‘I just go into my head and enjoy it’: the people who can’t stop daydreaming

Psychiatrists may soon recognise maladaptive daydreaming' as a clinical disorder. But what is it, and how can it be treated?

Every day, Kyla* travels to a fictional universe with advanced space travel. It's not real, of course - but an incredibly vivid daydream, centred on a protagonist with a detailed history. It covers 79 years in the life of my main character," she says. I know how the whole thing plays out, and I can drop into it at whatever point I want to experience."

Today, this habit is pure entertainment, which she limits to just an hour a day. It's like watching Netflix," she says. I just go into my head and enjoy it." In the past, however, she had felt that her fantasies had become all-consuming. There was a point where it was like an addiction."