The Psychological Benefits of Daydreaming

By Christina Lavers | Contributing writer for Wake Up World

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” ~ Langston Hughes

When we daydream we can lose ourselves in a self-generated flow of consciousness. We can do anything, go anywhere within the privacy of our minds. It is a means to escape the outer world, to face our fears, to entertain ourselves, and to explore our inner world, ideas, and scenarios. But those who like to indulge in reverie are often negatively labelled dreamers, dawdlers, or space cadets.

When we consider that we live in a consumer based, economically driven world that worships productivity and efficiency, it is no wonder that daydreaming has long been portrayed in a negative light. Daydreaming, the act of allowing our thoughts to flow spontaneously without an agenda or particular destination, is generally seen as a lazy habit, a waste of time and a distraction from the things that really matter. Sigmund Freud declared daydreaming to be a sign of mental illness, a neurotic and infantile tendency indulged in by those who were unfulfilled. However, more recent research is suggesting that daydreaming has many important benefits that have long been overlooked

One of the important matters to come to light is that though daydreaming generally encourages a relaxed state of mind, when we float down our inner stream of consciousness our brains actually become highly stimulated, with many areas, including the pre-frontal lobe and executive centre becoming active. According to Marcus Raichle, a neurologist and radiologist at Washington University, “When you don’t use a muscle, that muscle really isn’t doing much of anything… But when your brain is supposedly doing nothing and daydreaming, it’s really doing a tremendous amount. We call it ‘resting state,’ but the brain isn’t resting at all.”

Some of the notable benefits of daydreaming that research has explored include:

Enhanced Memory

Likely to the surprise of many, a recent study published in Psychological Science by researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science found a correlation between daydreaming and an enhanced degree of working memory. Working memory is defined by cognitive scientists as the brain’s ability to retain and recall information when distractions are present. The study found that participants who more often indulged in daydreaming demonstrated a better ability to remember a series of letters when distracted by mathematical problems than those who were less inclined to daydream.

[More…]

Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk