"Maladaptive Daydreaming" said to be mistaken for Autism

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Whenever Ellie Agress is done watching an episode of “WandaVision,” the TV show on Disney+ that’s partly inspired by Marvel Comics, she comes up with smart ideas for future plots — which the characters simultaneously enact in her head.

The 18-year-old’s imagination is unfettered and ultra-creative. But it can also cause her to drift into a fantasy world and block out the realities of life.

“My mind is always making up stories,” Ellie told The Post. “It’s part of who I am.”

The college freshman has been diagnosed with maladaptive daydreaming (MD), a little-known mental health condition whose symptoms (which may include spinning, pacing and repetitive thoughts) are often mistaken for autism and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Expert Jayne Bigelsen, an advocate for MD who has the disorder herself, described it as a “spectrum.” Many of the people affected don’t find the issue “an overt impairment,” she said, while others “can’t hold a job or maintain real-life relationships” because the fallout is so debilitating.
Like Bigelsen, an increasing number of physicians believe the condition — not yet included in the “DSM-5,” the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” kept by the American Psychiatric Association — is far more common than the medical establishment acknowledges.

Data from a yet-to-be-published study by Dr. Nirit Soffer Dudek, a clinical psychologist in Israel, finds that more than 2% of the global population may experience MD. That figure is about the same as for OCD.

Over the last few years, there’s been a social media explosion of people who identify as maladaptive daydreamers. For example, a Reddit group includes more than 72,000 members and #MaladaptiveDaydreaming has more than 39 million views on TikTok.

Bigelsen, who runs the online support platform Maladaptive Daydreamers, said: “Doctors and other mental health professionals try to fit things into already existing categories. I’ve heard of MD being misdiagnosed as ASD [autism spectrum disorder], ADHD, and even restless leg syndrome.”

She believes a collection of talented celebrities may have the condition. “I’m sure that a number of [well-known] and creative actors and writers have this extensive imaginary world,” Bigelsen said. “I’m 100 percent convinced that some of them could be maladaptive daydreamers.”

The college freshman has been diagnosed with maladaptive daydreaming (MD), a little-known mental health condition whose symptoms (which may include spinning, pacing and repetitive thoughts) are often mistaken for autism and obsessive compulsive disorder.