Depersonalisation ‐ symptoms, meaning, therapy

The manifestation of depersonalisation, its relationship with anxiety and depression, as well as its influence on the course of endogenous psychoses were investigated. Forty patients with severe depersonalisation were treated with the benzodiazepine, phenazepam, and 14 with clozapine. The data indicate that depersonalisation results from anxiety; it follows an anxiety attack and is successfully treated with anxiolytic drugs. In the case of endogenous depression, depersonalisation leads to lingering depressive phase, increasing the patients' resistance to antidepressive therapy. The protective and the harmful role of depersonalisation is discussed.