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.
[1] 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.
"[2] 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",[3] rather than merely suffering it passively – "arranging deceits ... arrang[ing] for blows to fall.
Challenging such "automatic thoughts ... attitudes and basic negative beliefs"[7] is an important part of cognitive therapy.
In and of themselves, fixed fantasies are not necessarily harmful, but they can interfere with an individual's ability to develop a coherent and integrated life experience.