Fantasy may give us some rest from the harsh reality of life. But if it becomes a habit, it can affect your ability to logically deal with real life. To avoid that, you need to learn how to stop fantasies.
Fantasy can be described as escapism from an obnoxious real world to a more exciting and acceptable fantastical world. But if you capture yourself more fantasy than you are alive, it may be time to learn how to hit a pause and stop your fantasies. Fantasy is our mind’s way of moving away from reality, so we must learn to deal with this habit in order to face the world with a more practical approach. With a messy mind, you can experience enhanced focus and better problem solving.
Why do people fantasize?
Fantasy can occur for a number of reasons. Mental health disorders may be a contributing factor to fantasy. Fantasy can also arise from clinical mental illnesses such as delusional personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and despair and anxiety. Many fantasies can also be attributed to problems with couples and family relationships, or personal enthusiasm with someone. Psychologist and Dr. Psychotherapist Priyanka Kapoor believes anxiety, introversion and excessive rethinking are considered as the quality of innate personality.
Tips for stopping fantasies
Experts say here are some ways you can stop your fantasies.
1. Mindfulness
The fundamental human abilities that exist entirely are known as mindfulness to recognize our surroundings and our actions and avoid being too reactive or overwhelmed by them. It is about embracing our attitudes, emotions, behaviors, and environments without making judgments. There are breathing exercises, mindful eating, mindful nature and cloud viewing. It also helps to carry out techniques that activate all senses and maintain evidence, such as listening to music, watching movies in a heart, eating a heart-warming diet, sniffing your favorite scents.
2. Deep breathing and meditation
If you are stressed and tend to rethink a lot, you should implement techniques to reduce physical and mental stress and stay calmer and mindful. Pranayama, meditation, and timed breathing can improve the focus and control of your mind, body, thoughts and emotions. This also helps reduce excessive contemplation and fantasy, experts say.
3. Set priorities and goals
It is equally important to focus on both your personal and professional life. Prioritize items that are not very important. We don’t fully know what we want from life. As a result, we fantasize about a lot of unwanted things. Working for your professional, personal, and life purpose will help you stop fantasies. You can write down your goals and dreams and be clear about what matches you.
Read again: According to scientists, most of us spend half our lives fantasizing
4. Make decisions in relations
When it comes to relationships, we often lack clarity, which can lead to fantasies. This happens more often when you get hooked on someone. When there is no clarity, people tend to create their own stories. It creates the impression that it is authentic in the times and releases dopamine and serotonin into the body, so fantasizing about a person is also a blessing. Experts naturally diminish after the person decides what to do next and what to do next, for the expert to say.
5. Journaling
Writing down our ideas is also supported by journaling and thought journals. Fantasy is nothing more than a self-deception. This means that even if they know they’re doing it and feel embarrassed about it, they’re doing something to convince themselves that it’s “not true” because it’s all in their heads. But when you actually put your pen on paper and record your maladaptive fantasies, they will be expelled from your head for a moment and come true. Importantly, you don’t need to show who you wrote it to. There’s no need to write in a diary or diary that others might see! Consider the experts as you can secure 20 minutes of the day, find a peaceful place to sit and start writing down your fantasies on old scrap paper.
Benefits of Journaling: 9 Reasons You Should Keep a Journalist
6. Pursue your hobbies
If you use fantasies to escape the boredom of your life, it may be your clue to begin pursuing hobbies to give creative ventilation to your inner mess. It could be something like gardening, journaling, creative writing, or painting. If you’re an adventure-driven person, pursuing activities like sports and rock climbing can also add some spice to your life.
7. Adjust the routine
You may notice a huge increase in fantasies when you are performing heartless tasks like cooking. Consider making a lifestyle transformation rather than following the same old, bland routine. Instead of doing the same thing every day in the same order, try mixing things up. This will help your mind gain more attention and focus while making your day more exciting. For example, if cleaning in the morning is the first thing to do, try doing it in the afternoon and meditate or exercise first before heading out that day.
8. I accept the truth
Accept the truth as it is important to understand reality. Fantasy is essentially overanalysed and entering an illogical world of dreams. Therefore, by realizing the truth about your problem, you can look in the mirror and provide useful remedies for yourself. Once you’ve come out of the dream world, you’ll be able to face reality and deal with real life with the right mindset.
9. Treatment
Absurd expectations and cognitive patterns can lead to anxiety, sadness, mental health illness, and other emotional issues. These can create fantasies, which require treatment. Psychotherapy is definitely extremely helpful when it comes to dealing with imagination. Treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy can help you learn how to reach the root cause of your mental functioning, control it, and stop fantasy.
