I began my research career as an undergraduate research assistant, assisting on a study that investigated autonomic heart rate variability in a traumatized and non-traumatized athlete sample. My master's thesis, 'Investigating the Efficacy of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) in the Treatment of Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder,' is the study for which I am currently seeking funding. I am also a research assistant in the Researching Emotions Across Childhood Lab, led by Dr. I am a second year graduate student, earning my Master of Arts degree in General Experimental Psychology at California State University Northridge (CSUN). Your contributions will enable us to compensate our participants. Having participants report DPDR symptoms pre-, during, and post-ingestion will enable us able to assess whether and to what extent Ritalin may influence DPDR experiences. Participants will be prescreened for current prescribed Ritalin use. We will test our hypothesis by recruiting participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk. We hypothesize that Ritalin will significantly alleviate DPDR symptoms among participants, and that this may be especially true for those endorsing ADHD experiences. The short-term goal of this study, for which we are seeking funding, is to better understand Ritalin's potential efficacy in treating individuals with DPDR disorder. Ritalin would be an optimal medication with which to supplement psychotherapy, as it is highly accessible, affordable, and commonly prescribed.

If Ritalin proves efficacious, it may greatly aid in the stabilization and symptom reduction phase of psychotherapeutic treatment. Pharmacotherapy is not a mainstay of DPDR treatment, which may be attributable to the scarcity of research. What is the significance of this project?ĭPDR disorder is associated with significant psychological distress resulting from feelings of unreality, emotion dysregulation, intrusive traumatic memory, self-harm, and overall diminished quality of life, and imposes a tremendous economic burden as a result of increased hospitalizations, functional impairment and unemployment, and mental healthcare utilization. These results highlight the critical need for further investigation into pharmacotherapy for DPDR. No such standard exists for DPDR, and studies measuring the efficacy of pharmacotherapies including SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioid antagonists in reducing dissociative symptoms have yielded generally unpromising and/or mixed results. Stimulant medication remains the gold-standard pharmacotherapy for ADHD. DPDR shares high diagnostic co-morbidity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) due to overlap of clinical features such as inattention and lack of cognitive inhibition. Ask the Scientists Join The Discussion What is the context of this research?ĭPDR disorder produces a disturbing sense of detachment from one's body or surroundings, often as a result of psychological trauma.

Depersonalization medication