Maladaptive Daydreaming May Be Better Diagnosis Than ADHD for Some

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Key Takeaways

A new study suggests that maladaptive daydreaming (MD) might be a better diagnosis than ADHD for some individuals. Maladaptive daydreaming is a condition in which a person’s daydreams are immersive and actually disconnect them from reality.MD may indicate an underlying mental health condition.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in collaboration with the University of Haifa, assessed 83 adults with anADHDdiagnosis. They found that around one-fifth met the proposed criteria for maladaptive daydreaming, which does not yet have formal recognition as a psychiatric syndrome.

The researchers assessed the adults forinattentionsymptoms, MD, depression, loneliness, and self-esteem. Those meeting the proposed criteria for MD showed higher rates of depression, loneliness, and self-esteem than those who didn’t meet the criteria.

What Is Maladaptive Daydreaming?

Bobbi Banks, MScPeople who experience [maladaptive daydreaming] report vividly daydreaming for hours or even days, often in an attempt to escape painful experiences, memories or triggers.

Bobbi Banks, MSc

People who experience [maladaptive daydreaming] report vividly daydreaming for hours or even days, often in an attempt to escape painful experiences, memories or triggers.

According to therapist, coach, and neuroscientistBobbi Banks, maladaptive daydreaming “is used as a coping mechanism and is considered to be a form of dissociation, normally in response to previous trauma or chronic loneliness. People who experience [maladaptive daydreaming] report vividly daydreaming for hours or even days, often in an attempt to escape painful experiences, memories or triggers.”

She contrasts it tooccasional daydreamingand ‘spacing-out,' “something most of us have experienced and is completely normal," with maladaptive daydreaming having a larger impact on the ability to function in day-to-day life.

“Over time, it can start to replace human interaction, lead to insomnia, and hinder a person’s professional and academic life,” Banks explains. “In some cases, it can lead to anxiety,social anxiety, depression, and further dissociation.”

5 Positive Effects of Daydreaming

Symptoms of Maladaptive Daydreaming

Symptoms of MD may differ from person to person; however, there are specific signs that characterize the condition.

Maladaptive Daydreaming Symptoms

Professor Somer created a16-question testfor professionals to use when assessing whether a diagnosis of MD may be appropriate for someone, while it can also be used for self-reporting if someone suspects that they have symptoms.

In the test, subjects are asked questions including whether music activates their daydreaming, whether they get distressed if they don’t have as much time to daydream as usual, and whether or not it’s difficult for them to keep their daydreaming under control.

It’s been suggested that maladaptive daydreaming can develop as aresponse to trauma, with people retreating into their own world as a coping mechanism, while one study found that it could relate to gaming addiction in some cases.However, there’s still relatively little research on the condition.

Mind Wandering and Maladaptive Daydreaming

Difficulties in sustaining attention is one of the consequences of MD, and the DSM also lists this as a symptom of a number of other conditions,most notably ADHD.

Inattentiveness in people with ADHD is often considered to relate to mind wandering (MW), described in the study as “passive mental activity of associative thoughts that are stimulus-independent and unrelated to the task at hand”, but doesn’t allow for differentiation between what would be considered maladaptive daydreaming and “task unrelated thoughts”, for example.

As a result, some people who think they might be maladaptive daydreamers don’t find existing diagnostic labels—like ADHD—to be helpful.

The study outlines three key differences between mind-wandering inADHD, and maladaptive daydreaming.

The first is that with maladaptive daydreaming, the state of daydreaming is often deliberately activated rather than the mind wandering spontaneously. The second is that maladaptive daydreamers tend to be aware that they’re daydreaming, and the third is that whereas mind wandering often has a lack of guidance or direction, maladaptive daydreaming tends to involve a more detailed, complex plot.

What This Means For YouIdentifying with any of the symptoms discussed here doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be diagnosed with either ADHD or maladaptive daydreaming, but if you want to find out more about these conditions, you may want to talk things through with a trusted healthcare professional.

What This Means For You

Identifying with any of the symptoms discussed here doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be diagnosed with either ADHD or maladaptive daydreaming, but if you want to find out more about these conditions, you may want to talk things through with a trusted healthcare professional.

