<p>The experience of being inside a film, a game or something similar is quite common in patients with psychotic disorders. This experience is frequently intense enough to be fully delusional, but in less severe cases it might take the form of an &quot;as if&quot;-experince, i.e. the person has the experience &quot;as if&quot; being in a film but knows rationally that this is not the case. This phenomenon is sometimes called Truman show syndrome after the movie, and in my experience as a psychiatrist, many patients actually reference precisely this film to describe their experience.</p>
<p>In an interesting line of research, a Danish research group has been studying near-psychotic phenomena of being out of touch with reality, experiencing that you're not really existing as a whole in this world etc. They have shown that these phenomena occur quite selectively in patients with schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder and healthy relatives to people with those disorders. They call this &quot;self-disorders&quot; and they view it as a central aspect of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders.</p>
<p>Reference:</p>
<p>Disordered Selfhood in Schizophrenia and the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience: Accumulated Evidence and Experience.
Nordgaard J, Henriksen MG, Jansson L, Handest P, Møller P, Rasmussen AR, Sandsten KE, Nilsson LS, Zandersen M, Zahavi D, Parnas J.
Psychopathology. 2021;54(6):275-281.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T07:14:16.510Z
2022-05-13T07:14:16.510Z
JonB
<p>Such delusional conditions are referred to as &quot;oneirophrenia&quot;, as well as &quot;dream-reality confusion&quot; in science. As there's too little research and understanding about them, it is possible that they may also come with other namings in various branches of science. They are a matter of deeper research in sleep medicine and narcolepsy, in particular.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-31T15:23:55.217Z
2024-07-31T15:23:55.217Z
drabsv
<p>Is there a mental condition characterized by losing touch with reality (or either a short period of time or permanently), while believing you are a part of a virtual reality that you had been exposed to (“virtual reality” in the broadest sense – e.g. cinema, VR (using a headset) or even a dream or a book)?</p>
<p>You may have felt a sensation of being still “inside the plot” of a movie, for some seconds after it has just ended or the bizarre feeling of being awake and still dreaming at the same time, if something suddenly woke you up during an REM phase of your sleep. Or the state of “limbo” in the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">“Inception” movie</a>.</p>
<p>Now imagine the same sensation taking much longer, to the extent of counting as a disorder. Has such kind of disorder been observed in clinical psychology/psychiatry?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-12T11:30:23.010Z
Hi there. We can't provide medical counsel. If you are worried about your health, you should get into touch with a professional.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-12T17:12:24.440Z
@AliceD -Where did you notice anything about asking for medical advice?
drabsv
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-12T17:47:29.103Z
@drabsv You certainly haven't provided any other source to indicate that the question is *not* about personal advice for yourself or someone else. So, yeah, most people describing some unknown disorder are doing so by describing symptoms they or someone else has experienced. Otherwise where are you getting these ideas, and why haven't you cited that source? This is one reason we request that questions be [framed in psychology or neuroscience](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2277/why-was-my-question-closed-as-not-framed-in-psychology-or-neuroscience).
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-12T21:31:21.930Z
This sounds like an "asking for medical advice" presumption on any question about mental disorders, unless you have explicitly specified you are not asking for medical advice. This cannot be serious. I have clearly described a hypothetical effect of immersive experiences and I just cannot see how that is not framed in psychology or neuroscience.
drabsv
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-12T21:54:01.767Z
There is a link in my last comment that explains what we mean by that; quote: "Even expert questions shouldn't be hypothetical. Non-expert and expert questions alike should show proof there is reason to ask the question." Certainly it does not mean a prohibition on any question about mental disorders, but yes, if your question is "here are some symptoms, diagnose it", that is not allowed.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T06:24:35.887Z
My question does not say "diagnose" it, it says "here are some symptoms, does such condition exist".
drabsv
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T07:58:09.290Z
I toned down your original comment to keep it civilized. As to your comment *My question does not say "diagnose" it, it says "here are some symptoms, does such condition exist".*; identifying a disorder based on the symptoms sounds like an apt definition of a diagnosis to me. And you nailed it down perfectly, because that's exactly the disturbing part in this question.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T08:02:31.937Z
And you might be interested in the bigger picture here as well; as a long-time mod I have seen this site being plagued with self-helps. Although the stream of self helps is on the waning side of things over the last year or so, we as mods are still on high alert to keep it that way. So don't take this too personally.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T12:10:15.210Z
@AliceD - "as a long-time mod I have seen this site being plagued with self-helps" - I can understand now. I thought it was self-evident the post was not seeking personal advice, since it is about immersive experiences which are a very interesting phenomenon from psychological point of view, since human mind can easily switch between fully awake and hypnotic/semi-hypnotic/dreaming/delusional states, and even mix them. I was too abrupt with my reaction, because it is equally frustrating to have a question closed cause mods only skimmed it and missed its points. That has happened to me already.
drabsv
<abnormal-psychology><disorder>
Possibility for immersive experiences to effect into disorder
drabsv
# Possibility for immersive experiences to effect into disorder

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-11)

Is there a mental condition characterized by losing touch with reality (or either a short period of time or permanently), while believing you are a part of a virtual reality that you had been exposed to (“virtual reality” in the broadest sense – e.g. cinema, VR (using a headset) or even a dream or a book)?

