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Fantasy prone personality (FPP) is a personality disorder in which a person experiences an extensive and deep involvement in fantasy.[1] An individual diagnosed with fantasy prone personality has difficulty differentiating between fantasy and reality and may experience hallucinations and out-of-body experiences vivid enough to effect their bodies.
History[edit]
Psychologists Wilson and Barber are credited with identifying fantasy prone personality in 1981. Besides identifying the disorder, Wilson and Barber found a number of childhood developments that likely caused the foundation for fantasy proneness in later life, like “a parent, grandparent, teacher, or friend who encouraged the reading of fairy tales, reinforced the child's make-[beliefs] and fantasies, and treated the child's dolls and stuffed animals in ways that encouraged the child to believe that they were alive .”(Lynn and Rhue). Though, various other studies have also found this link including, “Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961”, “ Jalongo, 1984”, “Klinger, 1969”, and “Manosevitz, Prentice & Wilson, 1973.”(Lynn and Rhue). There is also evidence that being involved in “life situations that foster extensive involvement in fantasy,” (Lynn and Rhue) can lead to fantasy proneness in later life. While, children who experienced loneliness or a bad home environment escaped their harsh realities through fantasy, and were therefore more susceptible to hypnosis then others. Many other psychologists, some mentioned above, took the ground work done by Wilson and Barber and did their own research which in many cases ended up verifying previous studies done.
Psychological disorders have a long complicated history on the whole, and initially the strange forces were thought to be caused by star movements, god-like powers, or evil spirits.(Psychology, Myers). Though, in the middle ages people with psychological problems would make claims that the devil made them do it.
Symptoms[edit]
A person diagnosed with fantasy prone personality is reported to spend a large portion of his or her time fantasizing, have vividly intense fantasies, have paranormal experiences, and have intense religious experiences.[2] His or her fantasizing may include extreme dissociation and intense sexual fantasies. People with fantasy prone personality are reported to spend over half of their time awake fantasizing or daydreaming and will often confuse or mix their fantasies with their real memories. They also report several out-of-body experiences.[2]
Research has shown that people who are diagnosed with fantasy prone personality tend to have had a large amount of exposure to fantasy during childhood. People have reported that they believed their dolls and stuffed animals were living creatures and that their parents encouraged them to indulge in their fantasies and daydreams.[2]
Comparison to Other Disorders[edit]
Fantasy prone personality shares some of the same initial causes with dissociative identity disorder (DID) but unlike those with DID, the person does not seem to forget the traumas they faced but merely created a new world with in their own mind to which they can escape to escape the harshness of reality. This escape then becomes real to them because reality is not up to their expectations and so like schizophrenia, the person's ability to distinguish fantasy from reality disappears as they immerse themselves deeper into their fantasies. Though the fact that childhood trauma and loneliness are not the sole cause of fantasy prone personality means that the escapist reason is not the complete answer to the problem. Some of the fantasy prone in studies were actually reinforced by nearby adults to exercise their active imaginations and pretend that certain toys and stories were real. So for some it might not be bad enough to impair their ability to function in normal life and besides having an overactive imagination for an adult, they are perfectly healthy (mentally that is) individuals. The requirements for someone to be insane include behaviors that disrupt the normal day to day life of the person and get in the way of their interaction with the rest of society. Whereas with schizophrenia and even DID, there is clear evidence that certain behaviors caused by the condition would make day to day life impossible without treatment of some kind, either medication or therapy.
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Lynn, Steven J., and Judith W. Rhue. "The Fantasy-Prone Person: Hypnosis, Imagination, and Creativity." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1986: 404-408. 20 Apr. 2009.
- ^ a b c Horselenberg, Robert, et al. “The Creative Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ): a brief self-report measure of fantasy proneness.” Personality and Individual Differences 2001: 987-995. 20 Apr. 2009.