Ways to prevent yourself from chronic fantasy

Someone struggling with chronic fantasy will find it difficult to keep in touch with reality. This is why they need all the help they can get. One of the reasons why people fantasize is because they need a way to escape their present circumstances.

Here are some ways to prevent chronic fantasy from happening

Identify the reason

When a problem is in play, you need to figure out why it is happening. If you find yourself frequently fantasizing, you need to discover the reason why.

You can ask yourself some important questions that are centered on your present circumstances. When you find out the reason why you are fantasizing, it becomes easier to tackle the problem.

Set actual goals

Sometimes people develop chronic fantasies because they don’t know how to set goals and meet them.

When you fantasize, it becomes challenging to meet your goals because you will spend most of your time daydreaming. It is better to set realistic goals and work towards meeting them.

Hence, if you end up fantasizing about your goals, you should work towards achieving them when you snap back to reality. Working towards your goals will help you ensure that the time you spend fantasizing is not wasted.

Surround yourself with people that have a healthy mindset

Another way to prevent chronic fantasy is to hang out with positively-minded people. You need the right set of people around you if you want to cut off some habits. Be with people who encourage you to be better, and will help you work towards achieving your goals.

Seek help from a professional

Overall, it is important to reach out to a professional mental health counselor or therapist for help. Sometimes, one of the best ways to prevent something is to have a professional on your side to guide you through.

You will learn some healthy activities that will help you replace fantasizing if you’ve started noticing some of the symptoms

Signs that your fantasy has become a mental health problem

Many experts have opined that it is normal to fantasize. And sometimes, it is regarded as a healthy activity that is part of our experience. However, there are some people that get lost in their fantasies that they find it hard to connect with reality.

When people fantasize to the point where it becomes a mental health problem, it becomes maladaptive daydreaming. This is when their fantasy replaces the human interaction that is connected to their relationships, work, and other activities.

Those who experience this mental health problem create some imaginary and likable character that fits what they want. If you want to know whether your fantasy is now a mental health problem or not, here are some of the signs.

Less focus on reality

One of the ways to know that your fantasy is now a mental health problem is when you pay less attention to reality. You will be more focused on daydreaming, hallucinations, and overactive imagination.

Also, you will try to avoid anything that may disconnect you from those moments when you are fantasizing. This means that you will prefer to stay in isolation instead of being around people.

Communication becomes more difficult

When fantasy becomes a mental health problem, you will notice that it gets more difficult to communicate with people. You are more focused on what is going on in your mind instead of what is happening around you.

Reduced productivity

If you notice that your productivity or performance in other aspects of your life isn’t as it should be, it might mean that your fantasy has progressed into a mental health problem.

You may notice that work does not look exciting to you as before, or you are not meeting up with the expectations of school work.

When you notice that you fantasize regularly, and it seems to cut you off from reality, you can seek help from a mental health counselor

How chronic fantasy develops

Fantasizing involves the processing different thoughts in your mind. And most times, the thoughts are played out because you want it to. For instance, you could fantasize about being a popular influencer who will always be celebrated when they appear in public.

If you continue to fantasize, it plays out in your thoughts and if you work towards this, you might be able to achieve your dream. On the other hand, you might be ill-motivated to work towards this dream, and this can make you do things that are dangerous.  

Fantasizing becomes chronic when it develops into an unhealthy thought pattern. During this phase, the thoughts do not leave your head. At the same time, it would be impossible for you to do anything productive because you are not properly motivated.

This is one of the reasons why people would do things they will regret in the long run. People make the mistake of fantasizing for hours instead of making actionable plans to achieve their goals.

When you fantasize, it is important to back it up with feasible short and long-term goals. The main problem is, people find it hard to set good goals and objectives for themselves. This is why they would prefer to fantasize and day-dream instead of proper planning.

Anyone can fantasize but the danger lies in drowning yourself in fantasies and making it a compulsive and obsessive behavior.

The worst part is, when fantasizing becomes chronic, it might be challenging for you to remain in touch with reality. You will prefer to dwell in your thoughts instead of reality.

