DISORDERS OF THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SELF   ·         Ichbewusstsein = ego consciousness ·         Weitbrecht suggested the term ‘self experience’ ·         4 aspects of self-experience (Jaspers): The awareness of existence and activity of the self. The awareness of being a unity at any given point of time The awareness of continuity over a period of time. The awareness of being separate from the environment or, in other words, awareness of ego boundaries.   Disturbance of awareness of self activity ·         Depersonalization ·         Loss of emotional resonance All events which can be brought into consciousness are associated with a sense of personal possession although this is not usually in the forefront of consciousness. This ‘I’ quality has been called ‘Personalization’ by Jaspers. 2 aspects of the sense of self-activity: §         The sense of existence. §         The awareness of the performance of one’s actions.   Depersonalization ·         Should be distinguished from preoccupation, loss of interest, and nihilistic delusions ·         There are 3 different types of depersonalization which are qualitatively different. ·         Clinically, is more in females. ·         High anxiety scores correlated with depersonalization experiences in women but not in men. Seen in: §         Emotional crisis or threat to life. §         Anxiety states with phobias §         Depression §         Schizophrenia      §         Organic states     §         Epilepsy – psychomotor epilepsy, multiple types of attacks, depressive states during the attacks, depression apart from the attacks. ·         Depressed mood does not appear to account for the depersonalization found in schizophrenia and organic states.   Loss of emotional resonance ·         In depression, most marked when the depressive encounters his loved ones. ·         In morbid depression, complaints of depersonalization and derealization arise from the loss of emotional resonance, while in schizophrenia depersonalization results from the subjective experience of the breakdown of the boundaries of the self. Disturbances of the immediate awareness of self-unity Seen in: ·         Psychogenic and depressive depersonalization ·         Naïve or appreciation-needing personalities ·         Demoniac possession ·         Schizophrenia   Disturbance of the continuity of self Seen in: ·         Fantastic paraphrenics ·         Religious conversion   Disturbance of the boundaries of the self ·         Knowledge of what is body and what is not is based on the link between information from the extero- and the proprioceptors. ·         ‘Made experiences’ is also used for apophanous experiences when the pt. knows that all the events around him are being made for his benefit. Seen in: ·         Organic conditions, like anosognosia. ·         Hypnagogic states ·         Schizophrenia ·         Obsessions and compulsions   Back to Top