Derealization and depersonalization are mirror-images of one another. They are mirror-images of one another in what they bring about, and the phantasies that are their vehicles are mirror-images of one another in their content. In derealization we deny a part of the world: in depersonalization we deny a part of ourselves. In denying a part of ourselves, we come to regard it as dependent upon our thoughts and feelings: that is how we come to phantasise it. In denying a part of ourselves, we come to regard it as independent of our thoughts and feelings: that is how we come to phantasize it. Derealization, in denial, of some part of ourselves, in effect denies us a life altogether of our own.
Both derealization and depersonalization, carried far enough, lead to madness. Of the two, depersonalization is the more radical. It is the more radical in that, whereas derealization induces a depleted or erroneous picture of the world, depersonalization induces a confused or incoherent picture of the world. In point of fact the two processes are invariably complicitous.
Both derealization and depersonalization, carried far enough, lead to madness. Of the two, depersonalization is the more radical. It is the more radical in that, whereas derealization induces a depleted or erroneous picture of the world, depersonalization induces a confused or incoherent picture of the world. In point of fact the two processes are invariably complicitous.