I certainly would not put myself in the expert class. I will try and answer to the best of my knowledge so take it for what it is worth. OK?

There are many, many kinds of dissociation. Some are very mild and do not effect the person's life at all. Others are very "drastic" and cause the person a lot of problems or help them through a lot of problems or both.

It does sound to me like your friend is intentionally dissociating. Perhaps much like one would when meditating or "wool gathering". It sounds like she has control and goes there when she needs to.

What would concern me is why she feels she needs to go there so often and why is this her means of coping with problems. If it were my friend I would encourage her to talk to a real expert and find perhaps ways to deal with her problems instead of having to go away from them.

I hope this helps some. Take care.