DEFINITION

• Depersonalization is characterized by a dissociated sense of self. Symptoms may include uncomfortable experience of detachment from one’s self, a dream-like state, or watching one’s self as if zoomed out/from above/in a movie. There may be a perception of losing control over one’s thoughts and actions.
• Derealization is characterized by a dissociated sense of one’s surroundings. Symptoms may include feelings of unreality or detachment from a world that is dreamlike, foggy, or visually distorted as if behind a glass wall or from a distance.
• Depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD) is diagnosed when these experiences are persistent/recurrent and cause significant distress, while reality testing is intact. It is classified under the Dissociative Disorders section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)[1].