When Does Daydreaming Become a Mental Health Problem?

You look away from what you're doing for a few seconds and suddenly it's been minutes and you've lost yourself in a completely novel mental scenario. Even if you try to retrace how you got there, you simply can't.

Daydreaming is normal — we spend nearly half of our waking hours doing it, and it can be a good thing: it can spark creativity and let the brain explore different angles on our experiences. But excessive daydreaming can be detrimental to mental health, and daydreaming that feels intense and interferes with daily functioning may point to a condition called maladaptive daydreaming.

What is daydreaming?

Daydreaming is when you lose focus on what you're doing, consciously or unconsciously, and your attention goes to your thoughts — usually imagined scenarios or future plans. It happens while you're awake and is also known as mind wandering, and it's closely connected to your mood.

It arises out of a spontaneous cognitive process that mostly shows up when we're doing routine tasks. In these moments, the brain's default mode network activates as a way to process emotions, plan, and deal with stress. In a large Harvard study, people's minds were wandering in 46.9% of the moments sampled, and in at least 30% of the moments sampled during every activity except one — but it can become a problem if it occupies too much of your brain space. As psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert put it, "the ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost."

What is maladaptive daydreaming?

Maladaptive daydreaming is not a formal medical diagnosis, but it is a recognized condition associated with mental health disorders. It's when someone spends excessive amounts of time — often hours — daydreaming, to the point where work, hobbies and relationships are disrupted. It causes significant distress and is often a coping mechanism for a deeper problem.

Research shows maladaptive daydreaming is commonly associated with:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Dissociation
• OCD
• ADHD
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Trauma

It's also linked to difficulties with emotional regulation, loneliness, dysfunctional personality traits, shame, problematic internet use and psychological distress. People who maladaptive daydream tend to have lower self-efficacy and self-esteem.

Signs of maladaptive daydreaming

Someone who maladaptive daydreams tends to:

• Have intense daydreams that are vivid and detailed
• Have daydreams with repeated characters, almost like a TV series
• Spend hours or significant amounts of time daydreaming
• Be able to intentionally start daydreaming
• Disconnect from their surroundings and tasks, similar to dissociation

Maladaptive daydreaming doesn't mean confusing daydreams with reality — usually the person can tell the difference, but they may feel a compulsive need to daydream that they can't control. Regular episodes can also come with avoiding social situations, struggling to perform at work or elsewhere, feelings of guilt and shame, and repeated attempts to stop or reduce the daydreaming.

Maladaptive daydreaming and mental health

Maladaptive daydreaming can be a symptom of a mental health disorder. One small study of 39 people with maladaptive daydreaming found that about 77% met criteria for ADHD, 72% for an anxiety disorder, 67% for a depressive disorder, and 54% for an obsessive-compulsive or related disorder. People who experience it say it's more intense and time-consuming on days they're also experiencing other symptoms.

People who maladaptive daydream often describe it as pleasurable and addictive — which may point to it functioning as a tool to escape anxious or obsessive thoughts (much like rumination, it can feel productive while keeping you stuck), with a positive reinforcement process comparable to addiction disorders. It can also affect sleep: some people prefer to daydream over sleeping, leading to sleep deprivation that worsens how mental health disorders show up. Anxiety and depression are both associated with little, or poor quality, sleep.

When daydreaming requires treatment

If you recognize the signs of maladaptive daydreaming in yourself, seeking treatment is a good next step — as is noticing that you've been using daydreaming to mask or alleviate symptoms of a diagnosed condition.

There's no standard treatment for maladaptive daydreaming yet. But because cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for depression, anxiety and other dissociative disorders, it can help people with maladaptive daydreaming understand how they think and why their mind wanders so much. Sensory grounding techniques, useful for people who dissociate, may help too.

When daydreaming sits alongside ADHD, it often travels with emotional dysregulation and ADHD paralysis — and treating the underlying condition is usually what loosens its grip. If daily life is already slipping, a structured intensive outpatient program may be a better fit than waiting it out, and our admissions team can talk through where you'd start.