Daydreaming is caused by our desires, and things we can’t achieve in life (yet). We can go into daydreaming from alert consciousness in the blink of an eye. Daydreaming is not a bad or harmful thing. It can help with better working memory, higher levels of creativity, and more effective problem-solving. We tend to daydream when we are bored — we begin making scenarios in our heads. Daydreaming can be used as an escape from reality, stress and pressure. There’s a part of our brain called the default mode network, it’s only lit up when there is nothing keeping the brain busy or active.

Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a type of daydreaming that affects your everyday activities and can distract you from finishing work.  Symptoms for MD are, getting so lost in daydreaming that you forget where you are, and what you’re doing.  You cannot control your daydreaming and worry that you spend too much time daydreaming. This is something that can occur because of trauma. People daydream to escape their bad environments. Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is not classified as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Some professionals do believe that it is a mental disorder that can affect an individual’s life. Since it’s not a classified mental disorder. There are categories in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), I think Maladaptive daydreaming would be placed in the Trauma- and stressor-related disorders category. Mooneyham and Schooler summarized five potential functions daydreaming serves: future thinking, creative thinking, attentional cycling, dishabituation and relief from boredom. Future thinking is thinking about yourself and what you’re planning to do in the future career wise. It can help motivate them into doing things that are difficult or uninteresting. Creative thinking: this function of daydreaming is increased creativity. It occurs most when doing undemanding and easy tasks. Attentional cycling When people have many goals, daydreaming provides an opportunity for people to switch among different streams of information and thoughts. Dishabituation is daydreaming and allowing thoughts when you are learning something. After letting thoughts go away you can go. Relief from boredom, detaching your thoughts from when there’s nothing to do. Do not self diagnose yourself or others with this Maladaptive daydreaming. It is a serious mental disorder. 

RELATED STORIES: 

https://blog.cognifit.com/daydreaming/
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/maladaptive-daydreaming

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23336-maladaptive-daydreaming#:~:text=Maladaptive%20daydreaming%20is%20a%20behavior,mental%20health%20conditions%20like%20anxiety.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisonescalante/2021/03/23/daydreaming-is-under-attack-now-researchers-say-its-good-for-our-health/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daydream#:~:text=Mooneyham%20and%20Schooler%20summarized%20five,dishabituation%20and%20relief%20from%20boredom.

TAKE ACTION: 

https://www.psychologies.co.uk/what-your-daydreams-reveal-about-you/