Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
January 1, 2026
Matthias Michal
Depersonalization (DP) and Derealization (DR) are perceptual changes where the self or surroundings feel unreal, common in mental disorders and central to depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD). Classic psychedelic drugs often trigger DP/DR symptoms that usually resolve after the drug is eliminated, but DDD is frequently precipitated by drug intoxication, leading some to frame it as a 'never-ending trip.' This article argues that such a conclusion is reductionist, may foster false illness perceptions, hinder awareness of emotional conflicts, and erode self-efficacy. DDD is a mental disorder arising from avoidance of aversive emotional states, related to functional brain network alterations rather than organic damage.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2017
Martin Gartenschläger, Mathias Schreckenberger, Hans-Georg Buchholz et al.
Dispositional mindfulness, the trait of being aware of present experiences without judgment, is linked to specific patterns of brain activity at rest. In 32 individuals (23 with mental disorders, 9 healthy controls), higher mindfulness scores on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale were associated with greater resting glucose metabolism in the superior parietal lobule and left precuneus, core areas of the default mode network involved in sense of self. Conversely, lower metabolism appeared in the left inferior frontal orbital gyrus and bilateral thalamus, regions tied to memory, decision making, and outward attention. These relationships held after adjusting for depression, anxiety, age, and education.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
June 1, 2015
Matthias Michal, Eva Duven, Sebastian Giralt et al.
About one in nine adolescents (11.9%) experiences clinically significant depersonalization—feelings of detachment from oneself or one's surroundings. A survey of 3,809 German pupils aged 12–18 found that affected adolescents were less likely to live with both parents (67.3% vs. 75.7%), more often came from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and showed very high levels of global mental distress comparable to psychiatric inpatients. They also smoked and abused cannabis more frequently and reported specific impairments in social security, self-efficacy, and active coping. Depersonalization may signal increased risk for poor academic achievement and long-term mental health problems.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
January 1, 2007
Christian H Röder, Matthias Michal, G Overbeck et al.
Hypnosis-induced depersonalization in healthy subjects reduces pain perception by dampening activity in brain regions involved in sensory and emotional processing of pain, including the somatosensory cortex, parietal cortex, prefrontal cortex, putamen, and amygdala. Pain intensity ratings dropped significantly from normal waking to the hypnotic depersonalization state. The findings suggest that depersonalization alters the neural representation of the body, potentially explaining the 'out-of-body' experience and reduced pain sensitivity. Although the small sample of 7 subjects limits generalizability, hypnotic depersonalization may help study mechanisms underlying self-injury and mind-body interactions in psychosomatic disorders.