Dissociation and Second Life: Pathology or transcendence?

Abstract

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR treats dissociation as a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Survey instruments used to measure dissociation incorporate questions that focus on depersonalization, de-realization, and dissociative-identity disorder (DID). The self-administered Structured Clinical Interview for DepersonalizationDerealization Spectrum (SCI-DER) asks a subject if they ever felt that your body did not seem to belong you or you were outside your body (Mula et al. 2008). This last question references what is also known as the out-of-body experience (OBE). In some cultures and religious practices OBE is considered desirable. Research has shown that OBE can be induced. For users of the virtual world Second Life, OBE is the default point of view (POV). Users are represented as avatars that look unreal and one's surroundings look unreal. Yet reality testing is intact (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Many users have multiple avatars, which enact distinct identities or personalities, and this fits the criteria for dissociative identity disorder. To experience any of these disorders in real life may be considered undesirable, even pathological. But for users of Second Life such dissociative experiences are considered normal, liberating, and even transcendent.