De-Roling from Experiences and Identities in Virtual Worlds

Within dramatherapy and psychodrama, the term ‘de-roling’ indicates a set of activities that assist the subjects of therapy in ‘disrobing’ themselves from their fictional characters. Starting from the psychological needs and the therapeutic goals that ‘de-roling’ techniques address in dramatherapy and psychodrama, this text provides a broader understanding of procedures and exercises that define and ease transitional experiences across cultural practices such as religious rituals and spatial design. After this introductory section, we propose a tentative answer as to why game studies and virtual world research largely ignored processes of ‘roling’ and ‘de-roling’ that separate the lived experience of role-play from our everyday sense of the self. The concluding sections argue that de-roling techniques are likely to become more relevant, both academically and in terms of their practical applications, with the growing diffusion of virtual technologies in social practices. The relationships we can establish with ourselves and with our surroundings in digital virtual worlds are, we argue, only partially comparable with similar occurrences in pre-digital practices of subjectification. We propose a perspective according to which the accessibility and immersive phenomenological richness of virtual reality technologies are likely to exacerbate the potentially dissociative effects of virtual reality applications. This text constitutes an initial step towards framing specific socio-technical concerns and starting a timely conversation that binds together dramatherapy, psychodrama, game studies, and the design of digital virtual worlds

De-roling from experiences and identities in virtual worlds

Within dramatherapy and psychodrama, the term ‘de-roling’ indicates a set of activities that assist the subjects of therapy in ‘disrobing’ themselves from their fictional characters. Starting from the psychological needs and the therapeutic goals that ‘de-roling’ techniques address in dramatherapy and psychodrama, this text provides a broader understanding of procedures and exercises that define and ease transitional experiences across cultural practices such as religious rituals and spatial design. After this introductory section, we propose a tentative answer as to why game studies and virtual world research largely ignored processes of ‘roling’ and ‘de-roling’ that separate the lived experience of role-play from our everyday sense of the self. The concluding sections argue that de-roling techniques are likely to become more relevant, both academically and in terms of their practical applications, with the growing diffusion of virtual technologies in social practices. The relationships we can establish with ourselves and with our surroundings in digital virtual worlds are, we argue, only partially comparable with similar occurrences in pre-digital practices of subjectification. We propose a perspective according to which the accessibility and immersive phenomenological richness of virtual reality technologies are likely to exacerbate the potentially dissociative effects of virtual reality applications. This text constitutes an initial step towards framing specific socio-technical concerns and starting a timely conversation that binds together dramatherapy, psychodrama, game studies, and the design of digital virtual worlds.peer-reviewe

Automatic mental processes, automatic actions and behaviours in game transfer phenomena: an empirical self-report study using online forum data

Previous studies have demonstrated that the playing of videogames can have both intended and unintended effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of videogames on players’ mental processes and behaviours in day-to-day settings. A total of 1,023 self-reports from 762 gamers collected from online videogame forums were classified, quantified, described and explained. The data include automatic thoughts, sensations and impulses, automatic mental replays of the game in real life, and voluntary/involuntary behaviours with videogame content. Many gamers reported that they had responded – at least sometimes – to real life stimuli as if they were still playing videogames. This included overreactions, avoidances, and involuntary movements of limbs. These experiences lasted relatively short periods of time but in a minority of players were recurrent. The gamers' experiences appeared to be enhanced by virtual embodiment, repetitive manipulation of game controls, and their gaming habits. However, similar phenomena may also occur when doing other non-gaming activities. The implications of these game transfer experiences are discussed

An interoceptive predictive coding model of conscious presence

We describe a theoretical model of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying conscious presence and its disturbances. The model is based on interoceptive prediction error and is informed by predictive models of agency, general models of hierarchical predictive coding and dopaminergic signaling in cortex, the role of the anterior insular cortex (AIC) in interoception and emotion, and cognitive neuroscience evidence from studies of virtual reality and of psychiatric disorders of presence, specifically depersonalization/derealization disorder. The model associates presence with successful suppression by top-down predictions of informative interoceptive signals evoked by autonomic control signals and, indirectly, by visceral responses to afferent sensory signals. The model connects presence to agency by allowing that predicted interoceptive signals will depend on whether afferent sensory signals are determined, by a parallel predictive-coding mechanism, to be self-generated or externally caused. Anatomically, we identify the AIC as the likely locus of key neural comparator mechanisms. Our model integrates a broad range of previously disparate evidence, makes predictions for conjoint manipulations of agency and presence, offers a new view of emotion as interoceptive inference, and represents a step toward a mechanistic account of a fundamental phenomenological property of consciousness

