Maladaptive daydreaming

[Ednospatient]

Do we have any MDD people here? I used to do some hardcore daydreaming and imagining myself in scenarios I knew would never happen, which contributed directly to me developing an eating disorder.

I would daydream and pace back and forth in our house for hours and hours and listen to music while I was home alone, and I never told anyone about it. I usually got up to 15k steps a day. Unbeknownst to me, I was burning hundreds or even thousands of calories. I was already pretty underweight so as you might imagine, eating small portions and exercising for hours every single day was not a good combo. Last year I finally got my diagnosis and it made me realize what I was doing was wrong. I've heard stopping MDD is hard but thankfully I managed to stop cold turkey. If you've experienced maladaptive daydreaming, please let me know!

 

[Dysgenic Pup]

Do we have any MDD people here? I used to do some hardcore daydreaming and imagining myself in scenarios I knew would never happen, which contributed directly to me developing an eating disorder.

I would daydream and pace back and forth in our house for hours and hours and listen to music while I was home alone, and I never told anyone about it. I usually got up to 15k steps a day. Unbeknownst to me, I was burning hundreds or even thousands of calories daily. I was already pretty underweight so as you might imagine, eating small portions and exercising for hours every single day was not a good combo. Last year I finally got my diagnosis and it made me realize what I was doing was wrong. I've heard stopping MDD is hard but thankfully I managed to stop cold turkey. If you've experienced malapdaptive daydreaming, please let me know!

Yes I am a Maladaptive Daydreamer although I don't think of it as a negative thing. It's pretty pleasurable and a nice way to waste time, and it doesn't seem to affect my daily life all that much since I have great control over when I do it. I'd rather call it immersive daydreaming. With that being said, I haven't done it in over a month. It's fun for me though.

 

[ketchup sandwich]

I've had issues with maladaptive daydreaming for years. And more recently an eating disorder which derailed my life. I spend hours every day fantasizing, I can't stop myself. I am recovered from the eating disorder but the maladaptive daydreaming is still going strong. I believe issues like EDs and maladaptive daydreaming originate from childhood trauma

 

[Dysgenic Pup]

It's like an addiction since it's very pleasurable. If you're having troubles with it, think of it as a cigarette habit or something like that and maybe that'll help you combat excessively daydreaming. I was spending most of my days this summer daydreaming but quit cold turkey last month.

 

[Ednospatient]

Yes I am a Maladaptive Daydreamer although I don't think of it as a negative thing. It's pretty pleasurable and a nice way to waste time, and it doesn't seem to affect my daily life all that much since I have great control over when I do it. I'd rather call it immersive daydreaming. With that being said, I haven't done it in over a month. It's fun for me though.

Daydreaming in itself isn't a bad thing, but when you combine it with poor eating habits and a lot of exercise, it becomes a problem.

 

[Dysgenic Pup]

Daydreaming in itself isn't a bad thing, but when you combine it with poor eating habits and a lot of exercise, it becomes a problem.

Yeah it differs between people, obviously, and I know my situation is much different than many others. I'm lucky that unlike many others, I primarily daydream while relaxing and not walking or pacing.

 

[CynicalHopelessness]

Oof somebody mentions one of my favorite disorders. I spend hours a day in made up worlds making relationships with imaginary people and fighting for causes worth living to fight for. Usually I do this while walking to entertain myself, and I don't even consciously trigger it most of the time like it was with cigarettes

 

[n3o9]

I'm glad I saw this post. Never even knew this was a thing, but I can really relate. Especially with the pacing and music. I think it's part of why I avoid the world and prefer being alone. I'll have to look more into it. If you don't mind sharing, how do you distract yourself now when your mind isn't occupied?

 

[Dysgenic Pup]

I'm glad I saw this post. Never even knew this was a thing, but I can really relate. Especially with the pacing and music. I think it's part of why I avoid the world and prefer being alone. I'll have to look more into it. If you don't mind sharing, how do you distract yourself now when your mind isn't occupied?

You should check out the subreddit for Maladaptive Daydreaming and Immersive Daydreaming, that's how I discovered this.

 

[pixie]

This is my every day for sure. I live in a different world

 

[Ednospatient]

I'm glad I saw this post. Never even knew this was a thing, but I can really relate. Especially with the pacing and music. I think it's part of why I avoid the world and prefer being alone. I'll have to look more into it. If you don't mind sharing, how do you distract yourself now when your mind isn't occupied?

I'm pretty bored haha

 

[n3o9]

You should check out the subreddit for Maladaptive Daydreaming and Immersive Daydreaming, that's how I discovered this.

Thanks, I will

 

[ihatemyselfsomuch]

I do this too, especially the pacing up and down the house thing. I've done it for as long as I can remember, it's an excellent way to escape reality. I don't know if there are negative consequences of doing it, I guess the "mal" part suggests there is. However it's been a good coping mechanism for me, moreso when I was younger.

 

[xLosthopex]

Had to Google what this was haha but omg I do this all the time, didn't know there was actually a term for it
I literally make up whole other realities in my head and pretend that that's my real life and just walk around the place pretending I'm living that life ? I remember when I was doing the assessment for my autism diagnosis and the therapist asked did I do that as a kid and I was like well yeah but doesn't everybody ?! And she was just like um no…

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

Had to Google what this was haha but omg I do this all the time, didn't know there was actually a term for it
I literally make up whole other realities in my head and pretend that that's my real life and just walk around the place pretending I'm living that life ? I remember when I was doing the assessment for my autism diagnosis and the therapist asked did I do that as a kid and I was like well yeah but doesn't everybody ?! And she was just like um no…

I have autism and I did this a lot as a kid, would always have a bunch of fantasy stuff projected onto the real world. Sadly it disappeared later, any tips on how to get this back?

 

[apathetic.]

so that's what I've been doing all this time. Who wants to live in this reality anyways

 

[xLosthopex]

I have autism and I did this a lot as a kid, would always have a bunch of fantasy stuff projected onto the real world. Sadly it disappeared later, any tips on how to get this back?

I dunno, I don't consciously decide to do it or not to do it, it just sort of automatically happens for me :/

 

[eternaltroubador]

Do we have any MDD people here? I used to do some hardcore daydreaming and imagining myself in scenarios I knew would never happen, which contributed directly to me developing an eating disorder.

I would daydream and pace back and forth in our house for hours and hours and listen to music while I was home alone, and I never told anyone about it. I usually got up to 15k steps a day. Unbeknownst to me, I was burning hundreds or even thousands of calories. I was already pretty underweight so as you might imagine, eating small portions and exercising for hours every single day was not a good combo. Last year I finally got my diagnosis and it made me realize what I was doing was wrong. I've heard stopping MDD is hard but thankfully I managed to stop cold turkey. If you've experienced maladaptive daydreaming, please let me know!

I don't know enough about maladaptive day dreaming to confidentally say its something i've experienced, but i heavily relate to the part about pacing back and forth listening to music. I do this for hours every day, and have been for many years now.