New research led by Dr. Eric Schumacher and doctoral student Christine Godwin, from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, seems to indicate that daydreamers have very active brains, and that they may be more intelligent and creative than the average person.

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.

Complications of Maladaptive Daydreaming Maladaptive daydreams can be so immersive and lengthy that the person dissociates from the world around them, negatively impacting their relationships, work or school performance, sleep, and daily life.

It is not currently possible to formally diagnose maladaptive daydreaming. Experts did develop a 14-point Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale to help people determine whether or not they are experiencing symptoms of it.

On average, participants reported spending four hours a day daydreaming. On days on which their MD was more intense and time-consuming, they also experienced higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, dissociation and negative emotion, and both types of anxiety.

Daydreaming isn’t always a bad thing, and it isn’t always harmful. It’s important to be aware of what you daydream about, as well as how frequent and how intense the daydreams are. This self-awareness will help you pick up whether you need help.

They found that the participants had increased alpha brain waves in the prefrontal cortex when their thoughts skipped from one topic to another. The findings provide an electrophysiological signature for free, spontaneous thought, according to the researchers.

While daydreaming may seem like an idle waste of time, research shows that some kinds of daydreams can be useful. Daydreaming, that experience of letting your mind wander into alternative pasts and possible futures, can be both helpful and harmful to your wellbeing in life and success at work.

The state of daydreaming is a kind of liminal state between waking (with the ability to think rationally and logically) and sleeping.

A more efficient brain means more capacity to think, which may lead the brain to wander while performing easy tasks, the researchers said. One telltale sign of an efficient brain is the ability to zone in and out of conversations without missing a beat. Some people have more efficient brains.”

Daydreamers may have trouble turning off the part of their brain linked to a wandering mind, which could put them at risk for insomnia, according to a new study.

Fantasizing is a healthy, instinctive byproduct of long-term couplings. While you may be wondering if your fantasies are a form of cheating, there’s likely no cause for concern.

Maladaptive daydreaming, also called excessive daydreaming, is a proposed diagnosis of a disordered form of dissociative absorption associated with excessive fantasy that is not recognized by any major medical or psychological criteria.

In ADHD, this ability to self-regulate is impaired. People with ADHD may be unaware that they are engaged in daydreaming, and have difficulties shutting it off. People with ADHD may hyperfocus while they are daydreaming. This is a more intense state than what people without ADHD experience when they are daydreaming.

As maladaptive daydreaming is highly related to dissociative conditions [17], it may have similar relations to sleep, rather than affecting sleep in the way that ADHD and OCD does.

Specifically, we engage our default network when we’re thinking about our past experiences, imagining an event that might take place in the future, trying to understand what other people are thinking, and assisting us in making moral decisions. It seems, then, that our default network makes daydreaming possible.

Falling Asleep Most of the time, daydreaming is entirely safe, but there are a few situations where problems can develop. This is why people who daydream with their eyes closed tend to do so only when they are seated or lying down in a safe place.

Maladaptive daydreaming usually occurs as a coping mechanism in response to trauma, abuse or loneliness. Sufferers create a complex inner world which they escape to in times of distress by daydreaming for hours.