Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Depersonalization Derealization Disorder (DDD): a self-controlled cross-over study of waiting list vs. active treatment.

Depersonalisation-Derealisation Disorder (DDD) has a prevalence of around 1% but is under-recognised and often does not respond to medical intervention. We report on a clinical audit of 36 participants with a diagnosis of chronic DDD who were sequentially recruited from a specialist DDD National Health Service clinic in London, United Kingdom, and who completed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy specifically adapted for DDD. The sample population had a mean age of 38.7 years (s.d. = 13.4), 61% were male and 69% were of White ethnicity. Three outcomes were assessed (Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale [CDS], Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], and the Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]) at three time points in a naturalistic, self-controlled, cross-over design. Hierarchical longitudinal analyses for outcome response clustered by patient were performed using scores from baseline, beginning, and end of therapy. All scores showed improvement during the treatment period, with medium effect sizes. CBT may be an effective treatment for DDD. However, treatment was not randomly assigned, and the sample was small. More research is needed, including the use of randomisation to assess the efficacy of CBT for DDD.

Online structured dance/movement therapy reduces bodily detachment in depersonalization-derealization disorder.

BACKGROUND: Depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD) is a dissociative disorder encompassing pronounced disconnections from the self and from external reality. As DDD is inherently tied to a detachment from the body, dance/movement therapy could provide an innovative treatment approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed two online dance tasks to reduce detachment either by training body awareness (BA task) or enhancing the salience of bodily signals through dance exercise (DE task). Individuals with DDD (n = 31) and healthy controls (n = 29) performed both tasks individually in a cross-over design. We assessed symptom severity (Cambridge Depersonalization Scale), interoceptive awareness (Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness - II), mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), and body vigilance (Body Vigilance Scale) before, during and after the tasks. RESULTS: At baseline, individuals with DDD exhibited elevated depersonalization-derealization symptoms alongside lower levels of interoceptive awareness and mindfulness compared to controls. Both tasks reduced symptoms in the DDD group, though dance exercise was perceived as easier. The DE task increased mindfulness in those with DDD more than the BA task, whereas controls showed the opposite pattern. In the DDD group, within-subject correlations showed that lower levels of symptoms were associated with task-specific elevations in interoceptive awareness and mindfulness. CONCLUSION: Individual and structured dance/movement practice, performed at home without an instructor present, offers an effective tool to reduce symptoms in DDD and can be tailored to address specific cognitive components of a mindful engagement with the body.

The Prevalence of Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Depersonalization-Derealization disorder (DDD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by persistent feelings of detachment from one's self and of unreality about the outside world. This review aims to examine the prevalence of DDD amongst different populations. A systematic review protocol was developed before literature searching. Original articles were drawn from three electronic databases and included only studies where prevalence rates of DDD were assessed by standardized diagnostic tools. A narrative synthesis was conducted. Twenty-three papers were identified and categorized into three groups of participants: general population, mixed in/outpatient samples, and patients with specific disorders. The prevalence rates ranged from 0% to 1.9% amongst the general population, 5-20% in outpatients and 17.5-41.9% in inpatients. In studies of patients with specific disorders, prevalence rates varied: 1.8-5.9% (substance abuse), 3.3-20.2% (anxiety), 3.7-20.4% (other dissociative disorders), 16.3% (schizophrenia), 17% (borderline personality disorder), ~50% (depression). The highest rates were found in people who experienced interpersonal abuse (25-53.8%). The prevalence rate of DDD is around 1% in the general population, consistent with previous findings. DDD is more prevalent amongst adolescents and young adults as well as in patients with mental disorders. There is also a possible relationship between interpersonal abuse and DDD, which merits further research.

Assessing responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions in depersonalization-derealization disorder.

The dissociative disorders and germane conditions are reliably characterized by elevated responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions. However, it remains unclear whether atypical responsiveness to suggestion is similarly present in depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD). 55 DDD patients and 36 healthy controls completed a standardised behavioural measure of direct verbal suggestibility that includes a correction for compliant responding (BSS-C), and psychometric measures of depersonalization-derealization (CDS), mindfulness (FFMQ), imagery vividness (VVIQ), and anxiety (GAD-7). Relative to controls, patients did not exhibit elevated suggestibility (g = 0.26, BF10 = .11) but displayed significantly lower mindfulness (g = 1.38), and imagery vividness (g = 0.63), and significantly greater anxiety (g = 1.39). Although suggestibility did not correlate with severity of depersonalization-derealization symptoms in controls, r = -.03 [95% CI: -.36, .30], there was a weak tendency for a positive association in patients, r = .25, [95% CI: -.03, .48]. Exploratory analyses revealed that patients with more severe anomalous bodily experiences were also more responsive to suggestion, an effect not seen in controls. This study demonstrates that DDD is not characterized by elevated responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions. These results have implications for the aetiology and treatment of this condition, as well as its classification as a dissociative disorder in psychiatric nosology.

