Excessive daydreaming: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatment

There are people who constantly take refuge in their imagination, living it more than reality.

Recently the term "excessive daydreaming" (originally "maladaptative daydreaming") has been proposed to refer to persistent absorption in one's fantasies, significantly affecting functionality and daily activities.

We will see in this article what is excessive daydreamingwhat are some of its possible causes and the effectiveness of its treatment.

What is excessive daydreaming? Symptoms

Excessive daydreaming" is a construct recently generated to describe the tendency to be recurrently distracted by one's own fantasies, which ultimately generates a significant experience of stress, as well as difficulty in accomplishing daily tasks.

It is defined as: "extensive fantasy activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with interpersonal, academic, or vocational functionality" (Sommer, 2015). In this sense, excessive daydreaming is characterized by. psychological dependence manifested in the compulsion to compulsively abstract into fantasies.. As such, it is difficult to control. Sometimes it can last for hours and sometimes even days, which ultimately affects the person's daily responsibilities.

The description of excessive daydreaming has gained popularity among frequent Internet users around the world, who have communicated to talk about their daydreaming experiences. In fact, this experience is related to a high daily exposure time to the Internet..

The latter have especially reported the following characteristics of excessive daydreaming:

• The person recognizes that has this tendency to become intensely absorbed in his or her fantasies since childhood.
• In private they generate rituals that facilitate the state of daydreaming (e.g., walking, listening to music).
• They relate this to experiences of anguish during previous life cycles, especially during childhood. during previous life cycles, especially during childhood and adolescence.
• Excessive daydreaming is recognized as a mental habit that is also an obstacle to carrying out daily activities.

Some studies on this type of daydreaming

Daydreaming and the world of fantasies have been studied for a long time by psychology since its beginnings. These experiences have been approached from different points of view. They range from psychoanalytic postulates that relate excessive daydreaming to deprivation and latent psychic conflicts, to cognitive-behavioral theories, which differentiate between constructive daydreaming related to creativity, and compulsive daydreaming related to attention deficits, and compulsive daydreaming related to attention deficits. a compulsive one related to attention deficits or avoidant behaviors..

The above has generated different studies on the nature of daydreaming and excessive daydreaming. A difference has been found between one and the other in quantitative terms, in terms of content, in terms of the experience of stress and sense of control, as well as in terms of interference in the person's functionality.

This might indicate that excessive daydreaming shares several of the characteristics of addiction to certain behaviors.. However, studies have concluded that more research is needed to determine whether it is a specific disorder or clinical picture, or whether it is one of the characteristics associated with different types of addiction.

It is also necessary to determine whether it is a specific syndrome or one of the characteristics of other clinical conditions such as dissociative disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In either case, there is already a standardized instrument to analyze whether a dreaming experience is being normal or excessive.

This is the Maladaptative Daydreaming Scale, which is a self-report instrument validated in an Anglo-Saxon population from 45 different countries. The same scale relates excessive daydreaming scores to obsessive-compulsive behaviors and thinking, dissociation, attention deficit, as well as the sensation of presence during daydreaming and the possibility of psychotic manifestations.

Causes

The content of the fantasies, according to the reports of those who are known as excessive dreamers, is often characterized by themes involving emotional support, competence and social recognition..

In this sense, daydreaming is comforting and rewarding, as it is a relief from everyday stressors. is a relief from daily stressors related to, for example, thefor example, with the promotion of excessive individualism and high demands for social recognition. It is also related to the coping schemes to such stressors and the available compensatory alternatives.

Treatment

Regarding treatment, much of the scientific literature agrees that further research is needed to obtain conclusive results. However, empirical studies on the efficacy of psychotherapeutic empirical studies have begun to be conducted on the efficacy of psychotherapeutic treatment in these cases. in these cases. Specifically Eli Somer (2018) from the University of Haifa in Israel, has reported the course of psychotherapy in 25 men who presented with excessive daydreaming. The therapeutic plan included cognitive behavioral interventions as well as mindfulness-style meditation.

It lasted 6 months and its results were evaluated periodically. As a conclusion, people reduced their overall daydreaming time by more than 50% as well as the amount of time they spent on the Internet by 70%. The latter translated into improved social and work functionality. No obstante, la ensoñación de tipo maladaptativo mejoró en menor porcentaje, así como los autorreportes sobre el placer o gratificación asociada a la ensoñación.

Referencias bibliográficas:

• Schupak, C. y Rosenthal, J. (2008). Excessive daydreaming: a case history and discussion of mind wandering and high fantasy proneness. Recuperado 27 de septiembre de 2018. Disponible en https://web.archive.org/web/20121025225258/http://www.scribd.com/doc/9089146/Excessive-daydreaming-A-case-history-and-discussion-of-mind-wandering-and-high-fantasy-proneness.
• Somer, E. (2018). Maladaptative daydreaming: a qualitative inquiry. Journal of Contemporary Prychotherapy, 32(2/3): 197-212.
• Somer, E. (2018). Maladaptative Daydreaming: Ontological Analysis, Treatment Rationale; a Pilot Case Report. Frontiers in the Psychotherapy and Trauma and Dissociation, 1(2): 1-22.
• Somer, E., Lehrfeld, J., Bigelsen, J. y Jopp, D. (2015). Development and validation of the Maladaptative Daydreaming Scale (MDS). Consciousness and Cognition, 39: 77-91.
• Pietkiewicz, IJ., Nechki, S., Banbura, A. y Tomalski, R. (2018). Maladaptative daydreaming as a new form of behavioral addiction. Jorunal of Behavioral Addiction, 21:1-6.