The Personal, Social, and Psychological Nature of Depersonalisation

In the most basic and accurate description of depersonalisation, it basically means when individuals have feelings of unreality, and when they feel like they are not fully alive, or real persons, and social beings - and more importantly - when they don’t feel like they are real or complete human beings, but feel more like animals or things. Depersonalisation, also very basically means - and is in fact - a form of depression and low self-esteem, which can be accompanied by some or a lot of anxiety.

There are basically four aspects to depersonalisation: 1. A basic understanding of all the different types of accurate, and false things, that the term depersonalisation means or refers to. 2. The causes of depersonalisation. 3. An understanding of different types of persons, why some people experience depersonalisation more than others, and why some others don't experience it, and 4. An understanding of things like sexual, love-orientated, and erotic masochism, which are not depersonalisation, but which may involve some things which may appear similar to it to some others, and the way this gets overall falsely misunderstood and labelled as such.

I'll deal with these things in chronological order. Firstly, depersonalisation, is often assumed by others about the term, that it is a noun, and describing simply a thing (like simply a psychological thing, or simply a condition or disorder within individuals) - when if you look at the term carefully and closely - the term "depersonalisation" is actually an adjective, and is describing something which is being done to someone, through neglect, mistreatment, or abuse. Also, the fact that the term is "de-person-alisation", is only assuming that human beings are simply persons - or just individuals - and not also social beings. It is true, that depersonalisation is somewhat related to different types of persons or individuals, but it's also very much true, that the way people are treated by others socially and interpersonally, and these social influences, can also be a big factor in all of this.

Depersonalisation can be a terrible thing, and it is still not much recognised and acknowledged, by many psychiatrists, social workers, mental health professionals and some others, that a lot of people who experience this are very much suffering.

The solutions to depersonalisation, are therapeutic, social, and in some ways and sometimes the right psychiatric medication, can help up to a point - or for a while - if combined with other approaches, and with very accurate and unique understandings of all the complex realities, functions, and processes of it. Some depersonalisation, is not really a major problem, because there are psychological processes which can transform depersonalisation, into things like feeling more alive and complete again, and feeling loved, valued, and having better personal and social identification, personal and social support, and much better self-esteem.

Depersonalisation, is also related to mental and emotional experiences and perceptions, and physical sensory experiences and perceptions, and the way all these things influence each other and interact, both socially and psychologically. Depersonalisation, is also in some ways very much related, to the ways that some experiences and perceptions can be denied, distorted, fragmented and repressed by the self and others.

If people who experience and suffer from depersonalisation, are simply being socially integrated, and then just told to change their lives, then this approach and very limited and ignorant social model, is very inadequate, insufficient, and unsatisfactory. Social integration, and mere instruction on how people must change their lives - purely in terms of distraction and activities - need to be very much combined with a social and psychological understanding, integration, and real liberation, of things like the persons experiences and perceptions - in terms of both emotional, mental or intellectual, and physical love and stimulation - towards healing and recovery.

The view that depersonalisation, is basically a form of dissociation, to protect a person from the trauma of emotional pain, is a very common and predominant theory amongst many modern academics, therapists, and mental health professionals. Obviously, there is often some truth in this theory and view - but again - by itself, it is very over-simplistic and incomplete. Whether a person, who is suffering from negative depersonalisation, really understand this about themselves, or are simply conforming to this very simple, or incomplete predominant view and theory of others, is sometimes questionable.

Where and when, depersonalisation has a protective and survival factor in this way, against emotional trauma, the side-effects or symptoms of this, can still often outweigh, the function and feelings of being protected, and there are much better ways to deal with and heal emotional pain and trauma, and feel more genuinely or better protected, and both sufferers and many professionals, need to learn about all this and keep all their options open.

Depersonalisation, as well as being a psychological and biological condition, can also be a social role coerced or imposed upon people, by psychiatric, social work, and mental health professionals. In a similar kind of way, sufferers will sometimes adopt the theories, which create their social roles as depersonalisation sufferers, and that is why sufferers need to in some ways realise and challenge this, and why new knowledge, and social, personal, and therapeutic approaches, models, and treatments are very needed and required.