Derealization: what is it, characteristics and causes of this alteration

Derealization is one of those psychological phenomena that patients who experience it and go to psychotherapy find it more difficult to describe.

They explain that they feel disconnected from their environment, or even from their family. Not simply emotionally disenchanted, like someone who has suffered disappointment or disappointment, but almost literally disconnected: as if oneself and others were part of different worlds.

Sometimes derealization is part of psychological disorders that can last for months or years if not treated; And sometimes it is a passing experience that will never happen again. In any case, it is important to know this alteration of perception, and that is why in this article I will explain what it consists of.

• Related article: "17 curiosities about human perception"

What is derealization and what are the characteristics of this alteration?

One of the most researched topics throughout the development of Psychology as a science is the next: where does our perception of the here and now come from, what we are aware of in every moment?

This question has fascinated many philosophers and scientists for centuries, because there is an apparent contradiction in it. After centuries of understanding the human body as something like a machine with different sensor systems (our senses), our consciousness does not It consists of a group of stimuli that come to us through different routes, but we experience it as a whole, a phenomenon that we cannot divide into sub-sections.

Today this unknown is no longer so surprising, because by dint of investigating about the functioning of the brain and its relationship with the psychological, it has been proven that Behind the apparent unity of consciousness and the experience of perceiving things, there are several relatively independent processes coordinating with each other. That is why although we take for granted that the ability to use language is only one type of skill, there are people with brain injuries who can articulate words when speaking, but they cannot understand speech, just as there are others who practically cannot speak, but they do understand what is said to them.

Derealization is another of those examples that after an apparently homogeneous psychological phenomenon and unitary, there are different elements that in certain circumstances can show where they start and where they finished.

In this case, we are talking about an experience in which even though we technically perceive the same objective elements and we can represent all of them in our mind, we notice that there is something in that perceptual experience that is missing, that is out of place. This occurs because although everything that our senses capture is captured in our consciousness, the psychological processes of recognition and emotional reaction to stimuli are found altered.

As a result, in derealization we have the subjective feeling that what we perceive is separate from us, or does not belong to our plane of existence; we feel astonishment at what we see, touch and / or hear, as if it were part of a movie set, or a simulation. However, not because it is a subjective sensation, derealization is no longer real. It is a psychological phenomenon that can be (and has been) scientifically studied.

His relationship with depersonalization

A phenomenon similar to derealization is depersonalization, in which what is perceived in a rare way is the body itself or even one's own thoughts. Both are examples of dissociative symptoms that appear associated with some psychological or psychiatric disorders, but, as we will see, they are not always the expression of a severe problem.

In what situations can derealization occur?

From what we've seen so far, derealization appears to be somewhat unpleasant, or at least unsettling. And the truth is that in most cases it is experienced as something negative. However, not always a reason to be alarmed.

That said, let's see what the most common causes of derealization are.

1. Maintenance of a high level of anxiety

Burnout generated by anxiety over a relatively long time (for example, due to preparation of an important examination) can facilitate the appearance of derealization as a fleeting alteration of the perception. This It occurs because of possible momentary imbalances in nervous and hormonal activity in our body. In cases like this, we don't even have to talk about being suffering from a psychological disorder.

2. Panic disorder

In panic disorder, there is a sudden and very extreme rise in the level of anxiety. This produces alterations not only in perception, but also cognitive (what we think and the type of decisions we make), as well as physical symptoms such as sweating, increased blood pressure, dizziness, etc.

3. Trauma

As with many dissociative phenomena, derealization is also It is one of the consequences of this kind of painful emotional marks that remain imprinted in our memory..

In fact, it is estimated that it appears (with more or less intensity) in most cases in which traumatic experiences occur.

• You may be interested in: "What is trauma and how does it influence our lives?"

4. Consumption of psychoactive substances

Consumption of some drugs can bring up derealization, and even delusional thoughts associated with it (for example, believing that we are involuntarily participating in a play).

Can it be treated in therapy?

Derealization can be approached in the context of therapy by helping the patient manage physiological causes. As we have seen, it is a perceptual alteration closely linked to anxiety, so in psychological therapy we work to "train" the person in the modulation of their attention focus and in the adoption of strategies not to continue feeding that state of high activation of the system highly strung.

Are you interested in having psychotherapeutic support?

If you are thinking of going to a psychology consultation and starting a psychotherapy process, get in touch with me. My name is Fernando Azor Lafarga, I am a psychologist specialized in adults and the elderly, as well as Director of the Azor & Associates, from which he performed both face-to-face psychological therapy sessions and online therapy for video call.

He has been working for many years both in the field of clinical and health psychology and in expert psychology and psychology. aeronautics, and also collaborating with various media as a disseminator on issues related to psychology and mental health in general. To know more about how I work, check my author file.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
• Guralnik, O.; Giesbrecht, T.; Knutelska, M.; Sirroff, B.; Simeon, D. (2007). Cognitive Functioning in Depersonalization Disorder. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 195 (12): pp. 983 - 988.
• Hunter, E.C.; Sierra, M.; Give lives. (2004). The epidemiology of depersonalization and derealization. A systematic review. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 39 (1): pp. 9 - 18.
• Simeon, D.; Knutelska, M.; Nelson, D.; Guralnik, O. (2003). Feeling unreal: a depersonalization disorder update of 117 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64 (9): pp. 990 - 997.
• Sierra-Siegert, M. (2018). Depersonalization: clinical and neurobiological aspects. Colombian Journal of Psychiatry, 37 (1), 40 - 55.