Maladaptive daydreaming should be included as a dissociative disorder in psychiatric manuals: position paper.

ABSTRACT: Maladaptive daydreaming is a distinct syndrome in which the main symptom is excessive vivid fantasising that causes clinically significant distress and functional impairment in academic, vocational and social domains. Unlike normal daydreaming, maladaptive daydreaming is persistent, compulsive and detrimental to one's life. It involves detachment from reality in favour of intense emotional engagement with alternative realities and often includes specific features such as psychomotor stereotypies (e.g. pacing in circles, jumping or shaking one's hands), mouthing dialogues, facial gestures or enacting fantasy events. Comorbidity is common, but existing disorders do not account for the phenomenology of the symptoms. Whereas non-specific therapy is ineffective, targeted treatment seems promisi

SUBMITTER: Soffer-Dudek N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12038384 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature