Fixed fantasy

A fixed fantasy – also known as a "dysfunctional schema" – is a belief or system of beliefs held by a single individual to be genuine, but that cannot be verified in reality. The term is typically applied to individuals suffering from some type of psychiatric dysregulation, most often a personality disorder.

The term is also used in the different context of psychoanalysis to distinguish between a normal transitory one and a fixed fantasy with respect to the fantasised fulfilment in conscious or unconscious thought of the sexualised wish.

Self-destruction

Studies of borderline children often uncovered at the base of their self-destructive behaviour patterns "a "fixed fantasy" ... a rigid, nonreflective scenario of self-induced pain." As part of a psychic defence mechanism, "the omnipotence betrayed by the "fixed fantasy" underlying self-victimization or other forms of self-defeating behaviour ... creates the illusory sense that they are actively producing the abandonment [and] pain", rather than merely suffering it passively – "arranging deceits ... arrang[ing] for blows to fall." Unfortunately "in the course of development, these patterns acquire multiple adaptive functions ... and serve as a key organizer of their sense of self."

"In producing movement away from fixed fantasy systems, commonplace statements are often necessary because the more fixed and extensive the fantasy system, the fewer the transitional opportunities offered; there is little conflicting material to ride. Banalities may be the only resource", as anything more complex may be used to feed back into the fantasy system itself.

Basic beliefs and cognitive therapy

A fixed fantasy differs from a delusion or delusional system in that, superficially, a fixed fantasy tends to appear plausible, and the person expressing the fantasy is not suffering a break from reality, as occurs in a delusional state.