INTERVIEW
Do you really need to 'snap out of it?'

Sigmund Freud believed that fantasy and daydreaming were the first steps on the road to mental illness, and even today many consider daydreams to be a sign of a weak character. But most experts now agree that it's actually quite healthy to daydream, perhaps even necessary. "People who don't fantasize are usually empty inside," says Dr. Ethel Person, a clinical psychiatrist and expert on daydreams. What's more, in her recently published book, By Force of Fantasy, Person says that our conscious flights of fancy can be as rich a source of insight into ourselves as our dreams. Below, audio excerpts from her interview with NBC Nightly News on the Internet.