Anxiety and Depersonalization and Derealization Experiences

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Abstract
The present study was designed to assess whether individuals reporting experiences of depersonalization or derealization experience higher levels of anxiety than those subjects not reporting these experiences. 221 undergraduates volunteered to complete questionnaires on depersonalization and derealization and the IPAT Anxiety Scale. Analysis indicated that subjects experiencing depersonalization or derealization scored higher on the anxiety scale than those not reporting these experiences, while subjects who reported both depersonalization and derealization scored the highest. Significant positive correlations between number of depersonalization episodes, and frequency and number of derealization episodes, and significant negative correlations between level of diminution of depersonalization or derealization and reported over-all anxiety score were obtained. The results were explained using the model proposing that individuals experiencing continued depersonalization or derealization episodes suffer from a more generic anxiety or phobic-anxiety based disorder labeled “phobic-anxiety depersonalization syndrome.”

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