15 papers in the library · publishing 2006-2023
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract: The social isolation created by the COVID-19 lockdown prompted a dramatic increase in use of the internet, Zoom, and Skype. It also brought greater attention to the subject of internet addiction. New books and studies took a closer look at problematic internet use and issues related to increased time spent online, as well as increased dependence on smartphones for social interaction....
June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract Feeling Unreal presents a comprehensive and contemporary overview of depersonalization/derealization disorder. The book examines in depth, and through many personal vignettes, the many shapes and forms that the dissociative state of mind known as depersonalization takes, its conceptualization over the past two centuries of psychiatric study, its detection, and its measurement. The...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract The chapter focuses on the many nuances of depersonalization/derealization (dpdr) experiences, and on how to measure dpdr symptoms. The meanings of the word “unreal,” as well as shifts in the phenomenology of the disorder over the past century are discussed. Two self-report questionnaires are provided and explicated. The Dissociative Experiences Scale is a 28-item questionnaire that...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract The chapter elaborates psychodynamic psychotherapy approaches to the treatment of depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD), intertwined with illustrative case examples. The chapter starts with more classic psychoanalytic reflections on the nature and treatment of depersonalization/derealization, including the often-assumed chronicity and refractoriness of the condition, the use...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract This chapter describes how to diagnose depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD) according to the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, criterion by criterion, and provides clinical vignettes relevant to diagnosis. Each of the five DSM diagnostic criteria is presented and discussed. Criterion A1 requires persistent or recurrent episodes of...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract This chapter reviews the steps involved in evaluating patients who may have depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD), along with basic psychoeducational and psychotherapeutic principles that facilitate the initiation of treatment. Nine topics that often come up at the start of psychotherapy with DDD patients, and are very helpful to address early on, are formulated and discussed....
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract This chapter explores the use of cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based psychotherapy techniques in the treatment of depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD). Cognitive-behavioral therapy seeks to identify and change distorted thinking patterns, as well as avoidant and ritualistic behaviors. Ten cognitive distortions, commonly encountered in depersonalization/derealization...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract Depersonalization is the third most common psychiatric symptom, yet clinicians and lay people still know little about its presentation and treatment. While it can indeed be a symptom accompanying other mental illnesses, it is also a full-blown disorder unto itself, recognized by every major diagnostic manual. Chapter 1 discusses the symptoms of depersonalization/derealization disorder...
Feeling Unreal June 22, 2023 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract This chapter examines the various biological factors that may be involved in depersonalization/derealization (dpdr) and depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD). The role of sensory association cortical areas and corticocortical dysconnectivity models are discussed, vis-à-vis the perceptual alterations characteristic of the disorder. The role of the limbic system and the...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract The human brain, the only organ capable of studying itself, has in the last century turned its attention toward the mysterious phenomenon of depersonalization, examining it from many perspectives. Depersonalization disorder (DPD) remains one of the most frequently misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed conditions in modern psychiatry. Why? Likely for several reasons. DPD is often accompanied...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract: Dissociative disorders in general are known to be founded in experiences of trauma or abuse. They are conceptualized as the human psyche’s way of coping with intolerable circumstances—a means of escape to assure survival, no matter what the price. Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is classified by modern American psychiatry within the dissociative disorders, but its traumatic causes...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract Einstein’s advice, above, is particularly relevant when it conies to discussing the human brain, the most complex structure in all creation. While more is known about the brain than ever before, mass culture has developed a tendency to liken its functions to that of a computer, or explain serious disorders in terms of simple chemical imbalances. Such generalizations just don’t do the...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract The idea that reality is subjective, constructed from our own perceptions, is quite an ancient concept. “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world,” said the Buddha. Depersonalization, a serious disruption in a person’s thoughts or sensations about their individual self, understandably alters their entire world. A person may...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract Can depersonalization be successfully treated with psychotherapy? Although traditionally the psychotherapy literature has been rather pessimistic on this issue, more recent advances in psychotherapy technique aimed specifically at treating this condition leave us with more reason to be optimistic. To say that psychotherapy works, or always works fully, may be misleading or overly...
Feeling Nureal April 20, 2006 Daphne Simeon, Jeffrey Abugel
Abstract: Like any other psychiatric condition, the diagnosis of depersonalization disorder (DPD) is made clinically, by meeting with the patient and conducting a thorough evaluation interview. Descriptions of the symptoms, as we have described throughout this book, and as spelled out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), serve as the point of...