersonalization definition, depersonalization meaning, depersonalization description