0913 Exploring The Relationship Between Sleep And Depersonalization

Abstract

Introduction: Depersonalization is characterized by a state in which an individual's feelings and thoughts seem unreal and not to belong to themselves. Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is a psychological condition whereby an individual feels dissociated/ disconnected from their thoughts, feelings and body. DPD has been previously linked to other psychological conditions including depression and anxiety, both of which have a strong association with sleep. However, there is very little known about the relationship between sleep and depersonalization. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the potential relationship between subjective episodes of depersonalization and sleep in female university students in the United Arab Emirates. A total of 100 participants were recruited to the study and completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) as well as the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS) which determined duration and frequency of depersonalization episodes, as well as a total score. Wrist actigraphy was administered to 37 participants for two days/nights to objectively estimate sleep duration and sleep efficiency (%). Result(s): The results showed that PSQI global score was positively correlated with both CDS frequency and CDS total score, where r=0.22, p<0.05 and r=0.21, p<0.05, respectively. Subjective sleep duration, obtained from the PSQI, was not significantly correlated with any CDS outcome. CDS total score was positively correlated with both depression (r=0.35, p<0.001) and anxiety (r=0.36, p<0.001), which is in line with previous findings. Actigraphy estimated average sleep efficiency was not, however, significantly associated with DPD, chi2=0.56, p>0.05. Conclusion(s): This is the first study to primarily focus on the relationship between sleep and depersonalization and provides initial evidence about the role of sleep in this dissociative disorder. Subjective sleep quality but not sleep duration, is significantly associated with episodes of depersonalization, but this needs to be confirmed in a larger sample and across different populations. Objective estimate sleep also needs to be incorporated into future studies for at least seven days/nights to ensure comprehensive sleep data is obtained in naturalistic settings.