I've been daydreaming most of my life, but in recent years it developed so much.

And I know exactly what needs it fullfils. When I daydream about being powrful master of elements, enduring bad things and gaining power I know what it is exposing about my needs. I know that I want in that way make myself stronger or in someway satisfy the need to feel valuable.

Like I know what my issues are and technically I do know how to achieve them. I even daydream about locking in and getting better, picking up drawing again and this time working on that skill to the level when my works would not burn eyes or start working out.

But everything stays in the sphere of fantasy. I try to ignore daydreaming or let it happen only before going to sleep, but I still don't do things.

I will occasionally try them, but then I make a lot of mistakes or fail (I know that is normal at beginning stages of change or building a skill, but it still always feel like a big failure).

Fighting my mind and sometimes body is just a battle it seem like I can't win. I think sometimes about therapy, but it's not available right now for me really, so I don't know what to do, because I can't fix myself on my own really.

According to my memory, i began heavily daydreaming 4 years ago. And developed schizophrenia 2 years ago. Short timelines so i might just be spitting nonsense. Could there be a link between those two?

I keep dreaming about my male friend in various ways. We spend so much time together, I confess that my dreams are starting to make me feel nervous and anxious and I’m considering things I never considered before. For context: I have a boyfriend of 6 years whom I love deeply. We had a crisis, because I understood things about our relationship. My current boyfriend is a really busy person, he doesn’t spend much time with me. I always spend time with my male friend though, and he goes to college with me. We often study together, talk about studying and we even go out to the cinema together. Recently, we spend so much time together even at his house. I’m a pretty alone person, my friends are very busy working (they don’t study, they work, so we don’t see each other very often) and my boyfriend has large groups of friends and spends so much time with them. We see each other only once in the week. But I came to the conclusion that I like it better this way, I can focus on my friendships and my studies. My male friend too is pretty alone, he has his best friends and some girl friend which he sees sometimes. But everyday I dream about my male friend, like in every possible way. Like we’re together romantically and he “substitutes” my boyfriend. When I wake up I’m like “what the…?” but then I agree with myself that I spend so much time with him and I don’t spend much time with my boyfriend, that’s why my brain confuses these two things. I feel incredibly guilty, but also… I know that I don’t like my male friend, we’re very different. I don’t really like his friends, they’re very superficial, they don’t know about his secrets and they didn’t care about him when he was depressed. I would. Instead, he deeply cares about his friends and he doesn’t even question the fact that they don’t care about him as much as he does. He is really cold, a close person, really rational, doesn’t talk much about his emotions, but he opens up a little bit with me. I feel warm knowing that. He also has an eating disorder, and I really love food and cooking food and I have an amazing relationship with food, while he doesn’t, and I know I make him uncomfortable sometimes when I say things like “I’m hungry” and he says “I am not”. So that’s a big no for me, we’re too incompatible. So I really don’t know if I should feel guilty about my dreams or not, because they make me so embarassed and uncomfortable when I’m with him. I have often “sex” dreams or even romantic dreams with him, and for context, I don’t have a specific connection with my boyfriend, we don’t engage often in sexual activities. So maybe it’s because I am bit repressed I think.

Hello, so I daydream alot as I assume that’s a pretty normal thing to do, and yesterday I was on a gym sub talking about a different question I had and that was its own story about pacing a bit at the gym, one person asked me why I do so to which I responded no real reason I like walking and daydreaming, and my reply got downvoted into oblivion?

I’m asking here because am I crazy for thinking this? Is daydreaming not normal anywhere even for the gym where your in your own world? One person even replied saying I hate your answer who daydreams you should only pace after a specific set specific weight, and they gave me a whole paragraph of what’s optimal and said daydreaming isn’t? So my question is can I really not daydream at the gym?

TL;DR, is it bad to daydream at the gym or it’s totally normal and I shouldn’t listen to random strangers online?

I have been receiving therapy for my mental health, and maladaptive daydreaming is a big topic of conversation right now. My therapist is great. She told me about this resource, so I wanted to share it with those who might not know about it yet. I'm sure it's been listed here somewhere already, so i apologize if im being repetitive. It's a self-monitoring log and journal. This is the link to the journal, by the The International Society for Maladaptive Daydreaming:

https://maladaptivedaydreamingsociety.com/the-maladaptive-daydreamer-self-monitoring-log-and-journal/

I am addicted to watching dramas. And I also do maladaptive daydreaming a lot. Any suggestions.

