Discussion What is your way of dealing with daydreaming ?

[Buh-bye!]

I believe the right word is Maladaptive daydreaming but I would just refer to it as daydreaming. I was looking for possible solutions or insights on daydreaming, too much fantasizing or even overthinking. What helped you, with these things ? Maybe some YouTube video or channel, some insight, paragraph etc. I'd like to have a control on it and would appreciate further responses. YouTube videos are an easy way to understand certain things for me so I'd appreciate any channels or videos getting recommended too.

 

[dumbnhappy]

I do it for hours on end. It ruins my concentration and the harder life gets the more I do it. I feel the only way to get over it is by being busy OUTSIDE where you cant really pace back and forth or be distracted for too long without someone saying something

 

[amerie]

I have ADHD so I've been daydreaming literally since I was old enough to have a conscious. I also experienced early childhood trauma so alongside my ADHD it was a defense mechanism.

Honestly, is it really detrimental for you? I accept it as apart of my neurodivergence and how I cope with life. It's helps me with creativity and writing things on the spot and it amazes people and helps me get good grades on writing assignments. If you need it to cope with trauma then why stop?

But besides that if you really want to stop get yourself out of situations where you're prone to daydreaming. Don't listen to a lot of music and try to meditate so you can stay grounded in reality and with your surroundings.

 

[Scythe]

Who gives a shit, I can multi task, it keeps the brain distracted from worse thoughts and sometimes I don't need all of my brain to do something and might as well you know?

If it's hurting your day to day learn to multi-task, it's one of those things that the normies say is a bad habit cause they think it's weird when in reality it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

[FoxSauce]

Hmmmm well idk im able to snap back to reality.

I do it when im in a difficult situation or im bale to tune it out like yelling or disscusions that are loud.

Sometimes can happen like im under tons of stress

 

[Forever Sleep]

Not sure about maladaptive daydreaming but, 'The Crappy Childhood Fairy' on YouTube makes very good videos dealing with things like limerence. Not sure if you 'suffer' from that too. I always felt like they were related.

I can only really advise how I forced myself to get over limerent crushes. I would remind myself that they were limerence for starters. Remind myself that, while the fantasy was nice, it was causing me more harm in the long run. If I found myself drifting off into a daydream about them, I would tell myself to stop. I'd also try to picture something that would bring me back to reality- eg. finding out they now had a girlfriend and, how much that would hurt.

 

[Forveleth]

Maladaptive daydreamer here. There is a distinction between daydreaming and maladaptive daydreaming. Maladaptive daydreaming is when your daydreaming habit starts interfering with your life, often keeping you awake at night, depriving you of sleep or interfering with work or personal relationships.

First, realize this is usually a behavioral coping mechanism. So in order to control it, you need to determine why you are actually performing this behavior.
Many use daydreaming to either self-soothe or avoid doing something they perceive as unpleasant.

After determining why you are daydreaming, it is really down to standard techniques of switching that for healthy coping mechanisms or different ways to manage whatever situation causes you to daydream for so long.

 

[Pluto]

 

[Buh-bye!]

I do it for hours on end. It ruins my concentration and the harder life gets the more I do it. I feel the only way to get over it is by being busy OUTSIDE where you cant really pace back and forth or be distracted for too long without someone saying something

I know it's so tiring, trying to escape this habit. The fact that this is such a good cope makes this even harder. It makes you feel at ease or somewhat normal at times of stress but it also hinders your ability to be productive at times. I sort of feel like I loose the control over my mind if I daydream, after I do it. The brain gets so happy and foggy, it seems abnormal. But I get where you're coming from.

I have ADHD so I've been daydreaming literally since I was old enough to have a conscious. I also experienced early childhood trauma so alongside my ADHD it was a defense mechanism.

Honestly, is it really detrimental for you? I accept it as apart of my neurodivergence and how I cope with life. It's helps me with creativity and writing things on the spot and it amazes people and helps me get good grades on writing assignments. If you need it to cope with trauma then why stop?

But besides that if you really want to stop get yourself out of situations where you're prone to daydreaming. Don't listen to a lot of music and try to meditate so you can stay grounded in reality and with your surroundings.

Yeah it is detrimental, doesn't it make you feel different? Forget things? Have bad memory and whatnot? I mean I get that it is really comforting but this sort of comfort needs to eliminated if you rely too much on it, doesn't it?
If it works for you, that's great though. I'd also want to be able to manage it but I guess I just loose control, as in, it just happens anytime. So I just wanted to control/eliminate it.
I agree with you on the music and meditation part. That is honest advice.
Thanks for taking the time to write this, really.

normies say is a bad habit

Sigma Sigma boi sigma boi sigma boi

Hmmmm well idk im able to snap back to reality.

I do it when im in a difficult situation or im bale to tune it out like yelling or disscusions that are loud.

Sometimes can happen like im under tons of stress

Yeah, same here. It's a good thing for the most part but it requires a lot of self control.

Not sure about maladaptive daydreaming but, 'The Crappy Childhood Fairy' on YouTube makes very good videos dealing with things like limerence. Not sure if you 'suffer' from that too. I always felt like they were related.

I can only really advise how I forced myself to get over limerent crushes. I would remind myself that they were limerence for starters. Remind myself that, while the fantasy was nice, it was causing me more harm in the long run. If I found myself drifting off into a daydream about them, I would tell myself to stop. I'd also try to picture something that would bring me back to reality- eg. finding out they now had a girlfriend and, how much that would hurt.

That is just honest advice, I can't even deny all that since I know that'll work. All in all, these things required a lot of self control to be fair. That's just how you, snap out of it, like Foxsauce said. Thanks for taking the time to write this.

Maladaptive daydreamer here. There is a distinction between daydreaming and maladaptive daydreaming. Maladaptive daydreaming is when your daydreaming habit starts interfering with your life, often keeping you awake at night, depriving you of sleep or interfering with work or personal relationships.

First, realize this is usually a behavioral coping mechanism. So in order to control it, you need to determine why you are actually performing this behavior.
Many use daydreaming to either self-soothe or avoid doing something they perceive as unpleasant.

After determining why you are daydreaming, it is really down to standard techniques of switching that for healthy coping mechanisms or different ways to manage whatever situation causes you to daydream for so long.

I did know there might be a lot of people going through the daydreaming problem here too, but I didn't know it would be this many! It sort of feels good to be able to interact with so many people who understands this thing. I am also glad you took the time to write all this, explaining the difference, the solutions and everything.
I don't realise it is a coping mechanism by the way. I don't understand where it stems from but mostly there are longings for a lot of things, they seem to take the form of daydreams. Anyhow, I don't know if fighting the cause of one's daydreams would somehow help with this. It's like an addictive thing which has become a habit. That is why it's so messed up in my opinion!

Nah!