If you are having problems keeping in touch with reality because you fantasize, it is important to seek help. You need to help yourself by learning how to turn your fantasies into workable steps that would help you achieve your goals.

If you don’t seek help, you will discover that it would be difficult for you to achieve growth in some aspects of your life because you’ve spent more time fantasizing.  

How to prevent yourself from fantasizing

For several people, fantasizing is one of the ways they escape from their sad and unpleasant times to imaginary happy times. The idea of fantasizing isn’t bad but it becomes disadvantageous when the individual fantasizes regularly. There are downsides of fantasies but many people are not aware of it.

Since fantasies work fine as an escape mechanism, you need to be careful not to be caught deep in it. You should work towards redirecting your thoughts and concentrating more so that you can remain alert and focused.

The amazing part about fantasies is, they can be productive, depending on how you channel them to aid your productivity.

To prevent yourself from fantasizing, the first thing you need to do is to take note of your fantasies.

When you pen down your fantasies, it would be easy to know why you have them. In addition, it would be easy to redirect your fantasies and channel your thoughts and imaginations into vital and creative activities.

Next, you need to learn more about your triggers. You might be surprised to see that you fantasize when you are doing a particular activity or maybe when a certain music is playing.

When you notice that your mind is wandering off at this point, you can call yourself back and write down what is happening.

After observing this, you can change your routine to avoid fantasizing when you are doing those regular activities. By all means possible, try to switch up your activities so that you can add spice to your normal routine.

With your fantasies, you can discover what you really want in life. If you are smart about it, you will discover that fantasies are not outright unproductive. So, you can seize this opportunity and forge a path for yourself with your fantasies.

The common mistakes that people make is, they fantasize and they fail to take actionable steps that would translate their fantasies into realizable goals.  

EFFECTS OF FANTASY

Fantasy has to do with processing different thoughts in your mind. All these thoughts are most times played out based on your resolve.

Fantasizing becomes an unhealthy pattern when these thoughts occur in your head staying for a long period without turning into something beneficial.

This can make someone lose it fully, and turn to other faster and hazardous methods.

In cases when the person has fantasies to be like a specific celebrity, it could get so bad the person could go to unthinkable lengths to make sure that they are seen in the same light.

Furthermore, another detrimental fantasizing thought pattern is interchanging relationships and friendships which are made in reality with creativities.

There is one mistake which people make in this case; they invest hours fantasizing about the ideal set of friends who they can always spend ample time with and who they can trust fully.

In actuality, friends like this do not exist. No one is fully perfect, as everyone has shortcomings which are meant to show themselves at any period in time.

The best thing which can occur at this point, is to make attempts to meet people. You can start by asking for their names, knowing where they live, their hobbies and the likes.

Hence, it is necessary that even though fantasies are lovely, we should exercise care in ensuring that they do not take control over reality.

Unhealthy thought patterns are what cause addictions, and they cause diverse occurrences which leads to death in the long run.

A good number of factors help in fantasizing including the social media, books, movies amongst others. Fantasy should be avoided when they begin to interchange the importance of reality in our lives.

Fantasy becomes unhealthy when it damages you both physically and psychologically. You would begin to think of some patterns which are detrimental to your health in the long run.

You could see yourself as someone who would not be successful, and you might do something crazy.

Another negative effect which comes with fantasizing is, it causes depression, and with time, they become addicted to alcohol or drugs which makes them feel healthier. If the person does not exercise care, the individual could be moved to commit suicide.

WHEN FANTASY BECOMES AN ADDICTION

An Overview On Fantasy And Addiction

The adoption of a false idea into the mind and the creation of an illusion which we tend to belief as being real is capable of encapsulating our thinking in the long-run and making it an addiction. An illusion coupled with a belief system but restricted to assumptions and imaginations is referred to as a fantasy.

Fantasy can also be explained as a virtual creative ability of the human brain, to process an information that appears to be real to the mind and is very applicable in the real world, however, it is restricted to the synthetic imagination of the individual. It deals with processing real life situations in the mind and believing that, this is how they consistently occur in the real life, whereas they might not really be occurring as imagined. It could happen due to past, current or expected happenings.

