Because I'm a cheap bastard, and games are so expensive, when I purchase on, I want to "complete" it: play through every scene, do every annoying side-quest.

After a long wait for a sale, I purchased "The Outer Worlds". As a long over-deserved treat, on Saturday I played it for 9 hours straight, without a break.

I had a thought: wow, I really should be going to bed, and quit the game.

It was like I had woken from a dream. I had to look around to remember what city, room I was in, and how I had gotten there.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it was disturbing.

It's not the first time after prolonged play, I momentarily felt like I was “still in the game” or unsure about their real-world surroundings.

Again, because I'm cheap, I don't often have a chance for prolonged playing of games.

I came across these references if someone experiences something similar, dissociation when quitting a video game.

Not to worry if this is a rare experience. the term “Game Transfer Phenomena” refers to instances when game elements “bleed” into real life.

Mentioned by one gamer: “I was playing … about four hours straight. When I stood up, … I thought I was a Jedi in a cave for about five seconds.”

Clinicians have noted such symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for psychosis unless correctly recognized as transient GTP.

Dissociation in Problematic Gaming: a Systematic Review

...relationship between problematic gaming and dissociation.

Nineteen peer-reviewed empirical studies

Findings: ...excessive video game use may be linked to a variety of dissociative phenomena (e.g. depersonalisation experiences, escapism, psychotic-like experiences, game transfer phenomena).

...dissociative symptoms might represent the side effects of an alteration in consciousness that is generated by excessive video game use.

From active escapism to virtual withdrawal: Validation of the Compensatory-Dissociative Online Gaming scales (C-DOGs): National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, BioTechnology
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degrees of integration between physical and virtual environments with three core processes – Active Escapism, Escape, and Dissociation – and two peripheral processes – Gaming-Related Relaxation and Body-Mind Detachment.
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