Symptom variability in depersonalization-derealization disorder: A latent profile analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD) is characterized by diverse symptomatology overlapping with anxiety and dissociative disorders, but the sources of this variability are poorly understood. This study aims to determine whether symptom heterogeneity is attributable to the presence of latent subgroups. METHOD: We applied latent profile analysis to psychometric measures of anxiety, depersonalization-derealization, and dissociation in 303 DDD patients. RESULTS: The analysis yielded evidence for five discrete subgroups: three of varying severity levels and two moderate-to-severe classes characterized by differential dissociative symptoms. The five classes reliably differed on several nondissociative symptoms, comorbidities, and factors precipitating their diagnosis but did not significantly differ in other symptoms including anxiety. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the presence of three distinct DDD subtypes in the upper severity range that are distinguished by differential expression of detachment and compartmentalization symptoms. Further elucidation of these subtypes has potential implications for the etiology, mechanisms, and treatment of DDD.

Towards a neurocognitive approach to dance movement therapy for mental health: A systematic review.

Dance movement therapy (DMT) has become an increasingly recognized and used treatment, though primarily used to target psychological and physical well-being in individuals with physical, medical or neurological illnesses. To contribute to the relative lack of literature within the field of DMT for clinical mental health disorders, using a narrative synthesis, we review the scope of recent, controlled studies of DMT in samples with different psychiatric disorders including depression, schizophrenia, autism and somatoform disorder. A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Science Direct, World of Science and Clinicaltrials.gov) was conducted to identify studies examining the effects of DMT in psychiatric populations. Fifteen studies were eligible for inclusion. After reviewing the principal results of the studies, we highlight strengths and weaknesses of this treatment approach and examine the potential efficacy of using bodily movements as a tool to reduce symptoms. We conclude by placing DMT within the context of contemporary cognitive neuroscience research, drawing out implications of such an orientation for future research and discussing potential mechanisms by which DMT might reduce psychiatric symptoms. DMT has clear potential as a treatment for a range of conditions and symptoms, and thus, further research on its utility is warranted.

Integrated Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Post-traumatic Stress and Psychotic Symptoms: A Case-Series Study Using Imaginal Reprocessing Strategies.

Despite high rates of trauma in individuals with psychotic symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms are frequently overlooked in clinical practice. There is also reluctance to treat post-traumatic symptoms in case the therapeutic procedure of reprocessing the trauma exacerbates psychotic symptoms. Recent evidence demonstrates that it is safe to use reprocessing strategies in this population. However, most published studies have been based on treating post-traumatic symptoms in isolation from psychotic symptoms. The aims of the current case series were to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of integrating cognitive-behavioural approaches for post-traumatic stress and psychotic symptoms into a single protocol. Nine participants reporting distressing psychotic and post-traumatic symptoms were recruited from a specialist psychological therapies service for psychosis. Clients were assessed at five time points (baseline, pre, mid, end of therapy, and at 6+ months of follow-up) by an independent assessor on measures of current symptoms of psychosis, post-traumatic stress, emotional problems, and well-being. Therapy was formulation based and individualised, depending on presenting symptoms and trauma type. It consisted of five broad, flexible phases, and included imaginal reprocessing strategies (reliving and/or rescripting). The intervention was well received, with positive post-therapy feedback and satisfaction ratings. Unusually for this population, no-one dropped out of therapy. Post therapy, all but one (88% of participants) achieved a reliable improvement compared to pre-therapy on at least one outcome measure: post-traumatic symptoms (63%), voices (25%), delusions (50%), depression (50%), anxiety (36%), and well-being (40%). Follow-up assessments were completed by 78% (n = 7) of whom 86% (n = 6) maintained at least one reliable improvement. Rates of improvements following therapy (average of 44% across measures post therapy; 32% at follow-up) were over twice those found during the waiting list period (19%). No participant indicated a reliable worsening of any symptoms during or after therapy. The study shows that an integrative therapy incorporating reprocessing strategies was an acceptable and feasible intervention for this small sample, with promising effectiveness. A randomised controlled trial is warranted to test the efficacy of the intervention for this population.