You may have felt a sensation of being still “inside the plot” of a movie, for some seconds after it has just ended or the bizarre feeling of being awake and still dreaming at the same time, if something suddenly woke you up during an REM phase of your sleep. Or the state of “limbo” in the [“Inception” movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/).

Now imagine the same sensation taking much longer, to the extent of counting as a disorder. Has such kind of disorder been observed in clinical psychology/psychiatry?

**Tags:** abnormal-psychology, disorder

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi there. We can't provide medical counsel. If you are worried about your health, you should get into touch with a professional.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 -Where did you notice anything about asking for medical advice?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 You certainly haven't provided any other source to indicate that the question is *not* about personal advice for yourself or someone else. So, yeah, most people describing some unknown disorder are doing so by describing symptoms they or someone else has experienced. Otherwise where are you getting these ideas, and why haven't you cited that source? This is one reason we request that questions be [framed in psychology or neuroscience](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2277/why-was-my-question-closed-as-not-framed-in-psychology-or-neuroscience).  
> **username_0**: This sounds like an "asking for medical advice" presumption on any question about mental disorders, unless you have explicitly specified you are not asking for medical advice. This cannot be serious. I have clearly described a hypothetical effect of immersive experiences and I just cannot see how that is not framed in psychology or neuroscience.  
> **username_2**: There is a link in my last comment that explains what we mean by that; quote: "Even expert questions shouldn't be hypothetical. Non-expert and expert questions alike should show proof there is reason to ask the question." Certainly it does not mean a prohibition on any question about mental disorders, but yes, if your question is "here are some symptoms, diagnose it", that is not allowed.  
> **username_0**: My question does not say "diagnose" it, it says "here are some symptoms, does such condition exist".  
> **username_1**: I toned down your original comment to keep it civilized. As to your comment *My question does not say "diagnose" it, it says "here are some symptoms, does such condition exist".*; identifying a disorder based on the symptoms sounds like an apt definition of a diagnosis to me. And you nailed it down perfectly, because that's exactly the disturbing part in this question.  
> **username_1**: And you might be interested in the bigger picture here as well; as a long-time mod I have seen this site being plagued with self-helps. Although the stream of self helps is on the waning side of things over the last year or so, we as mods are still on high alert to keep it that way. So don't take this too personally.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 - "as a long-time mod I have seen this site being plagued with self-helps" - I can understand now. I thought it was self-evident the post was not seeking personal advice, since it is about immersive experiences which are a very interesting phenomenon from psychological point of view, since human mind can easily switch between fully awake and hypnotic/semi-hypnotic/dreaming/delusional states, and even mix them. I was too abrupt with my reaction, because it is equally frustrating to have a question closed cause mods only skimmed it and missed its points. That has happened to me already.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-05-13. Score: 2

The experience of being inside a film, a game or something similar is quite common in patients with psychotic disorders. This experience is frequently intense enough to be fully delusional, but in less severe cases it might take the form of an "as if"-experince, i.e. the person has the experience "as if" being in a film but knows rationally that this is not the case. This phenomenon is sometimes called Truman show syndrome after the movie, and in my experience as a psychiatrist, many patients actually reference precisely this film to describe their experience.

In an interesting line of research, a Danish research group has been studying near-psychotic phenomena of being out of touch with reality, experiencing that you're not really existing as a whole in this world etc. They have shown that these phenomena occur quite selectively in patients with schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder and healthy relatives to people with those disorders. They call this "self-disorders" and they view it as a central aspect of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Reference:

Disordered Selfhood in Schizophrenia and the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience: Accumulated Evidence and Experience.
Nordgaard J, Henriksen MG, Jansson L, Handest P, Møller P, Rasmussen AR, Sandsten KE, Nilsson LS, Zandersen M, Zahavi D, Parnas J.
Psychopathology. 2021;54(6):275-281.


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### Answer by username_0 on 2024-07-31. Score: 0

Such delusional conditions are referred to as "oneirophrenia", as well as "dream-reality confusion" in science. As there's too little research and understanding about them, it is possible that they may also come with other namings in various branches of science. They are a matter of deeper research in sleep medicine and narcolepsy, in particular.


---

