Mapping the Digital Visibility of Maladaptive Daydreaming: A Quantitative Analysis of YouTube Videos (2020–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17591547Keywords:
Maladaptive Daydreaming, YouTube, Digital Mental Health, User Engagement, Online AwarenessAbstract
Background: Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a psychological phenomenon characterized by extensive fantasy activity that interferes with daily functioning. With the growing use of digital media for sharing personal experiences, YouTube has emerged as a major platform where individuals discuss mental health–related topics. However, the quantitative characteristics and visibility dynamics of MD-related content have not been systematically examined. This study aimed to analyze the trends, geographic distribution, and engagement metrics of YouTube videos related to Maladaptive Daydreaming between 2020 and 2025.
Methods: Publicly available metadata of YouTube videos containing the keyword “Maladaptive Daydreaming” were collected using the YouTube Data API (v3) via a custom Python-based script. After removing duplicate or incomplete entries, 525 videos were included in the final dataset. Descriptive statistics were computed, and non-normally distributed data were summarized as medians and interquartile ranges. Interaction Index and Viewing Rate were compared across years using Kruskal–Wallis tests, with statistical significance set at p<0.05.
Results: The number of MD-related videos increased substantially over the five-year period, from 35 in 2020 to 224 in 2025. Nearly half of the videos had undefined geographic origins (45.0%), while the United States (16.4%), the United Kingdom (9.3%), and India (6.9%) accounted for most identifiable content. Both Interaction Index (H=26.65, p<0.001) and Viewing Rate (H=30.36, p<0.001) significantly differed by year, peaking in 2024–2025.
Conclusion: The growing volume and engagement of MD-related content indicate an increasing public awareness and online discourse surrounding this psychological phenomenon. Future research should explore the thematic quality and emotional tone of such content to better understand its role in digital mental health narratives.
References
1. Somer E. Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy.2002;32(2):197-212.https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020597026919
2. Soffer-Dudek N, Theodor-Katz, N. Maladaptive daydreaming: Epidemiological data on a newly identified syndrome. Frontiers in Psychiatry.2022;13:871041. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.871041
3. Somer E, Soffer-Dudek N, Ross C. A. The comorbidity of daydreaming disorder (maladaptive daydreaming). The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 2017;205(7):525-530. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000685
4. Chirico I, Volpato E, Landi G, et al. Maladaptive daydreaming and its relationship with psychopathological symptoms, emotion regulation, and problematic social networking sites use: A network analysis approach. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2024;22(3):1484-1500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00938-3
5. Pietkiewicz IJ, Nęcki S, Bańbura A, et al. Maladaptive daydreaming as a new form of behavioral addiction. Journal of Behavioral Addictions.2018;7(3):838-843. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.95
6. Ross CA, Ridgway J, George N. Maladaptive daydreaming, dissociation, and the dissociative disorders. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.2020;2(2):53-61. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.prcp.20190050
7. Zortuk Ö. Youtube Pneumothorax Scraper (1.4). Zenodo. 2025. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17380409
8. Balcombe L, De Leo D. The Impact of YouTube on Loneliness and Mental Health. Informatics.2023;10(2):39. https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics10020039
9. Soffer-Dudek N, Somer E, Abu-Rayya HM, et al. Different cultures, similar daydream addiction? An examination of the cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions.2021:9(4): 1056-1067.https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00080
10. Pothugunta K, Liu X, Susarla A, et al. Assessing inclusion and representativeness on digital platforms for health education: Evidence from YouTube. Journal of Biomedical Informatics.2024;157:104669.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2024.104669
11. Ransing R, Vadivel R, Halabi SE, et al. Language as Multi-Level Barrier in Health Research and the Way Forward. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine.2023;45(1): 65–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176211052071
12. Vettehen PH, Schaap G. An attention economic perspective on the future of the information age. Futures.2023:153:103243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2023.103243
13. Oliphant T. User engagement with mental health videos on YouTube. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Journal de l'Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada.2013;34(3):153-158. https://doi.org/10.5596/c13-057
14. Heitmayer M. The second wave of attention economics. Attention as a universal symbolic currency on social media and beyond. Interacting with Computers.2025; 37(1):18-29. https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwae035
15. Katz E, Blumler JG, Gurevitch M. Uses and gratifications research. Public Opinion Quarterly.1973;37(4):509–523. https://doi.org/10.1086/268109
16. Horton D, Wohl RR. Mass communication and para-social interaction; observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry.1956;19(3):215–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049
17. van Dijck, Jose, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media (New York, 2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Jan. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970773.001.0001, accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
18. Huang X. Gan YC, Syed A. Narratives of Anxiety and Depression on YouTube: A Corpus-Based Thematic Analysis. Language and Health.2024;2(2):100029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.laheal.2024.09.001
19. Bucher, T. If...Then: Algorithmic Power and Politics, Oxford Studies in Digital Politics (New York, 2018; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 July 2018), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190493028.001.0001, accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Yeşim Dersuneli, Dilara Turgut
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
