Wow this is really interesting. I have always had really elaborate and vivid daydreams, especially when I was in high school. I have to admit that the characters I conjured up were so realistic and deep that I thought I was insane or something.



To join the discussion on whether it's healthy or unhealthy...

I think most would agree that daydreaming itself can actually be a very good thing which can relieve stress and even produce fruit, yes? And it would be considered unhealthy if it had negative effects on your real life?



So, in my opinion, negative effects it could have on your life are:

-Significantly decreasing the productivity or experience of other healthy aspects of your life such as work, school, family, exercise and social life. If you regularly opt to daydream instead of doing other things helpful to your well-being, it might be a problem. I can't really think of any good obsessions, and as positive as daydreaming can be, letting it become a time-consuming obsession would probably be unhealthy. (Too much of a good thing...)

-Being content with your daydreams as a substitute for real-life goals. I read about this in a psychology textbook years ago; it didn't mention maladaptive daydreaming specifically, but it was talking about the effect of fantasies on success and productivity. The writer cited studies which said that people who engage in fantasies are often more successful than their less-imaginative counterparts because thinking vividly of the rewards associated with their goals spurred them to more action. However, the studies also showed (supposedly; it was in a textbook I had years ago, hate to mention studies I can't cite) that people who engaged in much higher amounts of daydreaming (higher than the amounts of the successful people) were much less productive; apparently the gratification they got from their fantasies overrode the drive to achieve things in real life.



Does anyone know any good methods to uh... decrease daydreaming to healthier amounts? I know, there's the obvious "stop doing it"; I meant, any tips on making it easier?



Also, I wonder what any INFPs would think about this...