The Depersonalization Syndrome: Report of a Case

Abstract

This paper presents an example of the depersonalization syndrome as experienced and described by an intelligent patient. Considering the frequency of its occurrence, this syndrome has not been as often recognized nor as adequately described as would be expected. The syndrome was first described by Mayer-Gross (1935), later by Gordon (1936), Shorvon (1946, 1947) and Tayleur Stockings (1947). The psychopathology of depersonalization was given in analytical terms by Oberndorf (1935, 1936) and Feigenbaum (1937); Galdston has recently discussed this aspect (1947). As a symptom of organic brain disease, depersonalization offers an interesting field in the long-disputed question of body-mind relationship. Reidl (1942) described this symptom in a case of carbon monoxide poisoning, and Brock and Weisel (1942) discussed its occurrence in organic cerebral disease. Guttman and Maclay (1936) described the interesting relationship between mescaline intoxication and depersonalization. Cerebral anatomical localization was discussed in an anatomico-clinical study by Dide (1938).