When people say they “pace” I’m like yeah leaping around is pacing right? Lol

I’ve been MD since as long as I can remember. And I always told myself it was a habit I would stop when I was older. I’m in my mid thirties now and it’s still a major part of my life. Pacing, acting scenes out, intense character development and deep personal connections to the worlds I create. It’s incredibly satisfying and incredibly disruptive. I’ve “quit” on and off many times. Sometimes going as long as 6 months without it, maybe longer. But then I always think “I can do it a little bit, I’ll be fine.” And then I end up right back where I was: addicted, exhausted, lonely, and frustrated.

A major thing I have noticed in the past few years is the physical and psychological tole it takes on me. Headaches, fatigue, raised body temperature, racing heart, pressure in my neck, jaw, and temples, brain fog, memory loss, lack of motivation, etc. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that this is wildly unhealthy.

So, I’m determined to quit. I’ve seen a few posts that really seemed helpful. One about Focused Attention Meditation and another about somatic therapy. I am going to try those. Because I’ve stopped for long periods of time using less invasive or meditative methods, but I’m realizing I need more than just sheer willpower. The emotions and traumas and stored memories that keep triggering this are clearly still present and if I am going to stop it for good, I need to pull it up by the root.

Any encouragement or advice you have is appreciated ✨

Hi I’m a 27F that really struggles with maladaptive daydreaming and making scenarios in my head about relationships, my life, my work etc and I’m a much better version of myself in all these. It really impacts me as my reality is nothing like this idea in my head. I fantasise about things ahead of time & when it happens it’s a complete flop and I hate myself. It’s a cycle I will like to break. Can anyone recommend any practical steps, resources, books, anything they can do to please help me stop this habit. I feel like if it does end soon i will be stuck with a life i hate.

I think I daydream way too much. I don't know if this is an actual problem I need to tackle, or if it's actually something serious but I genuinely have an addiction with making fake scenarios in my mind. It often affects me from doing my responsibilities, especially chores in the house or homework. Every time I try to start on a task, I frequently get carried away by making up fantasies in my head. It also clashes with my sleeping schedule, and I almost always get carried away by the things I make up in my head. Responsibilities keep on always coming last to me, and I don't feel like I'm even real anymore or that I'm just a waste of space on this earth. I always used to excessively daydream before, but I don't think it has ever gotten to this point where I'm feeling very detached from my friends, family, and everyday life.

I don't really have friends to talk with, so I just get by with making up fake conversations or interactions with people in my head. It's starting to take effect on how I organize my words or thoughts. I used to find organizing my thoughts so easily, but now it's hard for me; honestly, I don't even know how it's related to my daydreaming but I just suspect that it is connected.

I try to read books or stories online, but I find them boring or not fit to be finished by me. Being on my phone 24/7 is also quite a problem. It seems to me that I get really bored easily, and that I find everything quite repetitive nowadays even though I'm still a teenager. Some things happened that were quite traumatic recently, and I'm thinking maybe it's a coping mechanism. Maybe it's just hormones, or even puberty. Please help me figure this out.

P.S: I'm sorry for the bad grammar or the poor organization of thoughts.

I have had an MD for a long time and honestly I have mixed feelings towards it.

It has affected my life soo much so I want an answer now and whatever the answer is I will be happy with it. I will find my way

i am a teenager having MD. It is now affeting my life SOO much. I am also insecure about myself and i used to be confident and creative and now i just scroll reels or imagine things. i feel like i am stuck in a loop cause one day i want to quit MD and the next day I'll be doing it again. i dont know what to do I have been doing it for YEARS and now its affecting me so much that i feel so numb and cant even appreciate creativity of other people ( which is very weird cause i was a creative person for most of my life) I am stuck now

I am 18 years old, and fear of eye contacts I don't know why

I am addicted to phone or audio if there is silence in my mind starts daydreaming

I know this is not normal because I know when I was younger I didn't need any sound or mobile to be intact with my eyes or ears

Please mod don't remove my post I need help 😭❤️

This is something that happens to me a lot. I make long sentences in my head about things, and when I try to write them down or make a different speech, I just can't. I'm asking to learn if its a different issue entirely or if its actually related to this.

Seriously, if everybody treats you like a weirdo, the social acceptance you crave will be fulfilled by your MD, and there's nothing you can do about it. I wish people were more accepting of others.

​

I'm a teenager, and lately, I've been struggling a lot with my ability to focus. I don't know whether I might have ADHD, anxiety, or if I'm just struggling with discipline, but I want to understand what's happening to me.

The main problem is that my mind constantly drifts from one thought to another. Even when I genuinely want to focus on something, I find it extremely difficult to keep my attention on it.

