Body Movements During Maladaptive Daydreaming

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 emerged: Need, Variety, Awareness Agency, Functions. The analysis revealed two main findings about bi-directional effect MD. First, kinesthesia might enhance daydreamers’ by deepening their fantasy immersion through improved focus featuring self-hypnotic characteristics. In addition, respondents reported that movements enhanced embodying protagonists' actions. MD-related motions were associated occasional loss agency, suggesting unintentional neuromuscular activation.