There was no label for Jayne Bigelson's unusual habit. For hours a day, she wove elaborate daydreams in her mind. When she was a child, she did this by walking in circles and shaking a rope. When she got older, she learned to do it standing still.
They were pleasant daydreams. She describes them as personal viewings of sitcoms in which she played a starring role. Stories about joining the “Brady Bunch” on family vacations or hanging out with members of “General Hospital.” But they have become total consumers.
“At the end of the day, it’s like alcohol. Many people can drink wine and think it's great. an interview. “It was with me all day, every day.”
The frustrating part is that no one believed her. Her parents and therapists told her that there was no such thing as excessive daydreaming and that she should embrace this “special talent.”
Eventually, Bigelson was prescribed the antidepressant fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) known to help with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The immersive daydreams eventually stopped and Bigelson moved on.
But 15 years later, the Harvard Law School graduate began to wonder again if anyone else suffered from obsessive daydreams. This was the early 2000s and the Internet was becoming a treasure trove of information. Google eventually led her to Eli Somer, Ph.D.'s 2002 paper, “Maladaptive Daydreaming: A Qualitative Inquiry.” Finally, she had validation that her symptoms were real and proof that she was not alone.
Content
- What is maladaptive daydreaming?
- Discovering daydreaming disorder
- How did the research evolve?
- Is maladaptive daydreaming a mental disorder?
- What are the symptoms of maladaptive daydreaming?
- How is maladaptive daydreaming treated?
What is maladaptive daydreaming?
Daydreaming and even mind-wandering (a form of off-task thinking about mundane real-life events) is normal, says Somer, an Israeli clinician who specializes in trauma and dissociative disorders. Immersive daydreaming is different. Somer describes it this way: “extensive, absorbing, fantastic, vivid, fanciful fantasies that are evoked by repetitive physical movements and exposure to evocative music.”
Immersive daydreaming (ID) “is indeed an exceptional trait that generates very pleasurable feelings and therefore can develop into a behavioral addiction,” Somer said in an email interview. But when it causes significant suffering or harm to a person's life, it is considered “maladaptive daydreaming” (MD).
Discovering daydreaming disorder
At the beginning of the millennium, Somer, professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the University of Haifa's School of Social Work, discovered something fascinating among several of his patients. They spent an unusual amount of time daydreaming and creating extensive fantasy lives in their minds. The coincidence caught his attention. “I became interested in their inner worlds.”
Somer's practice consisted of trauma survivors, and as such, he concluded that daydreaming was a distraction or calming activity that patients used as a “dissociative defense mechanism.”
In 2002, he described this observation and coined the term “maladaptive daydreaming” in an article he published in the Journal of Contemporary Psychology. At the time, his concept didn't seem to please his colleagues. Due to lack of interest from the scientific community, Somer abandoned the idea and resumed his clinical and research activities in trauma and dissociation.
A few years later, by the time Bigelson discovered Somer's paper, the term “maladaptive daydreaming,” which didn't exist before 2002, had gone viral. Somer began receiving requests to continue his work on daydreaming disorder.
How did the research evolve?
When Somer discovered maladaptive daydreaming in his patients, most of whom suffered from trauma, he assumed the two conditions were somehow related. But in the two decades since, he says he's known that's not necessarily the case.
“Our research, in fact, shows that there is a statistical relationship between a history of trauma and DM. However, trauma is not a necessary condition. Individuals with ID can become addicted to this highly rewarding mental experience in the absence of a history of trauma,” he says.
Part of his understanding was influenced by Bigelson, who in 2008 convinced his psychiatrist to write a medical case study about his immersive daydreaming experience. She later led research to scan the brains of 90 excessive dreamers. The scans gave further validation that the immersive daydream was real. They revealed that the brain's reward center lit up during moments of immersive daydreaming "in the same way that happens in the brains of heroin addicts when they see pictures of drugs," says Bigelson.
Bigelson has also collaborated with Somer on research and wrote about her disorder in 2015 for The Atlantic to help raise awareness and let other people with MD know they are not alone.
Is maladaptive daydreaming a mental disorder?
Researchers who have studied maladaptive daydreaming extensively believe there is “ample scientific evidence that MD is a reliable mental condition that cannot be explained by any existing psychiatric condition,” says Somer.
But because the construct of maladaptive disorder is still somewhat new, it is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, also known as DSM-5. The manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association, provides information or guidance for the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders.
Nor is it part of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), the global standard for health data, clinical documentation and statistical aggregation.
What are the symptoms of maladaptive daydreaming?
According to Somer, individuals who meet diagnostic criteria A, B, and C can be classified as having a “daydreaming disorder” or “maladaptive daydreaming”:
A. Persistent and recurring fantasy activity that is vivid and fantasy-like as indicated by the individual displaying two (or more) of the following within a six-month period. At least one of them must include criterion (1):
- When daydreaming, you experience an intense sensation of absorption/immersion that includes visual, auditory or affective properties.
- Daydreaming is triggered, maintained, or enhanced by exposure to music.
- Daydreaming is triggered, maintained, or intensified by exposure to stereotypical movements (e.g., pacing, rocking, hand movements).
- You often daydream when you feel distressed or bored.
- The intensity and duration of daydreaming intensifies in the absence of other people (for example, you daydream more when you are alone).
- He becomes irritable when he cannot daydream or when daydreaming is interrupted or restricted.
- Prefers daydreaming to engaging in daily tasks, social, academic or professional activities.
- Made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, reduce, or stop daydreaming.
B. The disorder causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
C. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition and is not better explained by another disorder.
Although not a diagnostic criterion, maladaptive disorder also appears more prevalent in people with certain mental health conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), OCD spectrum disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and social anxiety. .
How is maladaptive daydreaming treated?
It is important to note that extreme, immersive daydreaming, in children or adults, may not need treatment, especially if it is not interfering with the dreamer's life or causing him distress.
For those who want to take better control of their fantasy life, Somer recommends:
- Seek help from a mental health professional who specializes in treating behavioral habits and addictions.
- Keeping a daily diary of your DM can give you better awareness of your daydreams and can lead to better control and reduction.
- Meditation or mindful training can help provide the skill needed to remain present in external reality.
Daydreamers can also find support through online support groups, Facebook communities, and forums like Daydream in Blue and Wild Minds Network.
Bigelson's case study also identified fluvoxamine as a possible pharmaceutical option. But as DM is not considered a mental disorder, there are no specific medications for excessive daydreaming.
Now this is interesting
Film student Thomas Willem Renckens came across “maladaptive daydreaming” while researching fantasy addiction for his graduation film. In the process, “I must have spoken to over 100 different people, which really allowed me to get a good sense of what exactly it is and how it can affect people's lives,” he says. His film, “The Daydreamers”, was released on public television in his native Netherlands and was selected for several film festivals. The film is not yet available online, but the trailer – with testimonials from misfit dreamers and comments from Dr. Somer – can be seen here.
