Basic Self-Disturbances beyond Schizophrenia: Discrepancies and Affinities in Panic Disorder - An Empirical Clinical Study.
Psychopathology January 1, 2017 Luís Madeira, Sergio Carmenates, Cristina Costa et al. 31 citations
People with panic disorder report anomalous self-experiences—disturbances in the sense of self—at levels comparable to those seen in schizophrenia, though the specific patterns differ. In a study of 47 panic disorder patients and 47 healthy controls, patients scored much higher on the Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (average 17.94 vs. 1.00 in controls). These experiences included common forms of derealization and depersonalization, which may reflect defensive psychological processes rather than a fundamental disturbance of the minimal self. The findings support the idea that basic-self-disturbance is specific to schizophrenia, while panic disorder involves a different, less profound type of self-alteration that can resemble schizophrenia-like phenomena but requires careful differentiation.