Narcissism and Maladaptive Daydreaming: The Hidden Link Between Escapism and Emotional Defenses

Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

Once upon a Tuesday, a therapy client tells you, “I’m not avoiding anything—I just have a rich inner world.”

And sure, who doesn’t? But in this case, that inner world has chapters, character arcs, musical scores, and it’s eating six hours of their day.

They’re late for work, relationships are withering, and the real world has become something they visit between scenes.

Welcome to Maladaptive Daydreaming—a psychological sideshow where fantasy outmuscles functioning.

And if that client also happens to carry a few narcissistic traits?

Well then, buckle up. Because new research suggests narcissism and maladaptive daydreaming might be old pen pals, trading emotional defenses across the unconscious mind.

What Is Maladaptive Daydreaming, Really?

Let’s be clear: this isn’t the dreamy, poetic spacing out we all indulge in while folding laundry or fantasizing about quitting capitalism.

Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is vivid, immersive, and compulsive. It’s a full-screen cinema in the brain, often complete with scripts, sequels, and emotional investment rivaling actual relationships.

It’s triggered by music, stress, or boredom—and it becomes addictive because it works.

It regulates emotion, it soothes shame, it gives you the kind of narrative control the external world stubbornly refuses to offer.

Unfortunately, it also can derail lives: interfering with sleep, love, work, and self-care (Somer et al., 2017).

Narcissism Enters Stage Left

In a recent study published in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice, researchers Alessia Renzi and Rachele Mariani (2025) examined the connection between narcissistic personality traits and maladaptive daydreaming.

Their international sample of 562 participants (mostly young adults) completed validated assessments of narcissism, defense mechanisms, and MD tendencies.

And lo and behold: the higher the narcissism, the more likely the subject was to report maladaptive daydreaming!

Specifically, it was vulnerable, covert narcissism—the kind that hides behind a velvet curtain of sensitivity and perfectionism.

These souls aren't strutting peacocks; they're glass castles. They crave admiration but fear exposure.

Their daydreams? Safe little kingdoms where no one disappoints them, everyone loves them, and they never stutter when asking for what they need.

But here’s where it gets juicy: the study didn’t just say “these two things co-occur.” It proposed a mechanism.

Defense Mechanisms: The Middleman of the Mind

What do narcissism and maladaptive daydreaming have in common?

The same thing that keeps a house from collapsing in a storm: defense mechanisms—except these defenses are more cardboard than concrete.

The study found that folks with narcissistic traits were significantly more likely to rely on immature (denial, projection) and neurotic (repression, dissociation) defenses, and far less likely to use mature ones like humor, sublimation, or anticipation. And these less adaptive defenses partially explained the link between narcissism and maladaptive daydreaming.

To put it more bluntly: narcissism bends the ego, immature defenses kick in to stop the bleeding, and maladaptive daydreaming is the fantasy-shaped bandage they slap on the wound.

Fantasy as a Fortress

Let’s pause to admire the elegance of this: if the world won’t reflect your grandiosity or soothe your shame, you simply invent a better one.

One where you’re adored. One where you’re safe. One where you never say the wrong thing or get ghosted.

It’s adaptive, sorta.

Until you start skipping meals and meetings for it. Until your real relationships feel like poor imitations of your inner ones. Until your daydreams become more emotionally trustworthy than the people you love.

In this sense, fantasy becomes a fortress. But like most fortresses, it keeps people out as much as it protects what’s inside.

Clinical Takeaways for the Real World

If you’re a therapist, gentle reader, take note: maladaptive daydreaming doesn’t always announce itself.

Clients may frame it as creativity, introversion, or "spacing out."

You have to ask: Do you find yourself escaping into daydreams often? Are they hard to stop? Do they ever interfere with your relationships or goals? You may be surprised how many clients quietly nod yes.

And if they’re showing narcissistic traits—especially vulnerable narcissism—this may be the scaffolding they’re using to hold up a fragile self.

What helps?

• Strengthening mature defenses through psychodynamic or schema-based therapy

• Teaching emotional regulation skills to reduce the need for fantasy escape routes

• Building narrative identity so that the client can author a life worth living—outside their head

• Treating co-occurring conditions, especially ADHD, PTSD, or anxiety, which are often lurking behind the scenes

Also worth considering: many maladaptive daydreamers are fantasy-prone personalities with a strong imagination and weak boundaries.

That’s not necessarily a pathology; that’s a more of a temperament. But without grounding, it can easily become a trapdoor.

A Few Closing Thoughts from the Galaxy of Overthinking

Here’s the thing. This research isn’t causal.

We don’t know if narcissism causes maladaptive daydreaming or vice versa—or if both spring from some deeper well: childhood neglect, chronic invalidation, or the universal ache to be known without being judged.

But we do know this: when the outer world becomes unlivable, the inner one will grow lush and loud.

And for some, it becomes the only place that feels safe.

Just don’t mistake that safety for healing.

Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.

REFERENCES:

Renzi, A., & Mariani, R. (2025). What Is the Relationship Between Narcissism and Maladaptive Daydreaming? The Role of Defense Mechanisms as Mediators. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.prcp.2025.XXXX

Somer, E., Lehrfeld, J., Bigelsen, J., & Jopp, D. S. (2016). Development and validation of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS). Consciousness and Cognition, 39, 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2015.01.007