Irish photographer releases book about coping with the condition Maladaptive Daydreaming

Irish photographer Vanessa Ifediora began experimenting with photography while living in Japan.

Initially, she used photography as a tool to help her recover from a condition known as Maladaptive Daydreaming. The daydreaming was often triggered by music and for years she found it difficult to "zone in" to reality.

"Anxiety would grip me and I’d make excuses to cancel plans and stay indoors the entire weekend acting out a life that was not my own, prisoner to my own mind. I would try to stop the zoning out, most often triggered by music, but it was impossible."

After a short time on the prescription drug Lexapro, Ifediora's acute daydreaming ceased altogether. The fantasy world she had inhabited was suddenly gone and Ifediora spent the following months trying to adjust to and come to terms with having no escape from reality. To document her experience, Ifediora created a book entitled Off White Sheets which contains a series of portraits, short stories, familial anecdotes and poems relating to her experience overcoming Maladaptive Daydreaming.

The 28-page book is available for pre-order on vanessaifediora.com/shop for £20/€23 from February 14^th until its release on March 14 after which it will retail for £25/€28.