Maladaptive Daydreaming

It’s common to get lost in your thoughts every once in a while. Experts estimate we spend about 47% of our waking hours Trusted Source Science View Source daydreaming, momentarily distracted from the world around us as we let our mind wander. But, if your daydreams are so intense that they feel addictive and interfere with your daily life, you could be experiencing maladaptive daydreaming.

What Is Maladaptive Daydreaming?

Sometimes called daydreaming disorder Trusted Source Frontiers in Psychiatry View Source , maladaptive daydreaming describes an experience in which a person regularly has daydreams that are so intense and distracting Trusted Source American Psychological Association (APA) APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 121,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. View Source that they interfere with work or social activities. These daydreams can be richly detailed and may feature an idealized version of the daydreamer.

Maladaptive daydreaming was first defined in 2002 by researcher Eli Somer, who argues that people with maladaptive daydreaming have a clinical disorder Trusted Source International Journal of Psychology View Source . However, it isn’t currently recognized as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Trusted Source American Psychiatric Association (APA) The APA is an organization of psychiatrists working together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental illness, including substance use disorders. View Source

Who Is Most at Risk?

People with certain mental disorder symptoms may face an increased risk of maladaptive daydreaming, and more than half of maladaptive daydreamers have a mental health disorder. Studies have found that maladaptive daydreaming is linked with the following issues: Trusted Source Comprehensive Psychiatry View Source

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Emotional dysregulation
• Recent or childhood trauma
• Feelings of shame
• Feelings of emotional distress
• Loneliness
• Personality disorders
• Increased internet use
• Low self-esteem
• Heavy alcohol use
• Dissociation (detaching from one’s body, self, or surroundings)
• Suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts
• Psychotic symptoms
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Due to the nature of the symptoms, maladaptive daydreaming can be confused with schizophrenia; however, these conditions are very different. Most notably, individuals who experience maladaptive daydreaming know that their daydreams are not real, while those with disorders like schizophrenia have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy Trusted Source National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) The NIMH is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders. View Source .

How Common Is Maladaptive Daydreaming?

An Israeli study found that 2.5% of participants experienced maladaptive daydreaming Trusted Source Journal of Clinical Psychology View Source . This number increased to between 5.5% and 8.5% when looking at younger participants, suggesting teens and young adults may be more likely to experience  maladaptive daydreaming than older adults Trusted Source Frontiers in Psychiatry View Source . 

Researchers also found that 20.5% of people with ADHD experience maladapative daydreaming. More research is needed to clarify how common maladaptive daydreaming is among people with other overlapping disorders.

Symptoms of Maladaptive Daydreaming

Maladaptive daydreaming symptoms include:

• Intense, vivid daydreams that present as a story with characters, settings, and plotlines
• Trouble focusing and completing daily tasks due to daydreams
• Daydreams that last for several minutes to hours
• Daydreams that may be triggered by real-life events or sensory stimuli
• Unconscious facial expressions, body movements, or whispering related to daydreams
• A compulsive or addictive desire to keep daydreaming 
• Feelings of irritation when daydreams are interrupted
• Unsuccessful attempts to stop daydreaming or to daydream less often
• Negative emotions, like shame and guilt, about the daydreams
• Trouble sleeping due to a desire to daydream instead

Causes of Maladaptive Daydreaming

The researchers who believe that maladaptive daydreaming is a distinct mental health issue have suggested that it might have causes similar to those of other mental illnesses. Mental health disorders are thought to develop due to a person’s biology, including their genetics, as well as their environment, which includes social life, stressors, lifestyle, and other factors.

Among people who have them, maladaptive daydreams may be triggered by real-life events Trusted Source Journal of Behavioral Addictions View Source or stimuli, such as a noise, smell, conversation topic, or movie scene. Maladaptive daydreaming may also develop as a coping strategy in response to stress or trauma, as the inner world may feel safer than the experience happening externally. 

For example, people engaged in maladaptive daydreaming more frequently Trusted Source Frontiers in Psychiatry View Source during the COVID-19 lockdown, reporting that they felt a greater urge to daydream and the vividness of their daydreams intensified.

