Body Movements During Maladaptive Daydreaming
A Thematic Analysis of Asynchronous Email Interviews
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31156/jaex.25004Keywords:
maladaptive daydreaming, kinesthesia, stereotypical movementAbstract
Objectives: This study aimed to shed light on the lived experience of stereotypical body movement and gesturing during maladaptive daydreaming (MD). Method: Forty-one individuals with probable MD participated in asynchronous in-depth email interviews. Results: Four themes describing the movement experience in MD emerged: Need, Variety, Awareness and Agency, and Functions. The analysis revealed two main findings about the bi-directional effect of movement on MD. First, kinesthesia might enhance the daydreamers’ experience by deepening their fantasy immersion through improved focus featuring self-hypnotic characteristics. In addition, respondents reported that their body movements enhanced the daydreaming experience by embodying the protagonists' actions. MD-related motions were associated with occasional loss of agency, suggesting unintentional neuromuscular activation.
References
Abu-Rayya, H. M., Somer, E., & Knane, H. (2020). Maladaptive daydreaming is associated with intensified psychosocial problems experienced by female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Violence Against Women, 26(8), 825–837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219845532
Amri, M., Angelakis, C., & Logan, D. (2021). Utilizing asynchronous email interviews for health research: Overview of benefits and drawbacks. BMC Research Notes, 14(1), 148. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-021-05547-2
Bechara, A., & Damasio, A. R. (2005). The somatic marker hypothesis: A neural theory of economic decision. Games and Economic Behavior, 52(2), 336–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2004.06.010
Bigelsen, J., & Schupak, C. (2011). Compulsive fantasy: Proposed evidence of an under-reported syndrome through a systematic study of 90 self-identified non-normative fantasizers. Consciousness and Cognition, 20(4), 1634–1648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2011.08.013
Bigelsen, J., Lehrfeld, J. M., Jopp, D. S., & Somer, E. (2016). Maladaptive daydreaming: Evidence for an under-researched mental health disorder. Consciousness and Cognition, 42, 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.03.017
Boddy, C. R. (2016). Sample size for qualitative research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 19(4), 426–432. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-06-2016-0053
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Cacioppo, J. T., Priester, J. R., & Berntson, G. G. (1993). Rudimentary determinants of attitudes. II: Arm flexion and extension have differential effects on attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.65.1.5
Cardeña, E., Nordhjem, B., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., & Holmqvist, K. (2017). The "hypnotic state" and eye movements: Less there than meets the eye? PloS ONE, 12(8), e0182546. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182546
Cuddy, A. J. C., Schultz, S. J., & Fosse, N. E. (2018). P-curving a more comprehensive body of research on postural feedback reveals clear evidential value for power-posing effects: Reply to Simmons and Simonsohn (2017). Psychological Science, 29(4), 656–666. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617746749
Dresler, M., Koch, S. P., Wehrle, R., Spoormaker, V. I., Holsboer, F., Steiger, A., Sämann, P. G., Obrig, H., & Czisch, M. (2011). Dreamed movement elicits activation in the sensorimotor cortex. Current Biology: CB, 21(21), 1833–1837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.09.029
Duclos, S. E., & Laird, J. D. (2001). The deliberate control of emotional experience through control of expressions. Cognition and Emotion, 15(1), 27–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269993004200088
Evans, N., Gale, S., Schurger, A., & Blanke, O. (2015). Visual feedback dominates the sense of agency for brain-machine actions. PloS ONE, 10(6), e0130019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130019
Freeman, R. D., Soltanifar, A., & Baer, S. (2010). Stereotypic movement disorder: Easily missed. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 52(8), 733–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03627.x
Gibson, L. (2017). Type me your answer. In D. Gray, V. Clarke, & V. Braun (Eds.), Collecting qualitative data: A practical guide to textual, media and virtual techniques (pp. 211–212). Cambridge University Press.
Golding, B. (2014). Asynchronous email interviewing: A qualitative data collection method. ISAGE Research methods cases part 1. SAGE. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/978144627305014526819
Hawkins, J. E. (2018). The practical utility and suitability of email interviews in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 23(2), 493-501. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3266
James, W. (1922). What is an emotion? In C. G. Lange & W. James (Eds.), The emotions, Vol. 1, pp. 11–30). Williams & Wilkins Co. https://doi.org/10.1037/10735-001
Jeannerod, M. (2006). Motor cognition: What actions tell the self. Oxford University Press.
Koch S. C. (2014). Rhythm is it: Effects of dynamic body feedback on affect and attitudes. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 537. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00537
Mainieri, G., Maranci, J. B., Champetier, P., Leu-Semenescu, S., Gales, A., Dodet, P., & Arnulf, I. (2021). Are sleep paralysis and false awakenings different from REM sleep and from lucid REM sleep? A spectral EEG analysis. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17(4), 719–727. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.9056
McPherson, G., & Thorne, S. (2006). Exploiting exceptions to enhance interpretive qualitative health research: Insights from a study of cancer communication. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(2), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500210
Neumann, R., & Strack, F. (2000). Approach and avoidance: The influence of proprioceptive and exteroceptive cues on encoding of affective information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.79.1.39
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Sage.
