Sometimes our fantasy games function as a necessary shield against intolerable stress. That stress can take many forms from terrifying fears to unbearable loneliness. If we are unable to meet our needs due to circumstances beyond our control, sometimes it is preferable to create imaginary friends, lovers, parents and so on to fulfill needs for acceptance, love or security. Needless to say, when life becomes too horrible to bare it is better to create an alternative reality or fantasy than to allow intolerable circumstances to push our minds beyond the breaking point.
It can also be psychologically healthy to enjoy immersing one’s self in a pleasurable fantasy even though you may be fully aware that none of it is real. We all share a similar need to experience happiness so if life fails to open that door, we have the power to allow ourselves to drift away from the stress of our day to day existence to a special place with special relationships that don’t exists for us in the real world.
It can also be psychologically healthy to believe in gods or imagine that dead loved ones are looking down on you from heaven provided you keep at least one foot inside the door of reality. But problems can arise when the mental energy you have to expend maintaining such fantasies begins to inhibit your ability to search for happiness in the real world. Wasting one’s life preparing for a fantasy afterlife amounts to losing the real opportunities for real happiness that life affords us. Practicing celibacy and not engaging in sex because you are afraid of going to hell is a perfect example…
