Understand what causes depersonalization disorder and how you can overcome it

'The first of its kind, this self-help book will offer guidance, help and solace to the many sufferers of depersonalization disorder.'
Daphne Simeon, Depersonalisation and Dissociation Program, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

Depersonalization disorder can make you feel detached from life and many people describe feeling 'emotionally numb', unreal, or even as if their body doesn't belong to them. It can be a symptom of another problem such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and, particularly, of panic disorder, or of an illness like epilepsy or migraine. It can also occur in its own right and/or as a side effect of certain drugs.

This self-help book, written by leading experts, will help you to understand what causes depersonalization disorder and what can keep it going, and will introduce you to effective strategies to overcome it:
Based on clinically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques
Clear and accessible step-by-step exercises and tools, including diary-keeping and thought records

ELAINE HUNTER, DAWN BAKER and EMMA LAWRENCE are clinical psychologists and ANTHONY DAVID is a psychiatrist, all of whom have worked with individuals experiencing depersonalization problems at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Contributing author NICK MEDFORD is a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital. Contributing author MAURICIO SIERRA is a psychiatrist based in Colombia.

Overcoming self-help guides use clinically proven techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions, both psychological and physical. Many guides in the Overcoming series are recommended under the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme.


Series Editor: Professor Peter Cooper