Maladaptive Daydreaming Diagnosis

Because maladaptive daydreaming isn’t currently listed as a mental health condition in the DSM-5, there aren’t agreed-upon diagnostic criteria, and it can’t be officially diagnosed as a disorder at this time. That said, researchers have developed tools to assess whether or not a person engages in maladaptive daydreaming, including proposed diagnostic criteria.

Maladaptive Daydreaming Test

Three tools are commonly used to assess maladaptive daydreaming in research studies on the topic. However, many clinicians are not familiar with maladaptive daydreaming and may not offer these assessments to clients.

• Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16): Originally a 14-part self-assessment, the MDS-16 now contains 16 items Trusted Source Consciousness and Cognition View Source . These questions ask people to self-report symptoms they experience, allowing clinicians to identify if maladaptive daydreaming is present, as well as what might trigger it for a particular person.
• Maladaptive Daydreaming Short Form (MD-SF5): The MD-SF5 is a shortened version of the MDS-16 that only contains five questions. Research shows that this shortened scale aligns with the MDS-16, identifying maladaptive daydreaming well and in less time. 
• Structured Clinical Interview for Maladaptive Daydreaming (SCI-MD): In structured clinical interviews, a clinician asks questions related to the diagnostic criteria for the disorder they are screening a person for. Although maladaptive daydreaming doesn’t have official diagnostic criteria, some researchers have proposed diagnostic criteria, and others have used these criteria to conduct structured clinical interviews Trusted Source Psychology of Consciousness View Source .

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Complications of Maladaptive Daydreaming

Because maladaptive daydreams are often lengthy and involved, they can negatively impact a person’s relationships, work or school performance, sleep, and daily life. Studies of medical students have found that those who engaged in maladaptive daydreaming reported a significant decline in their GPA Trusted Source Cureus Journal of Medical Science View Source .

In general, people who daydream are more likely Trusted Source PLOS ONE PLOS ONE is an inclusive journal community working together to advance science for the benefit of society, now and in the future. Founded with the aim of accelerating the pace of scientific advancement and demonstrating its value, we believe all rigorous science needs to be published and discoverable, widely disseminated and freely accessible to all. View Source to have troubled sleep. People who engage in maladaptive daydreaming may struggle to sleep, because they’d prefer to daydream. Poor sleep can cause sleep deprivation, which impairs one’s ability to focus, which is a symptom of maladaptive daydreaming. In addition, some of the mental health conditions linked to maladaptive daydreaming, such as anxiety and depression, are associated with poor sleep.

How to Stop Maladaptive Daydreaming

There’s no official course of treatment for maladaptive daydreaming. Typically, treatment focuses on reducing the likelihood of experiencing maladaptive daydreams through therapy and, if relevant, sleep changes.

Get Support

Explain your symptoms to people you trust, like family members and friends. This may help prevent your daydreams from straining relationships while also enabling people to help you by interrupting you when they notice you daydreaming.

Many people also use online forums, social media, and other websites to connect with others who have maladaptive daydreams. While forums and online sources of support haven’t been formally studied to see if they can reduce maladaptive daydreaming, some people claim connecting with others who experience the same problem is helpful.

Consider Therapy

A therapist can help you process any underlying trauma and perhaps identify what’s triggering your maladaptive daydreaming. They can also recommend specific strategies for managing symptoms. For example, grounding techniques can be helpful. Some therapists may also recommend changing your daydream’s plot endings from good to bad to make the daydream less rewarding.

Understand Your Symptom Triggers

Use a small notepad or the notes app on your phone to record what you were doing before you had a maladaptive daydream. Once you know what your triggers are, you can take steps to avoid them or understand why they’re triggering you.

Improve Your Sleep

Adopting better sleep habits can improve your sleep quality, which may be helpful if maladaptive daydreaming is negatively impacting your sleep.

• Set and follow a regular sleep schedule every day of the week, even on weekends.
• Provide yourself with enough time to enjoy however much sleep you require, which falls between 7 to 9 hours for most people.
• Establish a calming bedtime routine to help you relax into sleep.
• Exercise daily and eat healthy meals, but not close to bedtime.

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