Regular VS. Immersive VS. Maladaptive Daydreaming
What is regular daydreaming?
- Mind-wandering. What everyone does sometimes. Regular daydreaming typically does not take up a lot of time. Most people daydream while bored at work/school, in the shower, during a long drive, while lying in bed trying to fall asleep, etc. Examples of scenarios include; planning out/replaying conversations, imagining asking out your crush, preparing for a presentation, thinking of what to eat for dinner that night, and much more. Regular daydream scenarios are often simple and mundane, but can sometimes be more elaborate and eccentric.
What is immersive daydreaming?
- A form of highly absorptive daydreaming, that includes intense visual, auditory, and/or affective properties. Immersive daydreamers may spend significant amounts of their time daydreaming, and may have very detailed daydream worlds and plots, and may experience an intense emotional connection to their daydream worlds and characters.
- Immersive daydreaming can be a healthy or neutral coping mechanism for someone, or it could simply be a hobby for them.
What is maladaptive daydreaming?
- It is classified by excessive fantasy activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning.
- When immersive daydreaming becomes an addiction/compulsion. So much so that it starts to have a significant negative impact on the daydreamer, their functioning, and/or their mental health.
- An unhealthy coping mechanism that often stems from trauma or is used to cope with some other mental illness/disorder.
What does “maladaptive” mean?
- maladaptive: not providing adequate or appropriate adjustment to the environment or situation.
- The prefix “MAL-” means “bad”
What is “maladaptive coping”? (i highly suggest doing your own extensive research on maladaptive coping before diagnosing yourself with madd)
- “Maladaptive coping mechanisms are behaviors that make us feel better in the short term, but in the long-term, they are very harmful.” [more-love.org]
- “Adaptive methods improve functioning, while maladaptive methods do not.” [mentalhelp.net]
- “Maladaptive behavior is behavior that prevents you from making adjustments that are in your own best interest.” [healthline.com]
- “Maladaptive coping strategies are those that attempt to manage stress, but end up decreasing function despite temporary respite from certain symptoms.” [study.com]
- “Maladaptive behavior is defined as behavior that interferes with an individual’s activities of daily living or ability to adjust to and participate in particular settings.” [link.springer.com]
What do immersive daydreamers and maladaptive daydreamers have in common?
- Immersive daydreaming. All maladaptive daydreamers are immersive daydreamers, but not all immersive daydreamers are maladaptive daydreamers. immersive daydreaming refers to the thing we do, whereas maladaptive daydreaming refers to the way we use it and how it affects us.
- Detailed worlds/stories/plots.
- Deep emotional connections to our daydream worlds/characters.
- Daydreaming when we’re bored or distressed.
What are some examples* of ways that daydreaming can have a negative effect on someone? (*this is not and exhaustive list of examples)
- A person may find it very difficult to control when they fall into a daydream and may struggle to pull themselves out of a daydream. This can cause people to lose focus and fall behind at school or work.
- They may neglect their social life and relationships to focus on daydreaming.
- They may get irritated/angry when a daydream session is interrupted. In more severe instances, this can lead to lashing out at people, or even result in anxiety/panic attacks.
- They may feel embarrassed or stressed because of their daydreaming habits.
- They may become anxious/agitated/irritated when forced to go long periods of time without daydreaming.
- They may experience intrusive daydreams (unwanted/involuntary violent, sexual, or otherwise unpleasant daydreams).
- They may neglect their basic needs (hygiene, eating, sleeping) to continue daydreaming.
- They may end up finding life very dull/unsatisfying/unpleasant because it does not live up to their daydreams.
- They may end up experiencing emotional distress because their daydream world/characters are not real.
Does that mean daydreaming and other forms of escapism are inherently bad?
- No. It is very possible to engage in escapist behavior without it harming you. As with most habits, everything is okay in moderation. But sometimes, it can reach a point where it becomes excessive and unhealthy.
