Today's 24x7 world order leaves little room for entertainment, social life, exercise and regular eating and sleeping patterns. Time is being converted into money and personal priorities take back seats as corporate interests and personal ambitions take center stage.
Will ‘Fantasy’ have a therapeutic effect on de-stressing? I am not sure, but, basically since it is a good diversion, escape from reality and almost all fantasies are pleasant in some way or other, I presume it can have a positive effect on de-stressing.
When talking about fantasy I would like to quote what Albert Einstein said. He said, “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”
Sometimes fantasy can become destructive, if it serves as a constant refuge from the world of reality and a source of delusions, in which case the subject would need a psychiatric intervention!
Various definitions for Fantasy:
Mental images or imaginary narratives that distort or entirely depart from reality.
The power of the mind to form images.
The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine.
An exciting and unusual experience or situation you imagine happening to you, but which will probably never happen.
An idea or belief that is based only on imagination, not on real facts.
Imagery that is more or less coherent, as in dreams and daydreams, yet unrestricted by reality.
All of us indulge in fantasy in our day to day life. We know for sure that one man cannot fight with twenty men and win the fight. But, still, films like Gajini, Mission Impossible and Shivaji, to name a few, were all a super duper success, where in Amir Khan, Tom Cruise and Rajinikant fight with twenty guys and win the fight! This is not real but fantasy! We have enjoyed these films -which means, we have endorsed or indulged in Fantasy? “What people really want in the theatre is fantasy involvement and not reality involvement. People go to theatre for diversion, change of scene and entertainment. While we are in the theatre we escape from reality, for that two or three hours. One definition of fantasy is - The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming or entertainment.
Then the recent successful novels - seven fantasy novels of J. K. Rowling and The Lord of the Rings, again a fantasy novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien. Although these novels were written for children, I know many adults have thoroughly enjoyed reading these novels. All these novels are total fantasy. We all know it is not real. But, still we enjoy this.
Why do people read fantasy? The answer is that people are searching for 'escape.' While reading these novels we actually live in a surrealist fantasy world and temporarily escape from reality. This acts as a diversion or change of scene, which actually refreshes us, a kind of stress buster!
Fantasy represents a retreat from the harsh world of competition and commerce. It provides an opportunity to forget the day-to-day problems and indulge in something that gives diversion/pleasure to the individual who indulges in fantasizing. This diversion is very essential and actually relieves tension.
Most of us have things that we would love to tell our boss, but would only say if we were dying or quitting for a much better job. Bosses and jobs like that cause unneeded stress in our lives.
Studies conducted by clinical psychologists have revealed something very interesting and informative. In these studies the subject is encouraged to fantasise that his boss is sitting next to him in his car. Then the subject is asked to utter loudly every sarcastic, mean and vindictive thing the subject wanted to tell his boss.
This may sound laughable, but studies have shown that saying something out loud can help people release the negative emotions they carry around with them over the course of daily life. Studies have also shown that people who have this type of fantasy life are also more emotionally well-adjusted than people who don't!
Sexual fantasies are sexual thoughts and images created in the mind that provide an outlet to the sexual feelings of human beings. Men and women generally indulge in sexual fantasies in their dreams and this helps them to get rid of physical exhaustion. If a person most frequently finds himself having sexual fantasies, it doesn’t imply that he is suffering from any specific ailment or disease. Mental health practitioners around the world admit that it is absolutely normal to have sex related fantasies and they cite sexual fantasizing as a most frequently adopted measure to gain sexual relief. Someone said and I quote here - “Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins.”
I think it is reasonably OK to say that Fantasy does have a de-stressor effect! I do not know who said this but when you need diversion - “Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy”
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