Happy Mental Health Awareness Day to those with Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder
For those who don’t know:
Maladaptive daydreaming is a psychiatric condition. It was identified by Professor Eliezer Somer of the University of Haifa in Israel. This condition causes intense daydreaming that distracts a person from their real life. Many times, real-life events trigger day dreams.
This disorder is not part of the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). It doesn’t have any official treatment. But some experts say it is a real disorder that can have real effects on a person’s daily life.
A person who is purported to have maladaptive daydreaming may have one or more symptoms of the disorder, but not necessarily all of them. Common symptoms include:
- Extremely vivid daydreams with their own characters, settings, plots, and other detailed, story-like features
- Daydreams triggered by real-life events
- Difficulty completing everyday tasks
- Difficulty sleeping at night
- An overwhelming desire to continue daydreaming
- Performing repetitive movements while daydreaming
- Making facial expressions while daydreaming
- Whispering and talking while daydreaming
- Daydreaming for lengthy periods (many minutes to hours)
Experts still aren’t sure what causes maladaptive daydreaming.
Maladaptive daydreaming is often diagnosed as schizophrenia, which is a type of psychosis. This is because people with schizophrenia cannot differentiate reality from fantasy. But Somer says maladaptive daydreaming is not a psychosis because people with maladaptive daydreaming recognize that their daydreams aren’t real.
The point is, you’re not alone if you feel this way, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. The community for people with MADD grows every day. Welcome to the family.
Thank You for Reading.
