Analysis of a reported incident resulting in an actual airline hijacking due to a fanatical and engrossed virtual reality state

We define Chronic Alternate-World Disorder (CAWD) as "A state in which a person is no longer able to distinguish the real world from virtual space, due to his or her isolation in virtual space for an extended period of time with no contact with the actual world." The case report is about a patient who hijacked a jumbo jetliner in order to fly the airplane on his own, after developing CAWD from the use of flight-simulator virtual reality system. We believe symptomatic cases of CAWD will increase as virtual-reality (VR) spread throughout our society. In view of this, our objective is to propose precautionary and preventive measures for providers of VR system for patients with schizophrenia or personality disorders, from psychiatric and sociological perspectives.