Cureus
August 1, 2021
Varchasvi Mudgal, Rashmi Dhakad, Rahul Mathur et al.
9 citations
A 15-year-old male patient reported an out-of-body experience in which he saw himself from a third-person perspective, floating outside his body. Evaluation led to diagnoses of dissociative identity disorder and dissociative fugue. The patient improved after abreaction, hypnosis, relaxation training, and supportive psychotherapy. Dissociative disorders arise from internal conflict between ego and self, failure to repress trauma, or emergence of repressed memories, producing altered perception described as an out-of-body experience. This case highlights a rare psychiatric cause of OBE that may guide management approaches.
Future Health
February 13, 2026
Varchasvi Mudgal, Ankit Kushwaha, Virendra Singh Pal
A 30-year-old female social media influencer developed the Truman Show Delusion, believing her life was a fabricated reality show live-streamed via hidden cameras with strangers and family members as co-conspirators. The delusion emerged after a decline in online engagement and a personal conflict, accompanied by paranoia, anxiety, and referential delusions. Treatment with antipsychotic medication (risperidone), supportive therapy, and structured digital hygiene led to significant symptom improvement within three weeks. The case illustrates how contemporary culture and digital lifestyles, particularly the intertwining of identity and self-worth with online validation, shape the phenomenology of psychosis. It also highlights the diagnostic challenge of distinguishing pathological delusions from normative influencer behaviors, emphasizing the need for clinicians to recognize technology-themed psychotic symptoms.
European Psychiatry
April 1, 2021
Pushpendra Kumar Jain, Varchasvi Mudgal, Ujwal Sardesai et al.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is rare despite its popularity in the public imagination. A 30-year-old woman from a low socioeconomic background presented with episodic altered behavior. Evaluation confirmed DID, and treatment combined psychotherapy facilitated by hypnosis, escitalopram (up to 20 mg daily), and a short course of clonazepam. The patient improved, with decreased Dissociative Experiences Scale scores. The authors suggest that unconscious conflicts, such as the Elektra complex in Freudian theory, may underlie DID. They urge clinicians, especially in countries like India where trance and possession syndromes are common, to consider DID as a differential diagnosis.