Research Finds Daydreaming Is Good For Our Health
Daydreaming may be good for us, but we are surprisingly bad at it.
Daydreaming has been under attack for generations. As children we were told to “get that head out of the clouds and pay attention.” In adulthood recent studies have told us that mind-wandering seemed to make us unhappy because it usually leads to negative rumination.
Now a group of researchers are heroically defending daydreaming AND insisting we all need to learn how to do it more. Contrary to popular opinion, daydreaming is actually an important activity in the brain. Daydreaming, or ‘thinking for pleasure’ actually has important health benefits.
“This is part of our cognitive toolkit that’s underdeveloped, and it’s kind of sad,” says psychology professor and study author Erin Westgate in a press release.
In the study, published in Emotion, the authors write, “When given the freedom, people do not spontaneously choose to think for pleasure, and when directed to do so, struggle to concentrate successfully. Moreover, people find it somewhat boring and much less enjoyable than other solitary activities.” The study authors speculate that people simply don’t know what to think about in order to think for pleasure, or daydream.
