Differential diagnosis of altered mind/body perception.

The psychiatric literature often confuses different altered mind/body perception states, such as out-of-body experience (OBE), depersonalization, autoscopic phenomena, and schizophrenic body distortions like boundary loss. This paper aims to clarify these distinct syndromes, noting that some studies focus on patients, others on nonpatients, and some on both. The fact that some individuals with these experiences do not define themselves as patients or seek treatment underscores the need for precise definitions. After explaining each syndrome's characteristics, treatment implications are briefly considered.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Considerable confusion exists in the psychiatric literature concerned with states of consciousness in which there is an altered perception of the mind/body relationship; related but different terms are often used interchangeably, with a lack of definitional rigor. The purpose of this paper is to bring clarity to this group of related phenomena by differentiating out-of-body experience (OBE) from depersonalization, autoscopic phenomena and schizophrenic body distortions (such as boundary loss), which are the principal entities with which the syndrome may be confused. The problem of variable definition of the syndromes is compounded by the fact that some studies deal with psychiatric or medical patients, others focus on nonpatients, and still others deal with both groups. The fact that some groups of persons with experiences of altered mind/body perception do not define themselves as patients, do not seek treatment, and may not need treatment underscores the need for clarification. Following an explication of the different syndromes and their characteristics, we will briefly consider treatment implications.