Astral Projection: A Strange Out-of-Body Experience in Dissociative Disorder.
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.