Associations between depersonalization (DP) and social phobia (SP) were described in the early scientific literature. This connection, however, has not yet been considered in the recent empirical literature and clinical trials on SP. The aim of this study is to examine these associations. In a sample of 100 consecutive inpatients we compare 45 patients with pathological DP to 55 patients without pathological DP with respect to comorbidity and the degree of social anxieties assessed with the SOCIAL INTERACTION ANXIETY SCALE (SIAS) and with the SOCIAL PHOBIA SCALE (SPS) and the extent of shame assessed with the INTERNALIZED SHAME SCALE (ISS). Social phobia was significantly more prevalent in the patients with pathological DP. Furthermore, the patients with pathological DP showed a significantly larger extent of social anxieties (SIAS, SPS) and shame (ISS). The results may be considered as a preliminary empirical support of the assumed associations and thus warrant an enhanced consideration of DP in therapy and research of social anxiety disorders.
Depersonalization Humans