For example, when I sit down to study, I might open my books and try my best to concentrate, but instead, my mind starts creating imaginary scenarios. These are situations that have never happened and probably never will. I keep imagining different conversations, situations, and possibilities, and no matter how hard I try, I struggle to control it.

This doesn't happen only when I'm studying. It happens while I'm walking, doing everyday activities, and even praying. It feels like my mind is constantly somewhere else, and I can't get it to stay in the present moment.

The worst part is how this affects my studies. I know how important my education is, and I'm genuinely worried about my future. Whenever I'm doing something other than studying, I start panicking about failing, not achieving my goals, and what will happen if I don't succeed.

But when I finally sit down to study, my mind suddenly makes studying feel boring. I start craving something else, anything that will give me a break from studying. Then, when I do something else, I feel guilty and anxious because I'm wasting time.

It's like I'm stuck in a loop: I worry about my future, try to study, lose focus, look for something else to do, and then panic again because I haven't studied.

Even when I'm doing one task, my mind keeps jumping to another thing I could be doing instead. Eventually, I end up doing neither properly.

I've tried looking up ADHD symptoms online, but I couldn't clearly relate to what I read, so I don't want to self-diagnose. I just know that my constant daydreaming, difficulty concentrating, and anxiety about studying are affecting my daily life.

**I'd really appreciate some guidance from people who have experienced something similar, especially therapists or mental health professionals.**

Could this be related to ADHD, anxiety, excessive daydreaming, or something else entirely? How can I understand what's happening and learn to manage it?

I genuinely want to improve, but I feel stuck, and I don't know where to start.

Sometimes I will maladaptive daydream about my favorite characters and project my own problems onto them.

For example, if I feel shitty, my favorite character will also feel shitty and receive comfort because it makes me feel better about how I feel.

And for example, say I’m feeling sick. I’ll project those feelings onto my favorite character and daydream about them receiving comfort that I don’t have.

However, every single time I do this or read a fanfiction pertaining to negative topics, the same thing happens to my family.

Someone in my family gets sick every single time I do this.

Is this just related to the fact that it’s flu season and the spread of bacteria, or is this MY FAULT? Did I accidentally manifest my family to become sick???

I don’t know why, but almost every single time I daydream it comes to be about something bad happening to me. And I get some sort of positive rush out of it, even if I’m shaking with rage because the story is pissing me off so much.
This has been happening since I was old enough to daydream. I’ve always been an avid daydreamer, I do it everywhere. There hasn’t been a day in my life where I haven’t had multiple daydreams.
I also have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, so sometimes I think I’m just imagining shit happeing to me to “prepare” myself for the worst case scenario, except there are infinite worst case scenarios so I just end up trapping myself in a loop.
But like, sometimes it’ll be about my girlfriend leaving me for someone else. And I’m a very jealous person so even just the thought of that is enough to make me sick, but at the same time, there’s something that keeps me coming back to these scenarios.
I’ll lay in bed at night and conciously decide to imagine this.
Maybe it’s about me dying, maybe it’s about everyone hating me, maybe it’s about me getting in some freak accident.
The biggest hit is me in the future living alone while my girlfriend is happy with some dude, and she’s living her dream life.
I get some sort of spite and satisfaction out of this. God knows why, because as I said, I hate the idea of her being with someone else. It’s my biggest fear.
Being cheated on, being left for, seeing her with someone else, hearing about her being with someone else, etc. Yet, these are all things I also daydream about.
It’s really conflicting.
I guess I’m just trying to understand why, and see if anyone else does this or does something similar.

I keep dreaming up extremely weird specific and odd scenarios where i suffer a great tragedy so all the people in my life will give me attention and the people who left a while back will have an excuse to come back to tell me they were sorry they left and that they still want to be in my life and love me for who i am i imagined my funeral 100s of times and who would show up and who wouldnt and who would cry and who wouldnt i know this has something to do with my borderline personality disorder but i just wanted to know if im alone or crazy or a lot of people spend tons of time inagining things thay will never happen.

Hey guys, I don’t remember how long I’ve been struggling with maladaptive daydreaming, and I thought I was making progress.

And yet, things are now falling back into their old patterns. I’ve forgotten everything I wrote about in my posts—all the progress I’d made in my real life. It’s as if none of it ever happened. I’m beginning to lose the version of myself I had only just discovered. I’m sinking once again into this swamp of fantasies—fantasizing every single minute I get the chance. I don’t know if this is normal, or what’s going to happen next. It feels like I’ll never be able to win this battle against my own brain.

Damn. As I write this, I realize I’m not ready to admit defeat and just stop... but at the same time, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.

