Normal and Abnormal Depersonalization

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Abstract
This paper is offered as a contribution to the better understanding of depersonalization. It is divided into two sections. In the first section an account is given of the occurrence of brief episodes of depersonalization in young normal adults. In the second section a consistent interpretation of the symptoms of the syndrome itself is attempted. The two sections are loosely connected; the conclusion drawn from the study of the material in the first section—that it is the persistence, and not the nature of depersonalization which is abnormal—needs to be applied to the considerations advanced in the second. The interpretation will do as well for the brief experiences as for the established syndrome. The writer hopes that—if the interpretation is acceptable—the way will be cleared for attention to the remaining problem posed by this perplexing condition; why, in some cases, it endures. The following abbreviations are used throughout: For the depersonalization syndrome DP; for the depersonalization symptom,dp; for derealization,dr; for desomatization,ds; for the loss of feeling which frequently accompanies the other symptoms,dE; for visualization,vs, and for loss of visualization,dv; for the slowing-up of subjective time,dT.
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