Depersonalization and temporal disintegration in acute mental illness.

The authors assessed the relationship between depersonalization (defined by self-estrangement and body image diffusion) and temporal disintegration (impaired goal-directedness and temporal indistinction) in 37 acutely ill hospitalized psychiatric patients. Substantial correlations were found between these two phenomena, confirming previous work. The finding that body image diffusion is positively correlated with temporal disintegration suggests that distortions of personal space accompany distortions of personal time.