Maladaptive Daydreaming: Epidemiological Data on a Newly Identified Syndrome.

Background: Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a recently identified psychological disorder, characterized by excessively and addictively engaging in vivid, narrative, intensely emotional fantasy activity, at times with the aid of music and/or repetitive movements, causing distress and functional impairment. Over 100,000 self-diagnosed individuals are active online and thousands of them have been researched; yet there are no studies using clinical interviews on large, systematic general (non-MD) samples, to assess the estimated prevalence of this suggested disorder, and establish norms for its main psychometric tool.

Methods: Four independent Israeli samples (three student samples, and one sample representing the general Jewish-Israeli population; total = 1,023) self-reported MD.

Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) entails excessive immersion and engagement in complex fantasy worlds, causing distress and impairing functioning. Maladaptive Daydreamers often report that existing diagnostic labels are unhelpful for them. Previous studies reported high rates of comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among persons with MD, raising the question of their separateness.