Shamanic traditions from many parts of the world teach that that is exactly what happens: When you go through something very traumatic, like a car accident, your soul might think you are about to die, and partly leave your body. Part of it can get broken off and lost. What the shaman does to fix this is by deliberately becoming a ghost, going into trance and traveling to the place where the missing soul piece is, and getting it back.
By the way, that's why roller coasters are fun and scary, they trick your body and soul into thinking you are about to die. Be warned, if you ever decide to study shamanism, that one side effect is that after you get good at leaving your body and (if you get to this level) crossing into the realms of the dead and returning, roller coasters cease to be fun. Since your subconscious spirit knows what it feels like to really leave the living waking world, it can't be fooled any more. In the same way, ghost stories are much less entertaining (although they might be interesting from a technical standpoint--usually I end up wondering what I can do to help the poor ghost if the story is true).
Blessings,
Alder
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