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8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Maladaptive daydreaming.Theodor‐Katz N, Somer E, Hesseg RM, Soffer‐Dudek N.Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.J Clin Psychol. 2022. doi:10.1002/jclp.23355Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.Maladaptive daydreaming may be a better diagnosis for some than ADHD.Somer E.Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry.J Contemp Psychother.2002;(2/3):197-212. doi:10.1023/A:1020597026919Soffer-Dudek N, Somer E.Trapped in a daydream: Daily elevations in maladaptive daydreaming are associated with daily psychopathological symptoms.Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:194. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00194Somer E, Soffer-Dudek N, Ross CA, Halpern N.Maladaptive daydreaming: Proposed diagnostic criteria and their assessment with a structured clinical interview.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 2017;4(2):176-189. doi:10.1037/cns0000114Somer E, Abu-Rayya HM, Brenner, R.Childhood trauma and maladaptive daydreaming: Fantasy functions and themes in a multi-country sample.J Trauma Dissociation. 2021;22(3):288-303. doi:10.1080/15299732.2020.1809599Sharma P, Mahapatra A.Phenomenological analysis of maladaptive daydreaming associated with internet gaming addiction: A case report.Gen Psychiatr. 2021;34(2):e100419. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100419

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Maladaptive daydreaming.Theodor‐Katz N, Somer E, Hesseg RM, Soffer‐Dudek N.Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.J Clin Psychol. 2022. doi:10.1002/jclp.23355Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.Maladaptive daydreaming may be a better diagnosis for some than ADHD.Somer E.Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry.J Contemp Psychother.2002;(2/3):197-212. doi:10.1023/A:1020597026919Soffer-Dudek N, Somer E.Trapped in a daydream: Daily elevations in maladaptive daydreaming are associated with daily psychopathological symptoms.Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:194. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00194Somer E, Soffer-Dudek N, Ross CA, Halpern N.Maladaptive daydreaming: Proposed diagnostic criteria and their assessment with a structured clinical interview.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 2017;4(2):176-189. doi:10.1037/cns0000114Somer E, Abu-Rayya HM, Brenner, R.Childhood trauma and maladaptive daydreaming: Fantasy functions and themes in a multi-country sample.J Trauma Dissociation. 2021;22(3):288-303. doi:10.1080/15299732.2020.1809599Sharma P, Mahapatra A.Phenomenological analysis of maladaptive daydreaming associated with internet gaming addiction: A case report.Gen Psychiatr. 2021;34(2):e100419. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100419

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cleveland Clinic.Maladaptive daydreaming.Theodor‐Katz N, Somer E, Hesseg RM, Soffer‐Dudek N.Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.J Clin Psychol. 2022. doi:10.1002/jclp.23355Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.Maladaptive daydreaming may be a better diagnosis for some than ADHD.Somer E.Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry.J Contemp Psychother.2002;(2/3):197-212. doi:10.1023/A:1020597026919Soffer-Dudek N, Somer E.Trapped in a daydream: Daily elevations in maladaptive daydreaming are associated with daily psychopathological symptoms.Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:194. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00194Somer E, Soffer-Dudek N, Ross CA, Halpern N.Maladaptive daydreaming: Proposed diagnostic criteria and their assessment with a structured clinical interview.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 2017;4(2):176-189. doi:10.1037/cns0000114Somer E, Abu-Rayya HM, Brenner, R.Childhood trauma and maladaptive daydreaming: Fantasy functions and themes in a multi-country sample.J Trauma Dissociation. 2021;22(3):288-303. doi:10.1080/15299732.2020.1809599Sharma P, Mahapatra A.Phenomenological analysis of maladaptive daydreaming associated with internet gaming addiction: A case report.Gen Psychiatr. 2021;34(2):e100419. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100419

Cleveland Clinic.Maladaptive daydreaming.

Theodor‐Katz N, Somer E, Hesseg RM, Soffer‐Dudek N.Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.J Clin Psychol. 2022. doi:10.1002/jclp.23355

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.Maladaptive daydreaming may be a better diagnosis for some than ADHD.

Somer E.Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry.J Contemp Psychother.2002;(2/3):197-212. doi:10.1023/A:1020597026919

Soffer-Dudek N, Somer E.Trapped in a daydream: Daily elevations in maladaptive daydreaming are associated with daily psychopathological symptoms.Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:194. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00194

Somer E, Soffer-Dudek N, Ross CA, Halpern N.Maladaptive daydreaming: Proposed diagnostic criteria and their assessment with a structured clinical interview.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 2017;4(2):176-189. doi:10.1037/cns0000114

Somer E, Abu-Rayya HM, Brenner, R.Childhood trauma and maladaptive daydreaming: Fantasy functions and themes in a multi-country sample.J Trauma Dissociation. 2021;22(3):288-303. doi:10.1080/15299732.2020.1809599

Sharma P, Mahapatra A.Phenomenological analysis of maladaptive daydreaming associated with internet gaming addiction: A case report.Gen Psychiatr. 2021;34(2):e100419. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100419

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