Which term describes the sense that one's self is different, changed, or unreal or has detached from one's mind or body?

• A. Depersonalization
• B. Derealization
• C. Insight
• D. Cognition

Answer: (A)

Depersonalization describes the experience of feeling detached from oneself—like your thoughts, feelings, or sense of being a distinct self are altered, unreal, or outside your own mind or body. It’s a disruption in the sense of self, not in the surrounding world.

In contrast, derealization refers to the external environment feeling unreal or distorted, as if the world isn’t real. Insight and cognition are different concepts—insight is awareness of having an illness, and cognition involves mental processes like thinking and memory.

So the sense that the self is changed, unreal, or detached from one's mind or body is depersonalization.