Prof. Eli Somer | Maladaptive daydreaming (Daydreaming disorder): The ontological question of a newly discovered clinical construct

Gastvortrag

  • Datum: 30.07.2018
  • Uhrzeit: 16:00 - 17:00
  • Vortragende(r): Prof. Eli Somer
  • Professor of Psychology, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Ort: MPI für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften
  • Raum: Wilhelm Wundt Raum (A400)
  • Gastgeber: Abteilung Neurologie
Daydreaming is an everyday fantasy activity that can foster creativity, inspire great works of art and science help and solve problems. Some people appear to have a capacity for immersive, fanciful, self-generated imagery that is experienced with a profound sense of presence. This ability to script a virtual alternate reality that can offer an intense experience appears to be exceedingly rewarding, drawing individuals to spend many waking hours immersed in fantasy. In fact, the experience seems so pleasurable that if restricted, provokes a yearning and a need to resume daydreaming that was described by sufferers as resembling an addictive craving. For individuals who are coping with past and current distress, life in a fantasized parallel world, seems a calming, affect-regulating substitute. However, when daydreaming becomes habitual and time-consuming, the costs can be grim: Daydreaming activity can hinder and sometimes even replace real-life social, academic or occupational performance, thus the term maladaptive daydreaming (MD). In my talk I will attempt to differentiate this newly identified construct from related constructs such as: fantasy proneness, mind wandering, default mode network, and sluggish cognitive tempo. I will discuss brief history of this mentation, currently self-reported in numerous internet venues by thousands of individuals seeking support and coping advice. In my effort to present the ontological quandary of MD I will offer a brief review of the latest empirical data collected on the subject.
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