People with stronger depersonalisation traits—feeling detached from their own body—report more frequent dreams from an outside-observer perspective and more dreams with distinct or altered bodily sensations, along with more nightmares and higher dream recall. They also show weaker body boundaries and less trust in internal bodily signals while awake. These findings suggest that dreaming does not provide a temporary escape from depersonalisation symptoms; instead, the dream state mirrors the waking disruptions in sense of self and body.
Flotation-Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) and mindfulness meditation both produce altered states of consciousness, including ego-dissolution and mystical-type experiences. Ego-dissolution scores exceeded ego-inflation scores in both groups, and Mystical Experience Questionnaire scores fell between those from low and high doses of psilocybin. Weakening of perceived body boundaries predicted greater ego-dissolution and mystical experience scores only in the mindfulness meditation group. Having an existing meditation practice was linked to stronger altered states in that group. Past psychedelic use did not predict the degree of altered consciousness, but openness to experience did. Combining validated measures with phenomenological analysis helps describe the rich conscious states produced by these interventions.