Depersonalization disorder Health Article

Prevention

Some clinicians think that depersonalization disorder has an undetected onset in childhood, even though most patients first appear for treatment as adolescents or young adults. Preventive strategies could include the development of screening techniques for identifying children at risk, as well as further research into the effects of emotional abuse on children. It is also hopeful that further neurobiological research will lead to the development of medications or other treatment modalities for preventing, as well as treating, depersonalization.

BOOKS

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition, text revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

"Depersonalization Disorder." Section 15, Chapter 188, in The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, edited by Mark H. Beers, MD, and Robert Berkow, MD. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories, 2001.

Ellenberger, Henri. The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1970.

Herman, Judith, MD. Trauma and Recovery. 2nd ed., revised. New York: Basic Books, 1997.

Medical Economics staff. Physicians' Desk Reference. 56th ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, 2002.

Stout, Martha, PhD. The Myth of Sanity: Tales of Multiple Personality in Everyday Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2001.

PERIODICALS

Berrios, G. E., and M. Sierra. "Depersonalization: A Conceptual History." Historical Psychiatry 8 (June 1997): 213-229.

Guralnik, O., J. Schmeidler, and D. Simeon. "Feeling Unreal: Cognitive Processes in Depersonalization." American Journal of Psychiatry 157 (January 2000): 103-109.

Lambert, M. V., C. Senior, M. L. Phillips, and others. "Visual Imagery and Depersonalisation." Psychopathology 34 (September-October 2001): 259-264.

Phillips, M. L., N. Medford, C. Senior, and others. "Depersonalization Disorder: Thinking Without Feeling." Psychiatry Research 108 (December 30, 2001): 145-160.

Sierra, M., and others. "Lamotrigine in the Treatment of Depersonalization Disorder." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 62 (October 2001): 826-827.

Sierra, M., and G. E. Berrios. "The Phenomenological Stability of Depersonalization: Comparing the Old with the New." Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders 189 (September 2001): 629-636.

Simeon, D., and others. "Personality Factors Associated with Dissociation: Temperament, Defenses, and Cognitive Schemata." American Journal of Psychiatry 159 (March 2002): 489-491.

Simeon, D., O. Guralnik, E. A. Hazlett, and others. "Feeling Unreal: A PET Study of Depersonalization Disorder." American Journal of Psychiatry 157 (November 2000): 1782-1788.

Simeon, D., O. Guralnik, M. Knutelska, and others. "Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Dysregulation in Depersonalization Disorder." Neuropsychopharmacology 25 (November 2001): 793-795.

Simeon, D., O. Guralnik, and J. Schmeidler. "Development of a Depersonalization Severity Scale." Journal of Traumatic Stress 14 (April 2001): 341-349.

Simeon, D., O. Guralnik, J. Schmeidler, and others. "The Role of Childhood Interpersonal Trauma in Depersonalization Disorder." American Journal of Psychiatry 158 (July 2001): 1027-1033.

Simeon, D., D. J. Stein, and E. Hollander. "Treatment of Depersonalization Disorder with Clomipramine." Biological Psychiatry 44 (August 15, 1998): 302-303.

Stanton, B. R., A. S. David, A. J. Cleare, and others. "Basal Activity of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in Patients with Depersonalization Disorder." Psychiatry Research 104 (October 2001): 85-89.

Zanarini, M. C., and others. "The Dissociative Experiences of Borderline Patients." Comparative Psychiatry 41 (May-June 2000): 223-227.

ORGANIZATIONS

International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD). 60 Revere Drive, Suite 500, Northbrook, IL 60062. (847) 480-0899. Fax: (847) 480-9282. <www.issd.org>.

National Institute of Mental Health. 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663, Bethesda, MD 20892-9663. (301) 443-4513. <www.nimh.nih.gov>.

National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. P. O. Box 8923, New Fairfield, CT 06812-8923. (203) 746-6518. <www.rarediseases.org>.

Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. 60 Revere Dr., Ste. 500, Northbrook, IL 60062. (708) 480-9080.

Rebecca J. Frey, Ph.D.