Virtual reality psychosis

Virtual reality psychosis, or VR psychosis, is a medical condition where a person believes themselves to be in virtual reality despite actually being in the real world. Common symptoms include paranoia and an irrational aversion to virtual reality technologies. More serious symptoms include general nihilistic tendencies such as reckless behavior, a complete disregard of social norms and a deep level of solipsism.

One of the first known instances of VR psychosis goes back to Avalon Technologies, an VR entertainment company contemporary to the Valerian Empire. Avalon Technologies was known to have offered a service where a person could live out an entire lifetime within the span of a few hours. The company eventually shutdown after it was discovered that people emerging back into the real world were still believing they were in VR.

In the era of the Federation of Stellar Systems, all virtual reality media is mandated to have a means of escape back into the real world. Hyperrealistic visuals are also heavily discouraged - something which consequently influenced the art style of the Federation era to be more fantasy oriented and stylized.