Is Maladaptive Daydreaming a Dissociative Disorder?

This article explores the connection between maladaptive daydreaming and dissociative disorder. 

The Relationship Between Maladaptive Daydreaming and Dissociative Disorder

The relationship between maladaptive daydreaming (MD) and dissociation has been a focus of researchers’ attention and interest since the field began. Professor Eli Somer, a clinical researcher, coined the term MD in his 2002 article on a cohort of six patients in his clinic at the time, all suffering from trauma and dissociation. Ever since, most MD researchers have emerged from the field of dissociation, seemingly seeing MD research as a natural extension of their previous interests.

In what follows, we will review what dissociation is and what is dissociative about MD to better understand why researchers make this connection.

What is Dissociation?

Dissociation is defined as a disruption of the normal integration of experience, such that psychological processes, usually in sync, function somewhat independently. That is a very wide definition, and most researchers agree that such a disruption could manifest across a continuum from the common or normal to the more extreme forms.

A classic example of a dissociative disconnect is that between memory and feelings. For example, one may conjure up a memory of a stressful event with no emotional display or even while displaying affective numbness, but at the same time, the strong emotions stemming from that event present themselves as nightmares or panic attacks. 

Different types of dissociative disconnects may be between consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior. 

 

Dissociation

Dissociation is a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings, memories, or sense of identity.

Dissociation is a way the mind copes with too much stress.

There are several types of dissociative disorders. The three main types are dissociative amnesia, depersonalisation disorder, and dissociative identity disorder.

Symptoms of dissociative disorder may include: 

  • Feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you
  • Forgetting about specific time periods, events, and personal information 
  • Feeling uncertain about who you are
  • Having multiple distinct identities 
  • Feeling little or no physical pain 

Periods of dissociation can last for a relatively short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months).

Dissociation can occur in response to traumatic events. Dissociation can happen as a way of coping with trauma.

Below, we identify several dissociative disconnects that tend to characterize MD.

1. Narrow attentional spotlight and a vivid inner world:

The phenomenon of focusing totally on one thing while being oblivious to one’s surroundings is related to a self-report scale termed “absorption and imaginative involvement,” considered as measuring common or normal dissociation. It assesses the extent to which people may become totally immersed in something while acting on auto-pilot.

It also includes phenomena like becoming confused regarding whether something happened or was merely imagined or dreamt due to a vivid imagination or somewhat blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy.

Research shows that people with MD consistently get very high scores on this scale. In MD, people may become so involved in their daydream that they may have the experience of not being present and even of “lost time” when coming back to reality.

2. Double Consciousness:

Although “absorption and imaginative involvement” is usually defined as a state of “total attention,” it is also characterized by a dual state of mind, as most of one’s internal conscious resources are directed at a daydream, whereas some of one’s attention and consciousness is directed at real-life processes.

While one’s attention is absorbed in daydreaming, one may act automatically and perform complex behavior in the real world, such as washing the dishes or stopping at red lights while driving, simultaneously weaving intricate plots in one’s mind.

This relates to a phenomenon described by some maladaptive daydreamers of simultaneously existing in two levels or planes. This enables them to daydream in public without external signs (e.g., keeping stereotypical movements at bay). The sense of living in two worlds at the same time or parallel consciousness may also be considered dissociative.

 

3. Depersonalization and Derealization:

Many maladaptive daydreamers have shared that their fantasies are so real and vivid that they experience depersonalization or derealization upon returning to “real life.” In depersonalization and derealization, consciousness is altered, and one may feel estranged from one’s identity, body representation, or perception of others or the world. Many maladaptive daydreamers have shared that their fantasies are so real and vivid that they experience depersonalization or derealization upon returning to “real life.” In depersonalization and derealization, consciousness is altered, and one may feel estranged from one’s identity, body representation, or perception of others or the world.
For example, seeing everything as if through a dense fog or have a sense of unfamiliarity when looking in the mirror. If experienced intensely, recurrently, or persistently, causing significant distress or functional impairment, these dissociative phenomena may count as a dissociative disorder, although they could also represent symptoms of other disorders such as panic or post-traumatic stress disorder or simply happen on a non-clinical level.
Depersonalization – Derealization Disorder
Depersonalization is the feeling of being outside of yourself and observing your actions, feelings, or thoughts from a distance.
Derealization is when you feel the world is unreal. People and things around you may seem “lifeless” or “foggy.”
You can experience depersonalization, derealization, or both together. It may last only a few moments or come and go over many years.

4. Identity Fragmentation:

Maladaptive daydreamers may experience a dissociative disconnect between their “reality” identity and their alternative daydreamed identity, feeling that those two are entirely different personalities.

Unlike dissociative identity disorder (DID), they do not usually act as these different personalities in the real world. Still, the basic sense of experiencing oneself in different ways is considered a dissociative tendency, as there is a certain amount of fragmentation in one’s sense of identity, a hallmark of dissociation.
At times, internally narrated characters may feel to the daydreamer as almost independently agentic. The scripts are not necessarily well planned out but may feel as simply the natural thing for a character to say, as if the characters take a life of their own. In that sense, there is also a fragmentation in the sense of agency pertaining to one’s thoughts and mind’s creation.

At times, internally narrated characters may feel to the daydreamer as almost independently agentic. The scripts are not necessarily well planned out but may feel as natural for a character to say, as if the characters take a life of their own. In that sense, there is also a fragmentation in the sense of agency pertaining to one’s thoughts and mind’s creation. 

This process is at the heart of the writing process for many novelists or other creative artists, and perhaps it is also present in the nocturnal dream creation process. Some researchers hope that MD research will shed light on normal dissociative processes that may perhaps enable the development of DID in conditions of extreme stress or trauma.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

DID used to be called multiple personality disorder. 

Someone diagnosed with DID may feel uncertain about their identity and who they are. They may feel the presence of other identities, each with their own names, voices, personal histories, and mannerisms. The main symptoms of DID are: 

  • Memory gaps about everyday events and personal information
  • Having several distinct identities 

Conclusions 

To conclude, several features in MD bear a striking resemblance to phenomena on the dissociative spectrum. Although MD does not necessarily involve past trauma, neither do some of the other dissociative disorders, such as depersonalization-derealization disorder, and even some cases of DID. 

Notably, although MD could also be construed through the lenses of other psychopathologies, such as a behavioral addiction, a type of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, a type of attention deficit disorder, or a type of stereotypical movement disorder, it seems that it has some distinct dissociative properties, leading to the embrace by the scientific field of dissociation research.