Attributions, appraisals and attention for symptoms in depersonalisation disorder.

A cognitive-behavioural model of depersonalisation disorder (DPD) suggests that catastrophic attributions and appraisals, and increased attention to symptoms, play important roles in the development and maintenance of the disorder. Empirical testing of this model was investigated in three groups: 25 patients with DPD, 21 patients with anxiety (obsessive-compulsive or panic disorder), and 22 psychiatrically healthy participants. Task 1 examined attributions for ambiguous symptoms. Task 2 used a questionnaire to compare the groups on the content, frequency, and conviction in appraisals when participants worried about their health. Task 3 employed four experimental manipulations designed to either increase, or decrease, attention to catastrophic appraisals and/or symptoms of DPD. Results indicate that the DPD group make less normalising attributions for symptoms (Task 1) and have more catastrophic appraisals (Task 2) than those in the Healthy Control group. The DPD and Anxiety groups were similar in their patterns of appraisals and attributions. In Task 3, the DPD group showed a perceived reduction in DPD severity when their attention was focussed on cognitively demanding tasks, whereas the other two groups showed an increase. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that these cognitive processes play an important role in the development and maintenance of DPD.

Prevalence and childhood antecedents of depersonalization syndrome in a UK birth cohort.

PURPOSE: Depersonalization syndrome is characterised by a sense of unreality about the self [depersonalization (DP)] and/or the outside world [derealization (DR)]. Prevalence estimates vary widely. Little is known about childhood antecedents of the disorder although emotional abuse is thought to play a role. METHODS: Longitudinal data from 3,275 participants of a UK population-based birth cohort (the MRC National Survey of Health and Development) were used to: (1) assess the prevalence of DP syndrome at age 36, measured by the Present State Examination (PSE); and (2) examine the effects of a range of socio-demographic, childhood adversity and emotional responses as potential risk factors for DP. RESULTS: Thirty three survey members were classified with DP, yielding a prevalence of 0.95% [95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.56-1.34]. There were no associations with socio-economic status, parental death or divorce; self-reported accidents, childhood depression, tendency to daydream or reactions to criticism. However, teacher-estimated childhood anxiety was a strong independent predictor of adult depersonalization, and there were strong cross-sectional relationships between DP and anxiety and depression caseness. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study assessing nationwide prevalence of the DP syndrome and uses longitudinal data to explore childhood risk factors for adult DP. The prevalence of adult DP was slightly lower than reported by other surveys. The study found that childhood anxiety was the only significant predictor of the adult DP syndrome, supporting the view that depersonalisation disorder forms part of the spectrum of responses to anxiety.

Cognitive-behaviour therapy for depersonalisation disorder: an open study.

Depersonalisation (DP) and derealisation (DR) are subjective experiences of unreality in, respectively, one's sense of self and the outside world. These experiences occur on a continuum from transient episodes that are frequently reported in healthy individuals to a chronic psychiatric disorder that causes considerable distress (depersonalisation disorder: DPD). Despite the relatively high rates of reporting these symptoms, little research has been conducted into psychological treatments for this disorder. We report on an open study where 21 patients with DPD were treated individually with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The therapy involved helping the patients re-interpret their symptoms in a non-threatening way as well as reducing avoidances, safety behaviours and symptom monitoring. Significant improvements in patient-defined measures of DP/DR severity as well as standardised measures of dissociation, depression, anxiety and general functioning were found at post-treatment and six-months follow-up. Moreover, there were significant reductions in clinician ratings on the Present State Examination (Wing, Cooper & Sartorius, 1974), and 29% of participants no longer met criteria for DPD at the end of therapy. These initial results suggest that a CBT approach to DPD may be effective, but further trials with larger sample sizes and more rigorous research methodology are needed to determine the specificity of this approach.

Are there two qualitatively distinct forms of dissociation? A review and some clinical implications.

This review aims to clarify the use of the term 'dissociation' in theory, research and clinical practice. Current psychiatric definitions of dissociation are contrasted with recent conceptualizations that have converged on a dichotomy between two qualitatively different phenomena: 'detachment' and 'compartmentalization'. We review some evidence for this distinction within the domains of phenomenology, factor analysis of self-report scales and experimental research. Available evidence supports the distinction but more controlled evaluations are needed. We conclude with recommendations for future research and clinical practice, proposing that using this dichotomy can lead to clearer case formulation and an improved choice of treatment strategy. Examples are provided within Depersonalization Disorder, Conversion Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).