16

Daydreaming in adolescence has a bad reputation. It is considered as an escape from reality or as a psychic withdrawal. However, dreaming and daydreaming are at the heart of Freudian thought and constitute the “royal road” to the unconscious. In Bionian thought, daydreams allow the subject to make sense of reality by transforming sensory impressions into meaningful emotional experiences. In this article, the author, after comparing the two opposing currents of thought on the place of daydreaming in adolescence, puts forward the hypothesis that daydreaming constitutes the very engine of the adolescent process.