Perspective on the Double Edges of Virtual Reality in Medicine - both Addiction & Treatment

Although the therapeutic potential of virtual reality has been foreseen since over half a century ago, the lack of graphical processing power made it impossible to apply in medical therapeutic sciences until last decade; nowadays, the hardware required for virtual reality is even 100 times more affordable. A head-mounted display induces immersivity engulfing the subject’s eyesight perception in a stereoscopic manner. The same tool that may aid better self understanding and bonding can also trigger psychopathological mechanisms through which the user becomes alienated from the real world. As virtual reality became even more popular during SARS-COV2 pandemic, users worldwide have spent more time into a virtual world. Depersonalization/derealization syndrome can occur if virtual reality is abused. The greater the person’s involvement in virtual reality, the greater the chance of a lack of bodily self (depersonalization). Controllers that mimic hands could prevent the subject from acknowledging the real world as true – derealization. Virtual reality’s dissociative potential is related to individual psychological traits and prolonged exposure. Children are the most prone to develop behavioral changes. Adults may develop behavioral problems related to virtual reality gaming, gambling, pornography and also social networking through created avatars. Blue light wavelength could harm sleep architecture and circadian rhythm by disrupting melatonin, therefore making virtual reality exposure problematic after sunset. State of the art reveals that using virtual reality in a therapeutic manner, actually facilitates the fight against addictions with cue therapy intended to extinguish conditioned response. The exposure to a substance (nicotine, alcohol, or any other psychoactive recreational abuse potential substances) can trigger craving in a controlled environment, that is malleable in the hands of the therapist. Virtual reality can offer an exposure perspective that is both vivid enough to be a challenge, but also safe enough to ensure patient involvement and to amplify the therapeutic alliance.</p

The use of virtual reality in psychology: A case study in visual perception

Recent proliferation of available virtual reality (VR) tools has seen increased use in psychological research. This is due to a number of advantages afforded over traditional experimental apparatus such as tighter control of the environment and the possibility of creating more ecologically valid stimulus presentation and response protocols. At the same time, higher levels of immersion and visual fidelity afforded by VR do not necessarily evoke presence or elicit a “realistic” psychological response. The current paper reviews some current uses for VR environments in psychological research and discusses some ongoing questions for researchers. Finally, we focus on the area of visual perception, where both the advantages and challenges of VR are particularly salient

Opis paradygmatu wirtualnej rzeczywistości i możliwości jej zastosowania w psychiatrii

Cel: Wirtualna rzeczywistość (virtual reality – VR) to technologia, która od ponad 25 lat wykorzystywana jest w psychiatrii do badań nad różnymi zaburzeniami psychicznymi, z uwzględnieniem zaburzeń psychotycznych. Autorzy przedstawiają cele i założenia zastosowania VR, najważniejsze zagadnienia teoretyczne, kluczowe pojęcia, charakterystykę technologii, wirtualne środowiska i zachodzące w nich interakcje społeczne, aspekty etyczne, bezpieczeństwo i działania niepożądane związane z wirtualną rzeczywistością. Poglądy: Autorzy omawiają podstawowe pojęcia, kluczowe dla opisu środowiska VR i jego wpływu na użytkowników. Zwracają szczególną uwagę na aspekty etyczne związane z badaniami nad użyciem tej technologii. Opisują pewne swoistości wirtualnych środowisk, wpływ ich jakości na odbiorcę i warunki, które muszą zostać spełnione, aby skutecznie na niego oddziaływały. Analizują prace badawcze dotyczące bezpieczeństwa VR dla zdrowych osób i pacjentów psychiatrycznych oraz przedstawiają możliwe działania niepożądane. Omawiają techniki ucieleśnienia z awatarem, charakterystykę interakcji społecznych w świecie wirtualnym i możliwości prowadzenia badań z wykorzystaniem tego środowiska. Wnioski: Wirtualna rzeczywistość wydaje się stosunkowo bezpieczną metodą, niewywołującą zbyt wielu krótkoterminowych działań niepożądanych, jednak aspekty etyczne związane z długofalowymi zagrożeniami wymagają dalszych badań. Umożliwia to prowadzenie ekologicznie ważnych badań przy zachowaniu wysokiego poziomu standaryzacji. Odwzorowanie prostych interakcji społecznych jest stosunkowo wierne, nawet przy wykorzystaniu niefotorealistycznych wirtualnych środowisk. Możliwość uzyskania iluzji ucieleśnienia z ciałem wirtualnego awatara otwiera nowe perspektywy badawcze.Purpose: Virtual reality (VR) is a relatively new technology that has been used in psychiatric research on various types of mental disorders, including psychotic disorders, for over 25 years. The authors of this article present the aims and assumptions of virtual reality use, its most important theoretical concepts, key concepts, technology characteristics, as well as virtual environments, social interactions that occur within them, ethical aspects, safety issues and adverse effects related to VR. Views: The authors discuss basic concepts of the VR environment and its impact on the users. They remain sensitive to ethical aspects related to research that use this technology. They describe certain specificities of virtual environments, the impact of their quality on the recipients and the conditions that have to be met in order to have an effective impact on them. They analyse research on the safety of VR for healthy individuals and psychiatric patients and present possible side effects. They discuss virtual embodiment techniques, the characteristics of social interactions in the virtual world and the possibilities of conducting research with the use of this environment. Conclusions: Virtual reality is a relatively safe method, not causing many undesirable effects. However, ethical aspects related to long-term threats require further research. It enables ecologically valid research to be conducted while maintaining a high level of standardization. The mapping of simple social interactions is relatively accurate, even with the use of non-photorealistic virtual environments. The possibility of creating virtual embodiment illusions opens new research perspectives. Key words: virtual reality, paradigm description, presence

