What are the benefits and dangers of using fantasy to relax the mind?
When you feel anxious or in a difficult situation, daydreaming can improve your mental state, such as by imagining nature to calm your mind or having fun fantasies to make you feel positive. Psychotherapist Chris Bradshaw explains the benefits of daydreaming and the problems that can arise depending on how you daydream.
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Psychological therapists often encourage people to relax by having them visualize a peaceful scene, recall a particular memory, or daydream.
On the other hand, as the Washington DC-based think tank Pew Research Center points out, 'Modern society places a premium on focus on external tasks, cognitive analysis of experiences, attention, strong eye contact, and control. While most Americans report feeling some meaning in their work, others also report 'productivity anxiety.'' As such, our overly structured modern environment can stifle daydreaming and stifle creativity and innovation.
A 2013 paper published in Frontiers Media , a peer-reviewed journal of science and medicine, analyzed a research program on daydreaming conducted by renowned psychology professor Jerome L. Singer in 1955 and discussed the adaptive potential of positive and constructive daydreaming. Author Rebecca L. McMillan asked the question, 'If, as most research suggests, distraction is costly, why does it persist and take up so much of our time, by some estimates as much as 50% of our waking hours?' and discussed the significance of daydreaming.
McMillan proposes 'Positive Constructive Daydreaming (PCD)' as the most desirable style of daydreaming. PCD is characterized by 'playful, hopeful imagery and deliberate, creative thinking.' According to McMillan, PCD can lead to improved compassion, creativity, social skills, problem-solving skills, self-awareness, long-term goal management, future planning, moral reasoning and the ability to imagine the perspective of others, understanding emotions, and the ability to free oneself from the demands of external challenges. It can also reduce boredom and increase pleasure and life satisfaction.
However, McMillan also discusses the potential downsides of daydreaming. Although daydreaming is fine when done in a relaxed state, it can also come at random times, disrupting our ability to control our attention. For many people, daydreaming can also lead to painful self-criticism, traumatic memories, or tendencies to self-harm, creating a recurring sense of guilt.
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Therefore, while Bradshaw says that daydreaming has both advantages and disadvantages, 'Therapy with a therapist who is familiar with research on the positive effects of daydreaming may help develop the right PCD skills.' For example, the book ' Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind' by scientists Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire argues that PCD is important for focus and creativity in the creative process. According to Bradshaw, it is desirable to make effective use of daydreaming while avoiding its dangerous aspects, such as imagining the entire work before creating it and imagining how you will face imaginable challenges, or imagining the thoughts of people with whom you tend to disagree to deepen your understanding.
in Science, Posted by log1e_dh