Immune signals may fuel out-of-body experiences, early findings suggest
Emerging research suggests chronic inflammation, driven by a trauma-triggered stress response, could contribute to dissociative experiences such as depersonalization and derealization. Early data from a long-term UK cohort found links between childhood inflammatory markers (like interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein) and later dissociative symptoms, though the results are correlational and not causal. If confirmed, this could open new avenues for anti-inflammatory treatments, but experts caution that much remains unknown and biomarkers are nonspecific across conditions.
