Depersonalization-derealization disorder test

Photo of author
Hanan Parvez
MA Psychology
Updated:

depersonalization derealization

The mind is usually good at handling pain. Pain is your mind and body’s way of alerting you that something’s gone wrong and needs fixing.

Sometimes, however, the stress and pain become too much for the mind to handle. For example, the mind may shut down or dissociate when faced with severe trauma.

We all experience transient feelings of dissociation, like daydreaming and spacing out. The extreme version of it would be dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder).

Depersonalization is a form of dissociation where a person feels disconnected from themselves. The person feels detached from their:

  • Identity
  • Thoughts
  • Actions
  • Body
  • Sensations
  • Emotions
  • Memories

Derealization is a form of dissociation whereby a person feels disconnected from their surroundings. Their surroundings seem unreal and distorted.

We may experience transient feelings of depersonalization or derealization separately, or they can co-occur. When they co-occur for a significant period and interfere in one’s day-to-day life, the person suffers from Depersonalization-Derealization disorder (DDD).

DDD can last for months or even years.1

What causes DDD?

Severe trauma, particularly interpersonal abuse, is likely to trigger DDD.

It’s observed in several mental health conditions, such as:

Some neurological conditions2 and drugs can also cause depersonalization and derealization symptoms.3

Taking the Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder test

This test consists of 20 items on a 2-point scale. Each item has two options- Agree and Disagree. You get separate scores for depersonalization and derealization. When answering the items, you can keep your current situation in mind or go back to a previous dissociative experience.

The test is not meant to be a diagnosis. It gives you a likelihood of having DDD. If you score high on both depersonalization and derealization, consider seeking professional help.

Depersonalization-derealization test

1. I feel like I'm watching myself from outside of my body.

2. I feel like a robot, having no control over my speech and actions.

3. My body's proportions seem to be warped.

4. I feel physically and emotionally numb.

5. I'm not sure that my memories are my own.

6. It's like I'm seeing a movie of myself.

7. My body and body parts don't seem to belong to me.

8. I'm indifferent to the sensations of taste and smell.

9. I hardly feel any affection towards family and close friends.

10. Things that'd normally frighten me don't scare me at all.

11. The things and people around me seem unreal.

12. It seems to me that objects around me are altering their shape and size.

13. Sounds are either quieter or louder than they should be.

14. I feel as though people I know well are strangers.

15. I feel like I'm in a dream.

16. My surroundings seem blurry, distorted, colorless, and fake.

17. I feel disconnected from my surroundings.

18. My surroundings seem too big and complex for me to fully comprehend.

19. It's as if there's a veil between me and the outside world.

20. It's as if I'm looking at the world through a fog, making things unclear.

References

  1. Michal, M. (2022). Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder. In Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders (pp. 380-391). Routledge.
  2. Heydrich, L., Marillier, G., Evans, N., Seeck, M., & Blanke, O. (2019). Depersonalization‐and derealization‐like phenomena of epileptic origin. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 6(9), 1739-1747.
  3. Simeon, D., Knutelska, M., Nelson, D., & Guralnik, O. (2003). Feeling unreal: a depersonalization disorder update of 117 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64(9), 990-997.
  4. Mula, M., Pini, S., Calugi, S., Preve, M., Masini, M., Giovannini, I., … & Cassano, G. B. (2008). Validity and reliability of the Structured Clinical Interview for Depersonalization–Derealization Spectrum (SCI-DER). Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 4(5), 977-986.