Pietkiewicz, I. J., Hełka, A. M., Barłóg, M., & Tomalski, R. (2023). Validity and reliability of the Polish maladaptive daydreaming scale (PMDS-16) and its short form (PMDS-5). Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 10.1002/cpp.2844. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2844
Pietkiewicz, I. J., Nęcki, S., Bańbura, A., & Tomalski, R. (2018). Maladaptive daydreaming as a new form of behavioral addiction. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7(3), 838–843. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.95
Robinson, S., Woods, M., Cardona, F., & Hedderly, T. (2016). Intense imagery movements (IIM): More to motor stereotypies than meets the eye. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 20(1), 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpn.2015.10.006
Ross, C. A., Ridgway, J., & George, N. (2020). Maladaptive daydreaming, dissociation, and the dissociative disorders. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice, 2(2), 53–61. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.prcp.2019005
Sándor, A., Münnich, Á., & Molnár, J. (2020). Psychometric properties of the maladaptive daydreaming scale in a sample of Hungarian daydreaming-prone individuals. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(3), 853–862. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00050
Schimmenti, A., Somer, E., & Regis, M. (2019). Maladaptive daydreaming: Towards a nosological definition. Annales Médico-Psychologiques. Revue Psychiatrique, 177(9), 865–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2019.08.014
Schupak, C., & Rosenthal, J. (2009). Excessive daydreaming: A case history and discussion of mind wandering and high fantasy proneness. Consciousness and Cognition, 18(1), 290–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2008.10.002
Singer, H. S. (2011). Stereotypic movement disorders. In W. J. Weiner & E. Tolosa (Eds.), Handbook of clinical neurology, Vol. 100 (pp. 631-639). Elsevier.
Soffer-Dudek, N. (2021). Corrigendum for the MDS-16 (English version) cutoff score. Retrieved from https://daydreamresearch.wixsite.com/md-research/measures
Soffer-Dudek, N., & Somer, E. (2018). Trapped in a daydream: Daily elevations in maladaptive daydreaming are associated with daily psychopathological symptoms. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 194. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00194
Soffer-Dudek, N., & Somer, E. (2022). Maladaptive daydreaming is a dissociative disorder: Supporting evidence and theory. In J. M. Dorahy, S. N. Gold, & J. A. O’Neil (Eds.), Dissociation and the dissociative disorders (2nd ed., pp. 547-559). Taylor & Francis.
Soffer-Dudek, N., & Theodor-Katz, N. (2022). Maladaptive daydreaming: Epidemiological data on a newly identified syndrome. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 871041. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.871041
Soffer-Dudek, N., Somer, E., Abu-Rayya, H. M., Metin, B., & Schimmenti, A. (2020). Different cultures, similar daydream addiction? An examination of the cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(4), 1056–1067. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00080
Somer, E. (2002). Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 32, 197–212. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020597026919
Somer, E., Somer, L., & Jopp, S. D. (2016a). Childhood antecedents and maintaining factors in maladaptive daydreaming. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(6), 471-478. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000507
Somer, E., Somer, L., & Jopp, S. D. (2016b). Parallel lives: A phenomenological study of the lived experience of maladaptive daydreaming. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 17(5), 561-576. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2016.1160463
Somer, E., Abu-Rayya, H. M., & Nsairy Samaan, Z. (2019). Maladaptive daydreaming among recovering substance use disorder patients: Its prevalence and mediation of the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addictions, 17(2), 206-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-0011-9
Somer, E., Lehrfeld, J., Jopp, D. S., & Bigelsen, J. (2016). Development and validation of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS). Consciousness and Cognition, 39, 77-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2015.12.001
Somer, E., Soffer-Dudek, N., & Ross, C. A. (2017). The comorbidity of daydreaming disorder (Maladaptive Daydreaming). Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 205(7), 525-530. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000685
Somer, E., Soffer-Dudek, N., Ross, C. A., & Halpern, N. (2017). Maladaptive daydreaming: Proposed diagnostic criteria and their assessment with a structured clinical interview. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4(2), 176–189. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000114
Ueda, K., & Black, K. J. (2021). A comprehensive review of tic disorders in children. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(11), 2479. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10112479
Van Geest, J., Samaritter, R., & van Hooren, S. (2021). Move and be moved: The effect of moving specific movement elements on the experience of happiness. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 579518. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579518
Vasileiou, K., Barnett, J., Thorpe, S., & Young, T. (2018). Characterising and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: Systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 148. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0594
Wen, H., Soffer-Dudek, N., & Somer, E. (2022). Daily feelings and the affective valence of daydreams in maladaptive daydreaming: A longitudinal analysis. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037
West, M., Somer, E., & Eigsti, I. M. (May, 2021). Maladaptive daydreaming in autism spectrum disorders is associated with loneliness, repetitive behaviors, and emotion regulation difficulties. 2021 APS Virtual Convention.
Wilson, S. C., & Barber, T. X. (1981). Vivid fantasy and hallucinatory abilities in the life histories of excellent hypnotic subjects (“somnambules”): Preliminary report with female subjects. In E. Klinger (Ed.), Imagery: Volume 2. Concepts, results, and applications (pp.133–149). Plenum.
Wilson, S. C., & Barber, T. X. (1982). The fantasy-prone personality: Implications for understanding imagery, hypnosis, and parapsychological phenomena. PSI Research, 1(3), 94–116.
Winkielman, P., Niedenthal, P., Wielgosz, J., Eelen, J., & Kavanagh, L. C. (2015). Embodiment of cognition and emotion. In M. Mikulincer, P. R. Shaver, E. Borgida, & J. A. Bargh (Eds.) APA handbook of personality and social psychology, Volume 1: Attitudes and social cognition. American Psychological Association, (pp. 151–175). https://doi.org/10.1037/143 41-004
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Eli Somer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JAEX are open access, freely and universally accessible online, and archived in the open journal’s Lund University website (https://journals.lub.lu.se). Articles in JAEX can be distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CCBY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, with appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the Creative Commons license, and an indication if changes were made.
