- depersonalization
- A state in which one loses the feeling of one's own identity in relation to others in one's family or peer group, or loses the feeling of one's own reality. SYN: d. syndrome.
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de·per·son·al·iza·tion or Brit de·per·son·al·isa·tion (.)dē-.pər-snə-lə-'zā-shən, -.pərs-ən-ə-lə- n the act or process of causing or the state resulting from loss of the sense of personal identity esp a psychopathological syndrome characterized by loss of identity and feelings of unreality or strangeness about one's own behaviorde·per·son·al·ize or Brit de·per·son·al·ise (')dē-'pər-snə-.līz, -'pərs-ən-ə- vt, -ized or Brit -ised; -iz·ing or Brit -is·ing* * *
n.a state in which a person feels himself becoming unreal or strangely altered, or feels that his mind is becoming separated from his body. Minor degrees of this feeling are common in normal people under stress. Severe feelings of depersonalization occur in anxiety neurosis, in states of dissociation, in depression and schizophrenia, and in epilepsy (particularly temporal-lobe epilepsy). See also derealization, out-of-the-body experience.* * *
de·per·son·al·iza·tion (de-pur″sən-əl-ĭ-zaґshən) alteration in the perception of the self so that the usual sense of one's own reality is lost, manifested in a sense of unreality or self-estrangement, in changes of body image, or in a feeling that one does not control one's own actions and speech; seen in disorders such as depersonalization disorder, depression, dissociative states, hypochondriasis, temporal lobe epilepsy, schizophrenic disorders, and schizotypal personality disorder. Some do not draw a distinction between depersonalization and derealization, using depersonalization to include both.
Medical dictionary. 2011.