“One woman told us about the 35 characters ‘starring’ in the plots she imagines in her mind,” Bigelsen said. “She related how these characters have been with her since childhood, and she doesn’t recall a moment when her mind was clear of them and she was living internally only with herself. Another woman told of how for 30 years she has continued imagining in her mind the plot of a series that she saw when she was 10 years old, but how the plot is constantly changing and evolving. She related that there were entire days in which all her time was spent imagining, and how she even fought off sleep so that she could continue her imaginings.”
Almost all of the subjects developed a love/hate relationship with their fantasy world, and 97% reported different levels of distress as a result,” Bigelsen noted.
“People with this disorder have developed an extraordinary ability to become completely immersed in daydreaming, to such an extent that their daydreams can make them laugh or cry. This ability to feel fully present in a self-directed imaginal plot is not only a powerful source of the attraction, but it also makes it difficult to disengage from it, creating a mental addiction,” said Professor Jopp.
Professor Somer concluded that “when people spend about 60% of their waking time daydreaming, it’s no wonder that they feel frustrated that they can’t achieve their goals in life. The next step in our research should focus on developing an effective treatment for sufferers.”