Venting Maladaptive Day Dreaming

[Joey]

I don't know if you guys know what MDD is but it's similar to normal day dreaming but to a far greater extent. You basically live in your own fantasy world with subplots and for each music/theme song you listen too, you're in that little world.

I've been doing this as far as I can remember and it sucks. Pretending your the main person in your own story and imagining other characters with various arcs, avoiding reality.

Ever since my headphones broke and not gaming, reality has hit me in the face directly and it just feels like my whole life is a lie. Damn I know living in a make belief world never helped but damn...

 

[nerve]

I don't know when exactly I started, but I remember getting my first iPod when I was 12ish and becoming really anxious whenever my headphones broke, which was a lot, because I used them so much while daydreaming lol. I stole a few pairs from drugstores and my family.

Sometimes someone would knock on my bedroom door and I wouldnt hear them because my music was too loud so they'd open it and I'd just be there pacing or skipping like a maniac. I've lived in a handful of different homes and can compare how "MD-friendly" all my bedrooms have been.

If I wasn't completely nonfunctioning, I'd just consider it a weird hobby, but because my whole life is such a disaster, it takes on a much different tone. I got so beaten down trying to improve my life that I had to withdraw into a fake one and I'm much more embarrassed by that than the daydreaming itself.

There was an MD thread a little while ago and it was so nice that nobody came in to ask any of the dumb questions people ask! I could relate to just about every post when I'm used to having to treat this thing as a terrible secret no one else could understand!

 

[Eternal Pessimist]

I've been daydreaming since I was little. I had it somewhat under control until I got depressed and started living in my imaginary world more and more to deal with the depression. Unfortunately this leads to a vicious circle where I daydream, procrastinate and neglect reality, become even more depressed about reality and then daydream more in order to deal with the disappointment.

I've been living mostly in my head for almost nine years now and it's really starting to show. I often feel detached from reality and uninterested in it. Reality is so disappointing when compared to the worlds inside my head.

 

[justagreenleaf]

Hey, it's me! My non-existent little love life, friend life, job life, my... Wait, hold on a minute.
Did I just daydream most of my time on earth instead of doing things?

 

[Dysgenic Pup]

I've had it since kindergarten at least. For me, it isn't maladaptive but perhaps it was at a certain point in my life. I have great control over it, so I don't think it sucks, it could help A LOT. Sometimes I think to myself that I'd rather face the truth than live a lie, so I go long periods without daydreaming in this fashion.