Maladaptive daydreaming, also calledย excessive daydreaming, is when an individual experiences excessiveย dreamingย that interferes with daily life. It is a proposed diagnosis of a disordered form of dissociativeย absorptionย associated with excessiveย fantasyย that is not recognized by any major medical or psychological criteria. Maladaptive daydreaming can result inย distress, can replace human interaction and may interfere with normal functioning such asย social lifeย or work.ย Maladaptive daydreaming is not a widely recognized diagnosis, and is not found in any major diagnostic manual of psychiatry or medicine.The term was coined in 2002 byย Eli Somerย of theย University of Haifa.ย Somer’s definition of the proposed condition is “extensive fantasy activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning.”ย There has been limited research outside of Somer’s.
what is daydreaming
Daydreaming, a form of normal dissociation associated with absorption, is a highly prevalent mental activity experienced by almost everyone. Some individuals reportedly possess the ability to dream so vividly that they experience a sense of presence in the imagined environment.ย This experience is reported to be extremely rewarding to the extent that some of those who experience it develop a compulsion to repeat it that it has been described as anย addiction.
Somer has proposed “stimuli” for maladaptive daydreams that may relate to specific locations. The main proposed symptom is extremely vivid fantasies with “story-like features”, such as the dream’s characters, plots and settings.
Somer has argued that maladaptive day dreaming is not a form ofย psychosisย as people with maladaptive day dreaming can tell that their fantasies are not real while those withย psychotic disordersย have difficulty separating hallucinations or delusions from reality.
Cause of maladaptive day-dreaming
#1.Their reportedย childhood traumataย were associated with the utilization of MD to distract from painful memories. A history of childhood physical and emotional neglect as well as emotional abuse was associated with day dreaming aimed to regulate emotional pain.
#2.What causes maladaptive day dreaming?ย Experts don’t know exactly why maladaptive daydreaming happens. However, they suspect it happens because maladaptive daydreaming can be a coping mechanism for problems like anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions.
Diagnosis
There are no official ways to diagnose maladaptive daydreaming in patients because it has not yet been recognized in any official diagnostic manual for psychiatry, such as theย DSM-5. However, some methods have been developed in attempt to gauge the proposed mental disorder’s prevalence.
Cure of maladaptive day-dreaming
Stay engaged during the day.ย Keep your mind busy and mentally unavailable for daydreaming. Choose tasks that take your mental focus, like reading or crosswords. You could also engage your mind and body at the same time, like playing basketball or dancing. Or you could engage in social activities, like getting coffee with a friend or attending a local trivia event with co-workers.
Begin to recognize and avoid triggers.ย A trigger is an event, place, feeling, or thought that makes you start or return to maladaptive daydreaming. Identify your daydreaming triggers. You can make notes about when you daydream, and what was happening right before. For example, you may notice that when you go into a certain room, you have some of your best daydreams or you daydream when you’re bored. Be aware of your triggers and make specific plans to avoid them.
Consider abuse as a possible cause.ย Abuse at a young age is common in those who experience maladaptive daydreams. What starts as imaginative daydreaming becomes full-fledged escapist fantasies. The maladaptive nature of the daydreams really starts impacting sufferers in the early or pre-teen years. If you were abused and struggle with maladaptive dreaming, be sure to get help from a mental health professional.