Unpacking the depersonalization syndrome: an exploratory factor analysis on the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale

BACKGROUND: Depersonalization has long been considered a syndrome but there is poor agreement on its constituent symptoms. METHOD: In order to establish whether different symptoms of depersonalization represent the expression of a single or several underlying dimensions, an exploratory factor analysis on the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS) was carried out on 138 consecutive patients diagnosed with depersonalization disorder. RESULTS: Four well determined factors accounting for 73.3% of the variance were extracted. These were labelled 'Anomalous Body Experience'; 'Emotional Numbing'; 'Anomalous Subjective Recall' and 'Alienation from Surroundings'. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms of depersonalization belong to distinct but related psychopathological domains.