Professor Anthony David

Tony David was an honorary consultant at the Maudsley Hospital from 1990-2018 and Vice Dean for Academic Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London in 2013-8. He has been the director of the UCL Institute of Mental Health since 2018.

Professor David has a wide range of research interests including neuropsychiatry and neuroimaging. He started researching Depersonalisation Disorder in the 1990s and set up the Depersonalisation Research Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry and subsequently established the first NHS clinic for DPDR at the Maudsley Hospital. He has published many scientific articles on the topic and co-authored a self-help book Overcoming: Depersonalisation and Feelings Of Unreality

Professor David is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences.  He is a member of the Experimental Psychology Society and a founder member of both the British Neuropsychological Society and British Neuropsychiatry Association.


Dr Elaine Hunter

Elaine is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked with Depersonalisation and Derealisation Disorder since 1999. She has conducted research into improving psychological treatment of the condition and worked clinically to try to help many people with the condition. 

In March 2019 she set up The Depersonalisation Clinic to allow her freedom to see a wider range of clients. In the last few years she has collaborated with many involved with Unreal in trying to raise awareness of DPDR as well as improving access to treatment and increasing research funding. She suggested that a charity specifically for DPDR would be beneficial and helped to found Unreal.