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Depersonalization disorder and anxiety: A special relationship?
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 16:06 authored by Mauricio Sierra, Nick Medford, Geddes Wyatt, Anthony S. DavidA significant association between anxiety and depersonalization has been found in healthy controls and psychiatric patients irrespective of underlying conditions. Although patients with depersonalization disorder (DPD) often have a history of severe anxiety symptoms, clinical observations suggest that the relation between anxiety and depersonalization is complex and poorly understood. Using relevant rating scales, levels of anxiety and depersonalization were assessed in 291 consecutive DPD cases. 'High' and 'low' depersonalization groups, were compared according to anxiety severity. Correlation and multivariate regression analyses were also used to assessed the contribution of anxiety to the phenomenology and natural course of depersonalization. A low but significant association between depersonalization and anxiety (as measured by Beck's Anxiety Inventory) was only apparent in those patients with low intensity depersonalization, but not in those with severe depersonalization. Levels of anxiety did not seem to make specific contributions to the clinical features of depersonalization itself, although DPD patients with high anxiety seem characterised by additional non-specific perceptual symptoms. The presence of a 'statistical dissociation' between depersonalization and anxiety adds further evidence in favour of depersonalization disorder being an independent condition and suggests that its association with anxiety has been overemphasized.
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Publication status
- Published
Journal
Psychiatry ResearchISSN
0165-1781Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Issue
1-2Volume
127Page range
123-127Department affiliated with
- Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-04-04Usage metrics
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