Daydream - zest for living

Daydreaming was generally considered a waste of time and energy. Psychologists in the past believed that it was a symptom of neurotic tendencies. Through clinical experiments, they came up with the startling fact that daydreamers were trying to escape from life’s realities and responsibilities. They also said that daydreamers were alienated from society.

The general consensus is that daydreaming is definitely harmful when carried to excess. For instance, those who fail to achieve their targets in life tend to live a fantasy life. Then they withdraw from real life situations to indulge in their favourite pastime. Unwittingly, they might be impairing their mental and physical health.

Fortunately, those who daydream excessively are few and far between. Modern psychologists who have taken an about-turn say that there is no real harm in daydreaming. In fact, they say that most people suffer from a lack of daydreaming rather than an excess of it. Thus, psychologists are beginning to realise that there is a flipside to daydreaming. They claim that daydreaming helps us maintain our emotional balance.

Being a developing science, psychology keeps on changing its stance on daydreaming. Deviating from the previously held views, modern psychologists do not believe that daydreaming is injurious to mental health. Clinical experiments have confirmed that not only night dreams, but also daydreams are an integral part of the sleep process vital to maintain mental health.

Emotional disturbances

Dr William Dement of the Sleep Center of New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital said if you interrupt night dreams, it will lead to emotional disturbances. In most situations, a man whose dreams are interrupted is likely to suffer from hypertension, anxiety and irritability. Dement’s experiments clearly show that night dreams have a soothing effect on emotional and physical health. He said any suppression of dreams would disrupt the personality.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz: “Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experience.”

Modern psychologists have come to the conclusion that prolonged daydream deprivation would result in anxiety and tension. Clinical experiments have shown that people daydream especially at times of stress. Daydreams help them to get over certain problems and face life’s realities. What is more, daydreaming is supposed to promote intellectual growth as well. Psychologist Dr Sara Similansky has discovered that those who were taught how to daydream improved their language skills.

A prominent local businessman once said that he had made it a habit to daydream a few minutes every day. According to him, daydreaming has improved his mental energy. After every daydreaming session, he said, he felt refreshed and more efficient to handle the day’s activities.

Many people who travel daily to their workplaces in buses and trains can be seen dozing off. Although some people fall asleep while travelling, the majority of them enjoy a daydreaming session. Sometimes even in workplaces, people daydream whenever they get a short break from work. Most of them would vouch for the fact that daydreaming helps them restore their tired nerves.

Advantages

Many scientists and inventors have made use of the advantages of daydreaming. The biographies reveal that their best ideas had come to them when they were daydreaming. For instance, Sir Isaac Newton solved many of his toughest problems while daydreaming. Celebrated inventor Thomas Alva Edison too knew the value of daydreaming. Eminent Russian novelist Dostoevsky wrote his moving stories with a universal appeal while daydreaming.

Great men and women have shown us that daydreaming literally helped them to succeed in life. Florence Nightingale daydreamed of being a nurse. Thomas Alva Edison daydreamed himself as an inventor. One might ask, “How can a vivid projection of success help us to succeed in life?”

Dr Maxwell Maltz has answered the question conclusively. He said, “Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experience.” In either case, it reacts automatically to information that you feed.

So, if you have not been daydreaming all these years, you have missed a lot. We should daydream at least for a few minutes everyday to enjoy the excitement and zest of living.