International conference features symposium on maladaptive daydreaming

The 7th bi-annual conference of the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation was held in Rome this past weekend. On Saturday, October 26, six members of the International Consortium on Maladaptive Daydreaming, representing five countries, presented a symposium titled: "Maladaptive Daydreaming: An Overview of a Proposed Disorder Session." Prof. Eli Somer (Israel) described the history and the development of the construct of maladaptive daydreaming (MD). Prof. Adriano Schimmenti (Italy) presented data showing that MD can be a clinically impairing condition, in which shame may constitute a central experience. Doctoral student Alexandra Sándor (Hungary) reported that childhood traumatization significantly increased the risk of maladaptive daydreaming. She also showed that MD was related to attachment problems. Dr. Igor Pietkiewicz (Poland) suggested that MD has strong characteristics of a behavioral addiction and presented an illustrative case study. Liora Somer (Israel) demonstrated the distinct features of MD in pictorial self-representations. Dr. Colin Ross (USA) reported that no conclusive evidence showed medication to be effective in MD, implying that the likely course of treatment is psychotherapy.

The symposium was well received and yielded two new research collaborations with attending scholars.