Addiction on the other hand, is a state of being psychologically or physically attached to a particular activity. It could be in form of physical activities or illusionary activities. It results from consistent and regular participation in a particular activity. In light of this, we may like to look into internet addiction. According to “Abnormal Psychology”, internet addiction is characterized by an impulse control state or condition that, if mistakenly left unchecked, alters an addict’s neurotransmitters in their brain while they employ and engage their depravity.

How Fantasy Eventually Becomes And Addiction

In the case of fantasy, it may be as a result of consistent and constant practice of the act, when left unchecked and thereby resulting to a reconfiguration of the individual’s mind-set, to be stereotyped to a new pattern of thinking. As fantasy appears to be a mind activity that controls the thoughts and habit of an individual, so is addiction a mind reconfiguration that happens in the brain, and imbibes the individual with a new habit and character on how things are to be done in the conventional.

How To Get Over Addiction

Since addiction is an activity of the mind, that is caused by consistent rational exercises, that occurs as a result of the absence of a regular checking as earlier explained, in order to curb such addiction caused by fantasizing, it will equally require a conscious and consistent checking and scrutiny in order to reconfigure the mind of the person. It takes conscious hard work to redirect the person’s thoughts that is caught up in the world of fantasy.

WHEN FANTASIZING BECOMES AN UNHEALTHY THOUGHT PATTERN

Fantasizing has to do with processing various thoughts in your mind. These thoughts are most times played out at your will. For example, you could fantasize to be a celebrity who is well known, and would always be applauded whenever you walk around. This fantasy could play out continuously in your thoughts, and you might end up being positively motivated to chase that dream. In other cases, when you discover that it is almost impossible for you to achieve this, you could be driven to carry out acts which can be regarded as dangerous and nefarious all because you want an acclaimed name for yourself.

Fantasizing becomes an unhealthy thought pattern when these thoughts which go on in your head remain for a long time without materializing into something productive. This could make someone lose it totally and resort to other quicker but dangerous methods. Also, in a case where one fantasizes being like a particular celebrity, it might get so bad that such person could goes to unimaginable lengths to ensure that he or she would be seen in that same light.

Also, another unhealthy thought pattern for fantasizing, is replacing friendships and relationships made in reality, with imaginations. One mistake people always make is, they spend hours fantasizing about having the right set of friends who they can always spend quality time with and with whom they can always trust wholeheartedly. Well in reality, friends like that do not exist, no one is totally infallible as we all have shortcomings which are bound to showcase themselves at any point in time.

The best thing which can be done in this case, is learning to meet people. It could start with asking for their names, then their hobbies could follow and from there, you would be surprised to discover that you are on your way to building long-lasting relationships. So, it is important that inasmuch as we may love to fantasize, we should be careful of not allowing these fantasies take over from reality. Unhealthy thoughts patterns are what give rise to addictions, and addictions could lead to various occurrences which would ultimately lead to death.

Major factors which aid fantasizing such as movies, social media, books and the likes, should be avoided if they are starting to replace the essence of reality in our lives.

THE PROBLEM OF ESCAPING INTO FANTASY

A fantasy can be said to be an imagined thought which can simply be anything. Someone who fantasizes frequently, is not too worried about the reality. Taking a look at the football fantasy league, you would have the full opportunity of creating your own team according to your preferred specifications. You are more or less like the God of the league who set things in place according to his own desire.

Fantasies are futuristic related, they involve our projected goals and dreams. They could be physical in some cases, romantic or professional. You could see yourself changing a physical appearance or getting married in the most glamorous style. The concept of fantasy is very important, as it determines to an extent how our lives are driven. This could be a platform for us to properly work on our goals and be motivated to achieve them.

Fantasizing is good. However, the problem with it is, people get dejected when they find out that time has been wasted on fantasizing because in the reality, nothing has been achieved. This shows that such person does not have a clear aim in life.

You know that fantasizing has crossed the line when you discover that you start substituting it for real-life relationships and friendships. The fact remains that having quality relationships with people counts a lot and there are many benefits inherent in it. Someone who spends much time fantasizing would find it hard to socialize and make healthy relationships as one advances in age.

