We often resort to daydreaming as a way to escape from the burdens of daily life, and begin to weave a fantasy world in which things run as we desire without any inconveniences.

But if we are not careful, the fictional world may begin to take over our entire reality.

And while daydreaming can provide a quick way to get away from reality and get a little relief, at the same time, it can take your life if you lose control of it.

The dangers of excessive daydreaming

A person with an excessive state of daydreaming spends his life unable to adapt to mental wandering and fantasies, a condition that may affect his academic, work and private life.

The characterization of excessive daydreaming as a threat to mental health and quality of life for the first time began in a scientific study in 2002, published by the scientific journal "Springer", entitled "Unadaptive Daydreaming: A Qualitative Investigation".

Excessive daydreaming is associated with behavioral addiction patterns, such as addiction to video games or pornography.

And these dreams can be so intense that they distract you from your real life.

There is no scientifically defined treatment for maladaptive daydreams (pixels).

Often, everyday events provoke the affected person to fantasize and wander into invented worlds.

The triggers, according to the Healthline website, include:

  • Talking and discussions with others.

  • A photo, movie or news story.

  • Use the Internet for any purpose.

  • Sensory stimuli such as noise or smells.

  • Physical experiences and feelings.

Despite research on the condition, there is no psychiatric diagnosis of hyperactive daydreaming, and there is no reliable treatment for it.

Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A person with maladaptive daydreaming may experience:

  • Daydreams full of detail, characters, plots and other detailed features resembling a well plotted story, reflecting a complex inner world.

  • Suffering from daydreams resulting from events from real life to the extent that the truth and reality of the sufferer are confused.

  • The person may have difficulty completing daily tasks, difficulty sleeping at night, an overwhelming desire to continue imagining and mental wandering.

  • The person may suddenly emit gestures, sounds, facial expressions, and even phrases and audible discussions of what is going on in their imagination.

  • Feeling upset and depressed when comparing daydreams to real life, which often lacks that much control over detail.


    Non-adaptive daydreams differ from habitual daydreams (pixels)

What is the difference between normal fantasies and excessive daydreaming

Non-adaptive daydreams differ from regular daydreams in terms of content, controllability, and recurrence, in addition to the distress they cause when returning from them.

Daydreaming is also different from general mind wandering, because it involves “imaginative narratives that are structured and purposely designed to feel better.”

By contrast, mind-wandering tends to be spontaneous, related to everyday life and easy to revert to real-world tasks, according to the research website Plus One.

The dangers of daydreaming on mental health

​​Excessive daydreaming affects your entire life.

While it is not classified as a mental health behavioral disorder, it may be associated with 4 classes of disorders:

  • dissociative disorders.

  • Attention disorder.

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

  • behavioral addiction.

Some experts believe that excessive daydreaming is not a psychological condition, but rather a mechanism for dealing with trauma, abuse, serious mental illness, and even loneliness. In this case, excessive daydreaming may be an escape from harsh reality.

Through excessive mental wandering, you create a safe, imaginary world whose scenarios you precisely define in order to feel better.

Your mental health can also affect how much you daydream, as research has found, according to medical website WebMD, that they may be associated with feelings of guilt, dysphoria, and an inability to control attention.

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Mental health conditions in which the condition is also common include depression, general or social anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Mind wandering tends to happen spontaneously and relate to daily life (pixels)

Ways to control excessive daydreaming

Although there is no scientifically definitive treatment for maladaptive daydreaming, there are some experimentally proven techniques that may help a person manage symptoms.

They include the following, according to Medical News Today:

  • Treating tiredness and general fatigue:

    Anyone can do this by improving sleep quality and reducing the consumption of stimulants and energy drinks.

  • Recognizing the symptoms:

    Knowing that you are experiencing excessive daydreaming is key to treatment, as it helps you to pay attention whenever you engage in this behavior, which reduces the chances of its recurrence.

  • Identifying and avoiding triggers:

    Noting and writing down when excessive daydreaming occurs can help you identify activities or triggers that make you indulge in them.

  • Psychotherapy:

    This can help you identify the triggers and reasons behind excessive daydreaming.

    Therapeutic techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy help detect any underlying problems.