Maladaptive daydreaming occurs once you spend quite a lot of time daydreaming. This behavior will likely be a way for people to live with mental illnesses reminiscent of anxiety. “Maladaptive” implies that this kind of daydreaming could be a harmful way of coping with an issue. It can affect your work, your relationships, and your hobbies.
Experts don't know exactly how many individuals do that, but a study in Israel found that 2.5% of adults and just over 4% of younger adults studying within the country had maladaptive daydreams.
Experts don't consider maladaptive daydreaming a disease. However, this behavior can overlap with certain mental illnesses. These could include:
However, some research suggests that maladaptive daydreaming is significantly different from other disorders and must be defined as a disease in its own right.
Maladaptive daydreaming can also be related to age. Some studies have found that it's more common in younger people. This is especially true for young adults and teenagers, but can even occur in children. Experts need more data to know the connection between this behavior and age.
Many individuals with maladaptive daydreaming have experienced abuse or trauma, especially as children. But not everyone with this behavior has passed through this.
Maladaptive daydreaming causes two sets of symptoms.
The first deals with daydreaming behavior itself. If you may have maladaptive daydreaming, certain aspects play a task in your daydreaming:
Complexity. Your daydream will normally have detailed storylines with characters that appear many times, like in a show.
Intensity. These daydreams are way more colourful and powerful than normal dreams.
Duration. These daydreams can last for a very long time, even hours.
Intention. This behavior often causes you to intentionally start daydreaming.
Separation. You could have a daydream so intense that you just turn out to be disconnected from every part around you. You may not notice what is going on around you.
The second group of symptoms has to do with how you're feeling about your maladaptive daydreaming. You may perceive this behavior as negative. These emotions can result in:
Shame or guilt. You might feel bad about daydreaming, especially if it interferes with other areas of your life.
Problems with work, hobbies, or other activities. These daydreams can get in the best way of labor, school, or every other task you do.
Problems with social activities. You may dream greater than you spend time with other people.
Compulsive daydreaming. You may feel the necessity to dream. Some studies show that this need might be much like an addiction. If you might be unable to daydream, chances are you'll be upset.
Experts also found that maladaptive daydreaming and OCD symptoms worked together in a cycle. There could also be several the reason why they're related. One of them is your serotonin levels. If experts understand the connection between OCD and maladaptive daydreaming, they could have the option to search out higher treatments for the behavior.
An try and stop or mitigate the daydreams. Even if you happen to try, it may possibly be difficult to scale back or stop dreaming.
Because maladaptive daydreaming is just not an official disorder, doctors don't have any approach to test for it directly.
But doctors can screen for signs of maladaptive daydreaming with questionnaires and other tools they use for ADHD, OCDA, anxiety, depression and dissociative disorders.
There can also be the so-called Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale-16 (MDS-16). This is a series of questions that may reveal whether or not the behavior is probably going for you.
There can also be no standard treatment for maladaptive daydreaming. However, doctors have found that they will use other treatments for similar conditions to alleviate maladaptive daydreaming.
Your doctor will normally first suggest psychiatric therapy or psychotherapy. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression, or dissociative disorders may receive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of therapy may also be helpful for maladaptive daydreams. CBT shows you why you do it and the best way to cope with it.
Your doctor may wish to treat related conditions, reminiscent of ADHD. This may also help with each this condition and your maladaptive daydreaming.
But every case of maladaptive daydreaming is different. You should talk over with your doctor to search out a treatment that is true for you and your symptoms. They will review your medical history, associated medical conditions, and other aspects to create a treatment plan that's best for you.