As far as MD research and awareness promotion is concerned, we look forward to many opportunities to get things right in 2023. Let's start with future MD research.
Future research
Without the enthusiastic participation of the MD community, we couldn't have achieved anything. So here are two calls for participation in exciting new studies.
· Hi there, my name is Wanda Fischera, and I am a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at Canterbury Christ Church University.
I would like to invite you to apply to take part in a research study. The study aims to explore the experiences of disclosing maladaptive daydreaming to others. This is to help to develop an understanding of what it is like for someone with maladaptive daydreaming to disclose and confide in someone about their daydreaming and the subsequent impact of disclosure on their lives. This may help to improve awareness and understanding for individuals with maladaptive daydreaming, researchers, and mental health clinicians.
If you are selected, you will be asked to participate in an online interview with me in which I will ask questions about your disclosure experiences with maladaptive daydreaming.
Here is the link to read more about the study and sign up:
· Join us for an exciting study on thought patterns at the Consciousness & Psychopathology Laboratory at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Get personal feedback on your thought patterns & enter a $100 worth gift voucher raffle! All you need to do is open your PC; the study will take place online—eligibility requirements: 18 years old and over. Click Here for more details.
For further information, contact: md.reaserch@gmail.com (We know there is a spelling error, but that's the correct address!)
Ms. Nitzan Theodor- Katz
Dr. Nirit Soffer-Dudek
Published research
The first controlled research on the treatment of MD has been published in the prestigious APA Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Let us all congratulate Dr. Oren Herscu of the University of Haifa
for successfully leading the study. Following eight self-directed online sessions teaching self-motivation, mindfulness skills, and self-monitoring, individuals with MD significantly reduced their MD scores and daydreaming frequency. They reported a marked improvement in everyday functioning. The achievements were maintained after six months. This brief internet-based intervention program facilitated recovery or improvement in many individuals with MD. MD is often utilized as a form of self-medication and emotional regulation. Future therapist-assisted interventions that will address underlying issues could probably offer a superior outcome.
Student work
The documentary film about MD titled "Dream Prisoners" (click here to watch) by Elena Rubtsova won the the Grand Prix of the Brno film festival for the best short documentary. Well done, Elena!
Three Swiss psychology students, Katrin Koch, Amir Mamudi & Elias Riedweg, submitted a term paper on Possible links between emotional dysregulation and maladaptive daydreaming in children on the autism spectrum for a course on the Subjective reality of the inner world at the UniDistance Suisse university.
Media and press coverage
A person with MD drew our attention to a thorough YouTube webinar by Psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia, MD, titled: Your Constant Daydreaming Can Be Hurting Your Mental Health. Click here to watch.
Eric Taipale's story on MD featured in July's edition of The New Scientist was syndicated and published recently in two German popular science magazines: Spectrum - Psychologie and Gehirn & Geist (Brain and Mind)
CNN Health published a syndicated story on MD titled: "When too much daydreaming becomes a disorder". The same story was also published on other platforms, for instance:
ZME Science was established as a website covering research and developments from all scientific fields.The website is accessed by over a million unique visitors every month, mainly from the United States. Their story is titled: "Maladaptive daydreaming: when fantasies become too addictive, they consume your thoughts."
Greater Good magazine is published by the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at the University of California, Berkeley. GGSC explores the roots of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior. They also published this story on MD titled "Does Daydreaming Have a Dark Side?"
The Epoch Times Germany is an independent media company based in Berlin. They also featured the same story in German.
N1 is a Serbian news outlet. It also featured the syndicated MD story.
Nafshi is an ultra-orthodox Jewish mental health monthly publication in the Yiddish language published in New York. The magazine featured a lengthy testimony of a Hassidic woman suffering from MD. It is the only existing Yiddish language magazine that publishes information on mental health.