Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Durnavich
That happens every time you are startled. When there is a loud bang, your body first flinches seemingly on its own. You can feel afterward that you are not the only one running the show.
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No, I'm referring to prolonged periods of complex behaviour: speaking, carrying out a sequence of actions, moving from one place to another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Durnavich
Am I correct that you are describing people in a condition where they are unable to speak or otherwise respond to those around them? If so, notice that it is behavior that is being referred to here and not a literal "inner I" that has vanished.
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No, these are people who are describing episodes in their lives when they have become "depersonalized": have lost their sense of self entirely, or have separated into an "observed" and an "observing" self. During these episodes, their behaviour and conversation may appear normal to those around them, but they have an inner sense of behaving like an automaton, or of observing themselves carrying out behaviours that they are not personally engaged with. They are often frightened or distressed during such episodes, but can't externally evince these emotions, which adds to the sense of depersonalization.
By some counts, depersonalization is the third most common psychological symptom in the general population, after depression and anxiety. Like depression and anxiety, most episodes are transient, and don't herald any sort of psychiatric illness.
Grant Hutchison