Fantasies

Written by – Ankita Ranjan

Date – 28 AUGUST 2021

Fantasy is a wide range of mental experiences, through the faculty of imagination in the

human brain and through vivid mental imagination, characterised by an expression of certain

desires. Fantasies are usually linked to scenarios that in reality are statistically impossible. A

fantasy is built in order to mask and mark the very defensive process through which the

desire takes place for Freud, based on multiple often repressed wishes. The wish for the

subject to stay far from the oppressed wish and to experience it simultaneously opens a kind

of syntax of a third person that allows the fantasy to be multiplied.

Psychologists speak in certain areas (especially psychodnamic theory) of "defense

mechanisms" or ways in which a person acts and thinks to protect or "defend" their inner self

more effectively (their personality and self-image). Defense mechanisms can be used to see

how people distance themselves from their full consciousness of disagreeable thoughts,

feelings and behaviour. Fantasy is the channelling into imagination of completely

unacceptable or unreachable desires when used as a defence mechanism. For example, if you

experience temporary setbacks in university performance, imagining your ultimate goals for a

career can be helpful. Both can help someone look at a situation differently, or concentrate on

unexamined aspects of the situation. Fantasy may vary from harmless imagination to delusive

obsessions, where someone loses track of reality by moving into their fantasy world for long

periods. It is a welcome and temporary relief however for most of us and adds mild spices to

routine life. Another form of fantasy as explained by psychodynamic theorists is Escapism.

Escapism is psychological diversion, usually through imagination or entertainment activities,

from unpleasant or boring aspects of everyday life. Escapism can be used to distract one from

persistent sensations of depression or general sadness.

These are four most common types of fantasies:

• The pretend-only fantasy. That's when your goal, decision or behaviour is not really 100

per cent committed in order to achieve the optimal result. The words spoken are empty and

without action. The incoherence is compounded in this fantasy and makes the positive result

less likely to occur

• The commitment-without-expectation fantasy. Here, you can demonstrate all the signs

that you are committed, but you really don't expect a success deep down. This fantasy also

continues to fail. The fantasy usually fulfils low expectations.

• The hidden effort fantasy. This is a very common incoherence. The actual effort needed

to achieve a target or to account for all the effects of the change decision you make has not

been fully considered. Many people will commit themselves to an objective "totally," but

they will fail to consider the invisible costs of the decision. So you can set a target, but don't

face everything you need to achieve that.

• The others’ effort fantasy. This tends to depend on others to bring about your change. It

is when your desired goal depends on the actions of others. This fantasy is very common to

people with a low level of autonomy. There is also much in people who have poor

relationships and who exercise their intellect, place or power over others
 Fantasy prone personality

Fantasy prone personality (FPP) is an arrangement or characteristic in which a person has

an extensive and deep fantasy involvement over a lifetime. This arrangement is an attempt, to

describe 'overactive imagination' or 'living in a dream environment,' at least in part. An

individual with this trait (called a fantasizer) can have difficulty distinguishing between

fantasy and reality and may experience both hallucinations and psychosomatic auto

suggestion symptoms. Daydreaming, absorption and eidetic memory are closely related

psychological structures. Fantasy-prone people report having spent up to half (or more) their

time waking up to imagination or daydreaming, and often confuse their imagination with

their real memories or mix it with them. They also report experiences of the outside world

and other similar experiences which some fantasizers interpret as psychic (parapsychological)

or mystical. A paracosm is an extraordinarily detailed and structured world of fantasy often

created by extreme fantasists.

In their pioneering study, Wilson and Barber listed several characteristics, which in later

studies were clarified and enhanced. Some or many of the following experiences include such

characteristics:

• excellent hypnotic subject (most but not all fantasizers)

• childhood imaginary friends

• a child fantasizing quite often

• having an actual fantasy identity

• imagined sensations perceived as real experiences

• having vivid sensory perceptions

• experiencing sexual satisfaction without any physical stimulation

 During their early childhood, fantasizers were really exposed to fantasy. At least three

important causes lie behind this overexposure to childhood fantasy:

1) Parents or caregivers who enjoyed the imaginative mental or playing

environment of their children during their childhood.

2) The exposure to abuse, whether physical or sexual, provides a mechanism of

fantasising or escape.

3) Exposure to severe isolation and loneliness so that fantasization offers a

coping mechanism or escape from boredom.

With respect to psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud stated that "unsatisfied desires drive

fantasies, every individual fantasy contains a desire, and enhances an unsatisfactory reality."

This shows abuse of children and loneliness can create a fantasy world of happiness to fill the

void.