depersonalization

depersonalization /de·per·son·al·iza·tion/ (de-per″sun-al-ĭ-za´shun) alteration in the perception of self so that the usual sense of one's own reality is temporarily lost or changed; it may be a manifestation of a neurosis or another mental disorder or can occur in mild form in normal persons.

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de·per·son·al·i·za·tion (d-pûrs-n-l-zshn)

n.

A state in which the normal sense of personal identity and reality is lost, characterized by feelings that one's actions and speech cannot be controlled.

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Depersonalization

A dissociative symptom in which the patient feels that his or her body is unreal, is changing, or is dissolving.

Mentioned in: Acute Stress Disorder, Dissociative Disorders, Multiple Personality Disorder

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depersonalization

[dēpur′sənəlīzā′shən]

Etymology: L, de + persona, mask

a feeling of strangeness or unreality concerning oneself or the environment, often resulting from anxiety, stress, or fatigue. Also called self- alienation. See also alienation, depersonalization disorder.

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depersonalization

Psychiatry A sense of unreality or strangeness vis-á-vis the environment and/or self; a personality disorder in which the Pt thinks that either he or those in his environment have been changed into other people or life-forms; depersonalization classically occurs in schizophrenia, but may also occur in hysteria, depression, drug-induced states, temporal lobe epilepsy, and fatigue. See Derealization, Neurosis. Cf Dehumanization.

Depersonalization disorder–

A  Persistent or recurrent sensation of detachment from one's own body, as if in a dream

B  During the depersonalization experience, the subject's reality testing remains intact

C  The depersonalization results in significant distress or impairment of social, occupational, other function

D  The experience does not occur exclusively during the course of another mental disorder

DSM-IV™, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, 1994