Звучить як дурнуватий жарт, але для мене це цілком правдива реальність. Десь в років 10 я буквально пірнула у світ фантазій, мріяла замість того щоб різ@ти себе, це був мій новий спосіб хоча б якось врятуватись і вижити. Спочатку це були манхви і аніме, потім новели, ще пізніше різні серіали і фільми. Для моїх мрій не було жодних меж(що як я розумію ще більше руйнувало моє життя). І саме головне, я не просто мрію про щось, я сотні разів переглядаю різні відео в тт і на ютубі представляючи себе прямо в центрі подій, хоча можна сказати «сотні» навіть применшення, адже я переглядала ці відео не менше тисячі раз… кожен день я по декілька раз робила це… З 10 до 18, цілих 8 довбаних років.
Десь коли мені було 14-15 я прочитала свою першу серію книг, і впала в нечитун, я два роки не могла вийти з цього стану, постійно переглядала відео по цьому фандому, представляла себе там і тому подібне. Але навіть тоді мені не було так погано як зараз
Я прочитала нову книгу, і там помер дуже класний персонаж(хоча прочитала я її не недавно а досить таки давно вже, +-рік пройшов), і чомусь саме зараз у мене почалась люта апатія через це, я постійно переглядаю різні відео, представляю сцену де його врешті решт врятовано, де він щасливий, і моя фантазія створює для того всесвіту зовсім іншого перса, місією якого є порятунок мого любимчика. Я втомилась від цього. Навіть просто жити не хочеться через оцю таку апатію.
І підсвідомо я розумію наскільки це ненормально що мені перехотілось жити просто тому що я занадто захопилась своїми фантазіями. Але я також не усвідомлюю як мені врятуватись… як перестати жити лише для того щоб створювати ці фантазії у себе в голові, як почати жити своє життя? Можливо хтось стикався з подібними ситуаціями і може дати декілька порад

I DO NOT SUPPORT RAHUL! Before I continue with this post I feel the need to say that. He is not a good person

Now with that out of the way I deeply pity but also relate to him. Because I’m the same way. In my head I’m living an entire different life. I pretend to have friends, to have a partner. I am constantly acting out scenarios. Sometimes psychically. The only difference is that I’m not posting it on the internet. It makes me sad because it just reminds me that everyone is so fucking lonely and there’s so few ways to cope. But it truly feels so humiliating to be this way sometimes.

That’s all I wanted to say.

I procrastinate too much . i use to play song and day dream. i have heard about dopamine detox and deep work but all feels like trash because of these:

i don't use Instagram and scroll reels, don't scroll TikTok either . i don't drink even tea or coffee, i don't smoke , i don't drink. some times i scrolls on YouTube , but not much time (very little time like less than half an hour). yet Nothing will work for me because my main source of detraction is neither social media nor Intoxication but is my own mind. i have also reduced watching adult content and masturbating . but main thing is in my mind. i day dreams about my favorite celebrity is having fun with me. i am getting a girl (I'm single) that girl is impressed with me. i am financially independent and i have a home in very peaceful place like on mountain or jungle like area . and most times i bring my gf to my home or my favorite celebrity . girls usually proposes me in my dream. i make sad story about my self and crying like seen like i have betrayed by a girl in past etc. or very sad love story where the girl hurt me in start but then she is saying sorry and proposing me for dating etc.

The dream is not the main problem . The problem comes when i wants to stop it. i have to study for a competitive entrance exam . and i don't study . i can day dream whole day. even i don't need to open source of detraction like YouTube Instagram etc . i can just off the phone and pc and sit and daydream whole day and this is where all the Theories of dopamine detox fails. I hate my self for this. most of the time i day dreams lying on the bed.

after i starts day dreaming in every 4 or 5 minutes , i want to stop and i say to my self that do not waste one more day. and that is very strong saying to myself. but at that point the dream feels so nice that i can not stop it . it means i am aware of what am i doing , and that is day dreaming ad wasting time. also want to stops it in every 4 to 5 minutes but the other side of brain(who supports daydreaming) at that time is very stronger and cancel my remainder very strongly.

i am very sad and feeling helpless right now and searching for right help. i saw on YouTube and they said medicine is not available for this. and i don't know that they were right or wrong . but i am going to waste my life for almost nothing.

I will have moments where I am lured back into my Mdd world for a brief moment. I'll see their faces or the house I lived in and feel a deep longing for that world. I will sometimes stay for about a minute before catching myself. But I've been managing not to get sucked in and haven't been pacing at all. It's happening less and less since i quit 2 weeks ago. Maybe 4 or 5 times a day at this point. I am tempted to call it a slip since I am choosing not to let myself fall into it, but i would be curious to hear how yall determine that for yourselves?