What does depersonalising mean?
Depersonalising describes the process of weakening a person's sense of individuality or making an experience feel anonymous and impersonal. In clinical psychology, it can refer to the detached, unreal quality sometimes described by people who feel as though they are observing their own thoughts, body, or actions from outside themselves. In social and organisational contexts, the word is used more broadly for systems, workplaces, or forms of communication that reduce people to numbers, roles, or categories. The adjective and present participle are widely understood, although British spelling normally uses -ising, while US usage more often writes -izing. Because depersonalising combines psychological and social meanings, it often carries a negative connotation: it suggests alienation, loss of agency, or treatment of human beings as interchangeable units. The word is useful when precision matters, since it distinguishes simple anonymity or emotional detachment from a more specific disturbance in the experience of personal identity.
Causing a loss of personal identity or making a person, experience, or system feel impersonal and anonymous.
"The depersonalising routine of the interview left him feeling like just another applicant."
Frequently used before words such as effect, experience, process, or treatment. The term often describes psychological detachment, institutional anonymity, or both.
To remove or weaken a person's sense of individuality, or to make an experience or treatment impersonal.
"Relentless standardisation can depersonalise the way patients are treated."
Used as the present participle of depersonalise, meaning either that an action causes depersonalisation or that it is being performed.
In psychology, depersonalisation can make a person feel as though they are observing their own body or actions from outside themselves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does depersonalising come from?
Depersonalise was formed in English from the prefix de-, meaning removal or reversal, and personal, with the verbal suffix -ise. Personal ultimately derives from Latin personalis, meaning “of or belonging to a person,” from persona, the Latin word for a mask or character and, by extension, a person. Related English words include person, personal, personality, and impersonal.
Related word forms
How depersonalising is actually used
The word is common in psychological and psychiatric discussion but is also used figuratively in social and organisational criticism. It normally has a negative connotation, suggesting alienation, diminished individuality, or the treatment of people as anonymous units. British spelling conventionally uses -ising, while US spelling commonly uses -izing.
Easily confused with depersonalising
Depersonalization is the condition or experience resulting from a loss of personal identity, whereas depersonalising describes the process or quality of causing that detachment.