Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder

Hi I'm new to this site but I've been suffering with maladaptive daydreaming for about 3 years now. It was never a bad thing for me, like I would just daydream about stuff alot and most of the time and never impacted with my self-esteem and such. But over the past few months it's probably been the source of my sadness in my life. I feel that I've been using it as a coping mechanism to escape the trauma of my life. Over the past few months this has been the only world that I've lived in. I'll go home and multiple times a day I'll flip my pencil in my hand and listening to music while I'm doing it(trigger). It occured to me a few weeks ago that I have to quit this but I've caved in twice. I know I can just start over but I really just want to stop it all together. It honestly feel so great while I'm daydreaming but then alot of time goes by and I'll feel horrible afterwards. Any advice would be nice.

Maladaptive Daydreaming Support Survey

Hi everyone,

Maladaptive daydreaming is often a private and challenging issue. Even after discovering this community one can still feel alone and unsupported. Much is still unknown about MD, but even less is known about the people who deal with it on a daily basis. In an effort to bring MDers together, Maladaptive Daydreaming Support has created an online survey for the MD community.

This is a survey to anonymously collect and share basic statistics about maladaptive daydreaming. The point of this survey is to find commonalities between people who suffer from maladaptive daydreaming symptoms and help us compare our similarities and differences. Previous surveys about maladaptive daydreaming have not had large sample sizes (completed responses) or have not accounted for the varying nature of maladaptive daydreaming. This will also be published for the MD community, not the psychiatric community and results will be presented in plain language (i.e. - 50% of people daydream for 1-3 hours a day). The statistics will be updated as more information is added. Volunteering to complete this survey helps everyone better understand their symptoms and experiences. You can take this survey even if you arent sure if you have MD.

Help us better understand ourselves and this unique experience. Please share this to help it reach someone who needs to know theyre not alone.

Thank you,

Maladaptivedaydreamingsupport.tumblr.com

Hi all. I have always been a daydreamer but its now going too far and I dont know how to stop it. Ive actually fallen in love (in my head anyway) with an actess on tv because she looks like the girl i have always dreamed of. Beacuse of this i have been reading (probably obsessing) about the actress and know have those awful feelings of being in love with someone who does not want to know you. I know this sounds stupid but can anyone help? Thanks in advance. Cheers

I counted my dreams a couple of month back and I had a 150 in a single day. I still can't understand how that was possible and tbh it scares me a bit thinking of it. After that I decided not to count them again as it really played in my mind. I hate it and can't seem to stop it the more I think about it the worse it gets. Has ant me got any advice for me please I've heard self hypnosis can help??

Hi there!! I am lost..I can't even figure out what Maladapative dreaming is. I have always had big dreams and at the time when I was little I thought that was just me being excited about the future. But now I am 20 and I have this weird almost like a habbit where I act out scenes(not in public) that I think I am gonna experience in the future, all positive..I act out talking to people, my family life, I act, I laugh, I fight but in my head I know that I am acting..Is this something that everyone else does?( I always thought so )Please help guys !!I am going crazy!!Is this maladaptive dreaming? I also used to close my eyes and dream about my life in the future for hours when I was a kid( by dreaming I mean think about my future and to the point where I can remember every intricate detail of that dream..

Hi all - I've moved this thread into our Additional Mental Health Support forum - a place to get support for any mental health related issue that isn't covered by our other areas. :)

Hello to everyone. I'm new here and i'm sorry for my english.. I have just one day that i found the name of my problem that i have a lot of year that i have. I think have maldaptive daydreming. I'm 19 and always i imagine myself with people from my imaginary in different situation. For example i imagine like i have a boyfriend and a good job etc etc.. I can't go to a therapist because I don't want to know my parents about my problem. I'm trying not to daydream and I have one day without daydreaming but im afraid that i can't live always without doing that.. I want an advice from you how to stop this problem without going to therapist.. I wish you all the best.. 😊😊😊

Hi, all!

So I didn't even know there was a term for my excessive daydreaming until I googled it recently. I've been doing this since I was in elementary, but it's only really gotten out of hand the past few years. I'll spend hours lying in bed playing out intricate storylines in my mind. At first, I blamed my introversion for it. I'm sure it plays a role, but I'm realizing that there's much more to it than that. I've been reading the few books available on this subject in order to keep it in check. Anyone else seeking help or has any pointers?

This is intriguing.

I actually have no idea whether or not I'm a maladaptive daydreamer. I do daydream profusely, I know that for certain. My fantasies are never sexual, but that often seems to be the case. What I do is place myself inside the stories of others. Most often, I am interacting with the villains or antagonists of a book or movie. I believe I have an obsession with abduction-- or, perhaps, attention. I always throw myself unexpectedly into potentially situations, usually with an unusual power (normally, I'm capable of traveling between worlds using inter-dimensional portals). I catch the attention of the villain, and they become curious. They want to use my ability for their own purposes. I like engaging my fictional self in epic battle sequences, but most of the time I am defeated, and taken alive, only for me to escape and repeat the process in another world with yet another force of evil. I've even begun writing on the subject. A collection of my closest friends are imbued with abstract powers, and we together cross the universe in the search for adventure and, of course, forces of dark power and intentions. It's exhilarating. It is my escape from the real world, and the way I've designed it has tricked me into believing such things are even possible in reality. I've begun isolating myself in my room for long periods of time, physically enacting sequences in other worlds, or even ones where such characters as Basta from Inkheart or members of the Phantom Troupe enter my house and drag me into their realms of magic and miracles and action. In bed, in the dark, I can stay up for hours pretending to be held captive in the lair of a mortal enemy. Of course, I'm always wanted alive. I believe my obsession revolves around the idea that I get to be thrown into these adventures against my will, so it doesn't ever seem like I'm abandoning the world I want to leave behind. It's an excuse, tied together with my love for impressing people and being valued. Even just a couple days ago, I was walking around a local zoo with a friend. I imagined that lurking around, Cockerell or Flatnose (their novel incarnations) were waiting for a chance to take me away, and I often attempted to be alone as much as possible in the hopes they'd approach me. When I saw a large black car with tinted windows driving from the parking lot, my first thought was that they were driving away without me. I sickened myself when I realized how badly I wanted to be surrounded by these awful people, just to leave behind my perfectly enjoyable life. Not a day goes by I don't spend hours of my free time imagining these scenarios. I think, deep down, a part of me truly believes that I will one day be abducted into my fantasies. I know on the outside that it will never happen. I tell myself all the time. But there's this knot in my stomach that always replies, "No, it will. Just wait." I think I would break down if I was ever completely convinced that there is no more to our reality-- that there is no magic, no special powers, no true evil to fight. I really think I'd go insane. But I don't just magically snap into these daydreams. I always enter them rather willingly, turning on music and imagining it playing as I fight. I even have one of my friends capable of creating music from thin air, in order to actually let my tunes play out for my imagined allies and, at times, foes. I think it's an addiction, yes, but I don't want to ever leave it. I love it. I want it to happen and I want to leave this life behind. What is it that is plaguing me, and what can I do?

Learning about this disorder was a bit weird to me. It's something I've been dealing with for a long time. I honestly didn't know what it was. Honestly just thought I was crazy. I'm trying to find ways to cope and deal with this problem. It is beginning to affect my daily life. Are there any ways to deal with this disorder?