When the mind leaves the body - Scientists investigate the incredible phenomenon of OBEs

Most people go through life feeling glued to their skin. Hands move, feet follow, and the world stays in front of their eyes. Yet a surprising slice of the population has reported slipping loose, hovering a few feet up, and seeing their own body from the outside.

The phenomenon is called an out-of-body experience (OBE), and its meaning has long puzzled science.

Researchers estimate that anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of global adults have touched this odd territory at least once.

Such accounts crop up in emergency rooms, meditation retreats, and even on living-room couches during an afternoon nap.

Pilots under high G-forces have logged them, and neurologists have induced similar sensations in lab volunteers by tickling a small patch of brain behind the right ear.

OBEs: The strangest trip of all

OBEs share a common script: sight and touch split. People feel weightless, hear the room dimly, and watch themselves from above.

Laboratory work links the effect to the temporoparietal junction, the brain’s traffic circle for balance, vision, and the sense of owning a body.

When signals there clash – because of stress, epilepsy, lack of oxygen, or a virtual-reality headset – the mind may decide to leave its usual seat.

Historical texts show that monks, shamans, and soldiers have all written about brief departures. Modern imaging backs them up: the body stays put.

Yet cardiology monitors sometimes register sudden drops in heart rate during an OBE, hinting at a reflex that calms the nervous system when things feel too intense.

Surveying the floaters

After years of scattered anecdotes, a fresh survey from the University of Virginia School of Medicine takes stock. The team surveyed more than 500 adults who were certain they had floated.

Four out of five said it happened between one and four times; the rest reported at least five departures. Most first left their body in childhood.

Nearly three-quarters called the event spontaneous. Nine percent linked it to psychoactive compounds, while 8.2 percent said meditation, visualization, or similar practices did the trick. Only 0.7 percent pointed to hypnosis.

OBEs and the stress connection

The new data reveal a heavy shadow of early hardship. Many participants recalled medical trauma or abusive homes.

They also carried more mental-health diagnoses than peers who had never floated, and the likelihood of a diagnosis increased the longer it had been since that first OBE.

Many people who’ve had out-of-body experiences (OBEs) worry there’s something wrong with them and keep quiet out of fear of being judged.

“Unfortunately, many mental-health professionals still view these experiences in the same way,” said Weiler, a neuroscientist with UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies.

Weiler’s team found that individuals who’ve had OBEs often report poorer mental health than those who haven’t.

However, the researchers believe OBEs may act as “a coping mechanism in response to past trauma,” rather than a sign of illness.

They urge clinicians to reconsider how they view these experiences and to meet them with “greater openness and sensitivity.”

Gains from leaving the body

The survey also tracked unexpected upsides. Fifty-five percent of participants said the experience changed their life; seventy-one percent felt a lasting benefit; and forty percent called it the greatest thing that had ever happened to them.

Many described a lighter view of death, deeper calm, and a sharper sense of connection to other people. These reports match earlier studies in hospital patients, where OBEs sometimes eased anxiety after major surgery.

While stress can tip the brain into an OBE, curiosity clearly plays a role. Some volunteers used breathing exercises or sleep-onset tricks to nudge the event on purpose, chasing the mental clarity they felt hovering in the air.

Scientists studying meditation note similar patterns of detachment during deep practice, though the body stays motionless on the cushion.

Clinical implications

“This view,” the researchers write, “shifts the focus from causation to the possibility that OBEs may also emerge as a consequence – a coping strategy for navigating difficult or traumatic experiences.”

Their argument moves attention away from the spectacle of floating and toward the stress that often hides underneath.

“If OBEs are understood not as symptoms of pathology but as coping mechanisms – especially in response to trauma – this reframing can lead to several important shifts in clinical practice, research, and public understanding,” Weiler explained.

“Ultimately, we hope to reduce the stigma around this topic, encourage help-seeking, and build community and resilience among experiencers.”

Therapists who meet an OBE client might soon ask different questions: not “Why did you split from your body?” but “What weight were you carrying when you launched?”

Workshops for PTSD already teach grounding techniques, yet some clinicians now explore whether guided imagery that safely mimics an OBE can loosen painful memories without triggering panic.

Where do OBEs go from here?

Portable brain scanners and motion-tracking beds promise sharper views of the moment liftoff begins. Researchers aim to map the split-second traffic between inner ear, skin sensors, and sight that lets the self drift.

Others wonder whether the heart’s slowdown during OBEs could teach new ways to manage panic attacks or chronic pain.

For now, the lesson is plain: when the mind steps outside, it may be staging a clever retreat, buying time until life feels safe again.

Listening to the story behind that retreat might help bring both mind and body back into easy conversation.

The full study was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

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