Maladaptive daydreaming is a mental disorder that causes people to spend most of their time immersing themselves in their imagination. It affects people’s daily lives via their relationships, education, work, etc,. This daydreaming disorder is not fully recognized because it is not easily diagnosable, but is closely related to other conditions.
People with daydreaming disorder or maladaptive daydreaming usually have other preexisting conditions that affect their mental health. Some of these conditions related to maladaptive daydreaming are ADHD, OCD, anxiety, dissociative disorders, etc.
“The prevalence of maladaptive daydreaming is unknown , but the condition appears to be more common among people with anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Over half of maladaptive daydreamers have a mental health disorder,” Jay Summer and Heather Wright said.
People cope with having anxiety, OCD, depression, ADHD, and other mental health disorders by experiencing daydreams. Maladaptive daydreaming can also be used to cope with trauma or any other triggering stimuli in people's day to day life.
“These daydreams may be triggered by real-life events or stimuli, such as a noise, smell, conversation topic, or movie. Maladaptive daydreaming may develop as a coping strategy in response to trauma. The inner world may feel safer than the experience happening outside,” Summer and Wright said.
Currently there is no definitive way to diagnose someone with maladaptive disorder. According to Ashley Laderer, the options to treat or manage maladaptive daydreaming is limited because the information known about the disorder is limited. Some researchers recommend mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy, while others recommend going to a therapist to treat a preexisting mental health issue. Researchers are still working on different ways to treat maladaptive daydreaming as they learn more on the phenomenon.
“As researchers learn more about why maladaptive dreaming happens and how it links to other conditions, they may one day identify an effective treatment,” Erica Cirino said.
There are tests done, but they are self-assessments and if one goes to a therapist, the doctor will ask the same questions the assessment will ask. The most popular test is based on the MDS-16 scale, but if you tell your therapist your symptoms they can help you identify if it is maladaptive daydreaming. Some of the symptoms are vivid daydreams, addiction, stress, repetitive behavior, and other related behaviors to other mental health disorders.
It is imperative for someone with maladaptive daydreaming disorder to get control of their problem and seek help. Since daydreaming disorder can affect your daily life, it can cause a lot of emotional distress on a person. According to Cirino, about 25% of people with this disorder have attempted suicide.
People have used this disorder to escape from their painful reality or enjoy a fictional world they saw on television. Some people after watching films or shows immerse themselves in the fictional world to have conversations with their favorite characters. Others when experiencing stimuli that trigger negative emotions play out different scenarios and conversations for hours after said stimuli. This causes people to be stuck in their minds for hours on end, every single day, like an addiction.
By Kinesis Magazine- Irina Pirvu
“At college, she would become so lost in these imaginings that she would forget to study for her exams or run errands. On average, she now spends about three hours a day immersed in daydreams, but on bad days in the past, she could spend as many as six hours locked in her inner world,” David Robson said.
Maladaptive daydreaming can tear people apart because others have gotten an addiction from immersing themselves in their imagination rather than in reality.
*Originally posted on Standpoint News, Summer 2023
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