A Closer Look to Maladaptive Daydreaming

Written by Patricia Nicole Tan, Edited by Celine Soerjanto

Introduction to Maladaptive Daydreaming

Many artists, writers, and creative thinkers bring their ideas to life through the power of imagination. However, a proposed psychological condition called Maladaptive Daydreaming involves a pattern of vivid and immersive fantasies that disrupt a person’s ability to manage real-life tasks and relationships.  Unlike typical daydreaming, which often helps boost creativity and idea generation as noted by Li et al. (2022), Soffer-Dudek and Somer (2022) describe MD as a form of compulsive and addictive mental escapism. These fantasies often begin while listening to music and are accompanied by repetitive physical movements. 

         While research into maladaptive daydreaming is ongoing, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has not yet included it in any edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).  Somer et al. (2025) explain that individuals with MD often experience emotional distress and functional impairment, with symptoms that overlap with anxiety and depression. All three conditions rely on mental and emotional escape strategies to avoid stress or emotional pain, and they frequently involve feelings of loneliness, sadness, and inner turmoil. 

         Therefore, this article will explore the emerging concept of maladaptive daydreaming and examine how it may affect a person’s mental well-being to the point that it raises concerns as a potential clinical issue.

Psychological Overlaps of Maladaptive Daydreaming

• The process of constructing and imagining events typically involves the Default Mode Network (DMN), which is responsible for enhanced emotional processing and internally oriented cognitive processing. According to Hedderly et al. (2024), people with MD often create elaborate inner scenarios that likely activate the DMN. This causes these intense daydreaming sessions to come with repetitive movements, which happen while the DMN stays active. 

• The Journal of Psychiatric Research also highlights how MD may overlap with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), since both involve dissociative states, such as self-hypnosis, vivid internal narratives, and deep mental immersion in imagined experiences.

• In addition, Salomon-Small et al. (2021) found a strong link between MD and Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Symptoms (OCSS). People with MD often struggle with unwanted mental images, a hyperactive internal system, and a reduced ability to separate fantasy from reality. 

• While these associations provide insight into co-occuring symptoms, they do not serve as direct empirical evidence that MD is an independently verifiable disorder. 

Maladaptive Daydreaming Through Multiple Perspectives

• Many people confuse Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or even schizophrenia because of some overlapping symptoms. However, Theodor-Katz et al. (2022) explained that MD stands as a separate mental health condition that may appear alongside ADHD. People with MD may show signs like restlessness and inattentiveness, but these behaviors usually result from prolonged immersion in fantasy, not from ADHD itself. 

• Similarly, MD differs in key ways from schizophrenia. Both may involve strong internal experiences, but Fazekas (2020) emphasized that people with schizophrenia often mistake these experiences for real events or hallucinated voices. In contrast, most people with MD can recognize their fantasies as unreal, although rare situations may cause some confusion.

• In a real-life case study, a woman named Adah experienced such intense and vivid daydreams that she began confusing them with her memories. Because her vision no longer provided clear input, her brain created detailed internal images, which caused her to blur the line between imagination and reality. 

• When it comes to coping, a study found that people with MD often avoid dealing with problems directly. Instead, they suppress or escape difficult emotions and turn to fantasy as a way of managing stress or emotional pain. This finding shows that MD is not just a habit, but also a maladaptive psychological response to deep emotional struggles.

Conclusion

         Many researchers continue to explore maladaptive daydreaming, yet the APA still does not recognize it as an official diagnosis. This lack of recognition causes MD to remain largely misunderstood, and it can severely disrupt daily life.

         As knowledge on the condition continues to advance, more experts should view MD not as just excessive imagination, but as a deep psychological coping mechanism that can cause harm to day-to-day functioning without proper understanding and support. 

References

Fazekas, P. (2020). Hallucinations as intensified forms of mind-wandering. Philosophical          Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 376(1817), 20190700.          https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0700

Hedderly, T., Eccles, C., Malik, O., Abdulsatar, F., Mitchell, C., Owen, T., Soffer‐Dudek, N.,          Grose, C., Fernandez, T. V., Robinson, S., & Somer, E. (2024). Intense imagery          movements may lead to maladaptive daydreaming: A case series and literature review.          Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, 11(6), 716–719.          https://doi.org/10.1002/mdc3.14011

Li, Y., Xie, C., Yang, Y., Liu, C., Du, Y., & Hu, W. (2022). The role of daydreaming and creative          thinking in the relationship between inattention and real-life creativity: A test of          multiple mediation model. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 46, 101181.          https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101181

Nowacki, A., & Pyszkowska, A. (2024). It is all about discomfort avoidance: maladaptive          daydreaming, frustration intolerance, and coping strategies – a network analysis.          Current Psychology, 43(34), 27447–27455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06382-x

Öğüt, Ç. (2024). Association of maladaptive daydreaming with behavioral addiction. Health          Sciences Quarterly, 4(3), 233–241. https://doi.org/10.26900/hsq.2395

Roy, A., Girija, V. S., & Kitzlerová, E. (2024). The Role of Momentary Dissociation in the          Sensory Cortex: A Neurophysiological Review and its Implications for Maladaptive          Daydreaming. Medical Science Monitor, 30. https://doi.org/10.12659/msm.944209

Salomon-Small, G., Somer, E., Harel-Schwarzmann, M., & Soffer-Dudek, N. (2021).          Maladaptive Daydreaming and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms: A confirmatory and          exploratory investigation of shared mechanisms. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 136,          343–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.017

Sambuco, N., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2021). Narrative imagery: Emotional modulation          in the default mode network. Neuropsychologia, 164, 108087.          https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108087

Sharma, P., & Mahapatra, A. (2021). Phenomenological analysis of maladaptive daydreaming          associated with internet gaming addiction: a case report. General Psychiatry, 34(2),          e100419. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2020-100419

Soffer-Dudek, N., Aquarone, R., & Somer, E. (2025). Maladaptive Daydreaming Among          Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder:A Prevalence Study. Journal of Psychiatric          Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.03.038

Soffer-Dudek, N., & Somer, E. (2022). Maladaptive Daydreaming is a Dissociative Disorder. In          Routledge eBooks (pp. 547–563). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003057314-41

Soffer-Dudek, N., & Oh, H. (2023). Maladaptive daydreaming: A shortened assessment          measure and its mental health correlates in a large United States sample.          Comprehensive Psychiatry, 129, 152441.          https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2023.152441

Somer, E. (2024). When Imagination feels like Reality: A case study of false memories and          maladaptive daydreaming in visual impairment. Case Reports in Psychiatry, 2024, 1–8.          https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9391645

Somer, E., Herscu, O., Samara, M., & Abu‐Rayya, H. M. (2025). Maladaptive Daydreaming          and Psychopathology: A Meta‐Analysis. International Journal of Psychology, 60(2).          https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.70027

Theodor‐Katz, N., Somer, E., Hesseg, R. M., & Soffer‐Dudek, N. (2022). Could immersive          daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of          maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.          Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(11), 2309–2328. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23355

Thorburn, C. (2022). ‘MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING’: An introduction to a new condition.          European Psychiatry, 65(S1), S178–S179. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.473