Past and Future Explanations for Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder: A Role for Predictive Coding

Depersonalization (DP) and derealization (DR) refer to states of dissociation in which one feels a sense of alienation in relation to one's self and environment, respectively. Whilst transient episodes often diminish without treatment, chronic experiences of DP and DR may last for years, with common treatments lacking a strong evidence base for their efficacy. We propose a theoretical explanation of DP and DR based on interoceptive predictive coding, and discuss how transient experiences of DP and DR may be induced in the non-clinical population using virtual reality. Further, we review the use of heartbeat evoked potentials in detecting the neural correlates of DP and DR allowing for an objective measure of these experiences in the non-clinical population. Finally, we discuss how the induction and detection of transient experiences of DP and DR in the non-clinical population could shed light on how the brain constructs one’s sense of self and reality

Childhood emotional trauma and cyberbullying perpetration among emerging adults: a multiple mediation model of the role of problematic social media use and psychopathology

Research suggests that a small minority of social media users experience problems as a result of their online use. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association of cyberbullying perpetration and problematic social media use with childhood emotional trauma, Cluster B (narcissistic, histrionic, antisocial, and borderline) personality traits, dissociative experiences (DEs), depression, and self-esteem in a nonclinical undergraduate sample. A total of 344 university students volunteered to complete a questionnaire that included measures on the aforementioned dimensions. Thirty-eight percent of the participants had emotional neglect and 27% had emotional abuse, while 44% of them demonstrated at least one cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results indicated that cyberbullying perpetrators had higher scores on problematic social media use, dissociative experiences, Cluster B traits, depression and childhood emotional trauma, and lower on self-esteem. Path analysis demonstrated that, while adjusting for gender and age, childhood emotional trauma was directly and indirectly associated with cyberbullying perpetration via Cluster B traits. Moreover, depression and dissociation were directly associated with problematic social media use. The findings of this study emphasize the important direct role of childhood emotional trauma and pathological personality traits on cyberbullying perpetration

Prevalence and characteristics of game transfer phenomena: a descriptive survey study

Previous qualitative studies suggest that gamers experience Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), a variety of non-volitional phenomena related to playing videogames including thoughts, urges, images, sounds when not playing. To investigate (i) which types of GTP were more common and (ii) their general characteristics, the present study surveyed a total of 2,362 gamers via an online survey. The majority of the participants were male, students, aged between 18 and 27 years, and 'hard-core' gamers. Most participants reported having experienced at least one type of GTP at some point (96.6%), the majority having experienced GTP more than once with many reporting 6 to 10 different types of GTP. Results demonstrated that videogame players experienced (i) altered visual perceptions (ii) altered auditory perceptions (iii) altered body perceptions (iv) automated mental processes, and (v) behaviors. In most cases, GTP could not be explained by being under the influence of a psychoactive substance. The GTP experiences were usually shortlived, tended to occur after videogame playing rather than during play, occurred recurrently, and usually occurred while doing day-to-day activities. One in five gamers had experienced some type of distress or dysfunction due to GTP. Many experienced GTP as pleasant and some wanted GTP to happen again