It also becomes unhealthy when it begins to damage you both psychologically and physically. You could begin to imagine some kind of patterns which might be harmful to your health in the long run. You might see yourself as someone who would not succeed and it could lead you to do something crazy. This occurs when you rethink and ponder on this over and over again.

The negative side of fantasizing is, it has often made people depressed, and they end up being addicted to drugs or alcohol which would make them feel better. If care is not taken, such person could be driven to commit suicide. Fantasizing should be done with a view to relieving stress and pondering on ideas which can make you a better person.

HOW FILMS, BOOKS AND MEDIA ENCOURAGE FANTASIZING

One fact about fantasizing is, it does not just happen in an instant from an unknown source. There is always an origin behind it. You cannot just fantasize ordinarily, there has to be a propelling force behind it. People have often had different views about fantasizing. Some have termed it to be good while others have seen fantasizing to be something which could drive someone to commit some actions, which are detrimental to your health.

THE ROLE OF FILMS/BOOKS IN FANTASIZING

Films and books play a pivotal role in fantasizing. Taking a novel for example, there are certain characters in a novel which might interest you. Their actions in the novel could serve as a source of motivation for you, and you might find yourself replicating these actions in the physical. It could also get to the extent that you would idolize such character and even give reasons for the character’s misdemeanor because you are totally taken to this character.

The same thing applies to films. In this case, fantasizing could be more effective unlike book. You fall in love with probably the protagonist of the film, and you could eventually find yourself trying to behave in every single way like him. If care is not taken, you would find out that you keep on replaying the film over and over again in order to perfectly integrate this character’s lifestyle into your being.

THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN FANTASIZING

Another strong factor responsible for fantasizing which is closely related to films and books, is the media. Now, this looks like a proper representation of reality. People all over the world who are either ardent or passive users of the media would surely have someone they look up to in the media world. It could be an artiste, a songwriter, a sportsman amongst others. So for this particular person, it would be easier for you to keep up with the lifestyle of such person, because the media has made it possible.

The person’s lifestyle would be spread out before you for the purpose of emulation. The availability of social media platforms has made it easier for you to check up on your favorite celebrity and keep up with their way of life.
It then becomes dangerous when you discover that it is unable to keep up with their lifestyle, and you start trying out unpleasant acts in order to make sure you are just like them.

FANTASY VERSUS REALITY

COMPARING AND BALANCING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FANTASY AND REALITY

An Exposition Into The Concept Of Fantasy And Reality

Expressing the difference between fantasy and reality might be a little difficult due to the complexity of both activities. At times, people become lost in an illusion due to somethings that they might be thinking of, either they have already happened, are currently happening, are expected to happen in the future, or are expected to have happened.

An illusion is similar to fantasy. However, it is slightly different from a fantasy, it is a mere false impression or an idea that appears to seem as a current happening or better put a reality, while a fantasy is an idea that is very much applicable in the real word but is limited to imagination. A fantasy basically is a baseless idea that is being imagined and believed by an individual to be a reality, letting aside all other possible assumptions.

Reality on the other hand, is the current or past state of things as they happen or as they exist. It does not have anything to do with the future or anything that is to happen in the future time. It is characterized by activities that are currently happening and activities that already existed in the past. It is not a belief nor an assumption, it is the actual materialization of things as they happen.

How Fantasy Differs From Reality

People often find it difficult to strike a balance between fantasy and reality. The moment a person starts fantasizing about something, there is a high tendency that a belief is being created already, such belief is what makes the person mistake fantasy with what is happening in the real world (reality). From study and research, such fantasies are propelled by past undesired happening or unexpected happenings, which are now patterned into an imagination of what the person expects to see in the future, and that is when the person starts having problems with balancing fantasy with reality.

Balancing Fantasy With Reality

In order to get out of such imagination, one needs to learn from the past experience and start placing more focus on what is actually happening, instead of ruminating and reflecting on those past experiences without a way forward. It might actually seem to be hard, trying to get over such a complex combination of mind thoughts, but doing that is actually for the best. It could happen in the case of human relationship, where close friends and partners tend to stop being in talking terms with each other due to some shortfalls. It is really important that such persons quickly wake up from the fantasy, and face the reality to utilize time.