Abstract

Depersonalisation is a common dissociative experience characterised by distressing feelings of being detached or ‘estranged’ from one’s self and body and/or the world. The COVID-19 pandemic forcing millions of people to socially distance themselves from others and to change their lifestyle habits. We have conducted an online study of 622 participants worldwide to investigate the relationship between digital media-based activities, distal social interactions and peoples’ sense of self during the lockdown as contrasted with before the pandemic. We found that increased use of digital media-based activities and online social e-meetings correlated with higher feelings of depersonalisation. We also found that the participants reporting higher experiences of depersonalisation, also reported enhanced vividness of negative emotions (as opposed to positive emotions). Finally, participants who reported that lockdown influenced their life to a greater extent had higher occurrences of depersonalisation experiences. Our findings may help to address key questions regarding well-being during a lockdown, in the general population. Our study points to potential risks related to overly sedentary, and hyper-digitalised lifestyle habits that may induce feelings of living in one’s ‘head’ (mind), disconnected from one’s body, self and the world.

Details

Title
Zoomed out: digital media use and depersonalization experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown
Author
Ciaunica Anna 1 ; McEllin Luke 2 ; Kiverstein Julian 3 ; Gallese Vittorio 4 ; Hohwy Jakob 5 ; Woźniak Mateusz 6 

 University of Lisbon, Centre for Philosophy of Science, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.9983.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4263); University of Porto, Institute of Philosophy, Porto, Portugal (GRID:grid.5808.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 1503 7226); University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, UK (GRID:grid.83440.3b) (ISNI:0000000121901201) 
 University of Warwick, Coventry, UK (GRID:grid.7372.1) (ISNI:0000 0000 8809 1613); Central European University, Department of Cognitive Science, Social Mind Center, Vienna, Austria (GRID:grid.5146.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2149 6445) 
 Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.509540.d) (ISNI:0000 0004 6880 3010); University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.7177.6) (ISNI:0000000084992262) 
 University of Parma, Department of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy (GRID:grid.10383.39) (ISNI:0000 0004 1758 0937) 
 Monash University, Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1002.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7857); Monash University, Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1002.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7857) 
 Central European University, Department of Cognitive Science, Social Mind Center, Vienna, Austria (GRID:grid.5146.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2149 6445); Monash University, Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1002.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7857) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2637832842
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.