Why do you daydream?

[SilentMute]

There is one thing I've always gotten annoyed with myself. I find it hard to keep listening to people. Many times, I'm thinking about something else and only half-listen to the people. Sometimes after a few minutes, I'll totally tune out altogether. I used to think I did this out of boredom.

I'm on a site now that is trying to help people build happiness skills. One of the keys to happiness supposedly is to have good relationships. What is a key to a good relationship? Good listening skills. So one of my exercises was to try and listen to people better.

I was more successful when I concentrated on it, but I discovered something...I was more stressed out. I started to think I daydream not out of boredom, but that it acts like a buffer. I'm getting stressed out by the situation I am in, and the daydream helps me remove myself at least partially. The only problem is that sometimes I remove myself so successfully that I'm not listening and miss what is said to me.

Another friend found my experience interesting. She had the same problem. She is a hospice counselor, and she reported that she had a hard time not day dreaming when patients would be talking to her. Again, though, the situation tended to be stressful.

So I'm curious how common this is. Do you think you daydream because of stress? Or do you do it out of boredom or pleasure?

[papayahed]

I'll pay attention. I know I stop paying attention when one particular person starts talking but I'm pretty sure that is because I know they don't listen to a thing I say.

[Helga]

I daydream out of boredom on the bus when I can't focus on reading, but also at times when I talk to people. I have never thought of it as a stress release but it is very likely. Most of my friends and family don't really mind when I tell them I lost focus and they have to repeat what they said. They do it too at times so I guess it's something most people do at one time or another.

This is also my way of falling asleep, I tend to start focusing on something negative and blame myself for something stupid and even think about conversations so much that I forget what really happened cause my made up scenario is on my mind so much. Daydreaming is better than that, at least I know that is not real.

[cacian]

what is daydreaming?
I ask because there is being the state of being unfocused hence 'not there' so to speak or disinterested and there is dreaming as we know night time dreaming.
dreaming is seeing or being involved with people we know or don't with things happening in a different way but similar to life.
dreaming explore what had not happened in real life. the events of dreaming are real life only different.

[papayahed]

what is daydreaming?



Wiki explains it fairly well:
Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.

[cacian]

Wiki explains it fairly well:
Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.

that is maybe not dreaming for the reason that dreams are not always pleasant. I would say that just the mind unloads stress by going off somewhere pleasant for a bit. the brain reenergises as it unloads by imagining nice things.

[SilentMute]

Well, what is funny, is that my daydreams sometimes are more stressful than my regular life. I think I sometimes use them to work things out. Maybe I don't want to face an actual memory, so I'll use a Star Wars character or a book character. It sometimes annoys me that I get depressed sometimes over things that aren't even real.

I literally need to get a life.