Online Disembodiment Test

Understand how online interaction may leave you feeling less connected to your body in about 5 minutes. With 24 items, it offers a fast, clinically relevant snapshot to support insight and care planning.

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Questions: 245 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

25,577 views

3,019 completions

2,630 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

12/24

Preference for Technological Disembodiment (PfTD)

Measures how positively a person experiences and prefers a sense of being “bodiless” during online interaction, indicating potential distancing from physical self-awareness.

Low

Moderate

High

6 – 11: Low | 12 – 18: Moderate | 19 – 24: High

A score of 12 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a noticeable but not dominant tendency to view online disembodiment positively and to feel somewhat distanced from the physical self in digital contexts.

example score

13/24

Embodied Self Vitality (ESV)

Measures how much energy, aliveness, and adaptability a person experiences in their embodied, offline life.

Low vitality

Moderate vitality

High vitality

6 – 12: Low vitality | 13 – 18: Moderate vitality | 19 – 24: High vitality

A score of 13 suggests moderate vitality of the embodied Self, with some capacity for offline engagement and bodily presence that may feel uneven at times.

example score

17/24

Embodied, Integrated Self (EIS)

Measures how embodied and physically integrated a person feels in relation to their online activity and communication.

Low embodiment

Moderate embodiment

High embodiment

6 – 12: Low embodiment | 13 – 18: Moderate embodiment | 19 – 24: High embodiment

A score of 17 indicates a moderately embodied, generally integrated sense of physical self with some room for stronger bodily connectedness in online contexts.

example score

16/24

Disembodiment as Virtualization (DaV)

Measures how strongly online interaction is associated with feelings of unreality and a distanced, virtualized sense of bodily self and existence.

Low virtualization

Moderate virtualization

High virtualization

6 – 11: Low virtualization | 12 – 18: Moderate virtualization | 19 – 24: High virtualization

A score of 16 falls in the Moderate virtualization range, suggesting a noticeable but not pervasive tendency to experience oneself and reality as more abstract or unreal during online engagement.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Online-first professionals

41%OF USERS

People who spend most of the day working and communicating online and notice they feel less connected to their body.

Chronic scrolling communicators

34%OF USERS

Heavy internet users who feel oddly detached, numb, or “not quite real” after long periods of online interaction.

Therapy and coaching clients

25%OF USERS

People exploring dissociation, anxiety, or low bodily self-awareness who want a quick check of how online life affects their sense of physical self.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Preference for technical disembodiment (Pftd)

Average

13.9

Normal range

11.1 — 16.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Vitality of the Embodied Self (VotES)

Average

16.9

Normal range

13.9 — 20

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Embodied, whole Self (EwS)

Average

16.9

Normal range

13.6 — 20.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Incarnlessness as Virtualization (IaV)

Average

17.9

Normal range

14.8 — 21.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below is a list of statements related to contemporary life online and offline. Four response options are provided for each statement. Select the option that best applies to you.

- Completely disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Completely agree
- Strongly disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Rather disagree
- Rather agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 24 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Online Disembodiment Test - Symptoms and Signs

depersonalization

existential psychology

cyberpsychology

This measure assesses subjective experiences of disembodiment that occur specifically in the context of online interaction. Online Disembodiment is intended to help clinicians and researchers gauge the degree to which an individual reports feeling detached from bodily experience when using internet-based communication or digital environments. It was developed by John Suler.

The instrument consists of 24 items and typically takes about 5 minutes to complete. Items focus on perceived distancing from the physical self, supporting screening and case formulation when concerns include dissociation, reduced interoceptive awareness, or changes in self-perception associated with frequent digital engagement. Results from Online Disembodiment should be interpreted in conjunction with clinical interview and other relevant measures.

Author: John Suler

Literature: Caplan, S. E. Theory and measurement of generalized problematic Internet use: A two-step approach. Computers in Human Behavior. 2010.