5 Signs It's Maladaptive Daydreaming, NOT Just Daydreaming

Daydreams are welcome, inspiring, and at times refreshing, but there is a flipside–maladaptive daydreams. Maladaptive daydreams are frequent daydreams that are intrusive and disruptive. They can be so distracting that they can take you out of reality. At times, maladaptive daydreams can occur because of sensory stimuli or real-life events. So what exactly is maladaptive daydreaming? Here are a few signs.

Writer: Sara Del Villar
Script Editor: Denise Ding
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

Sources:

[Jessicamoon]

I just want to add a note: as a maladaptive daydreamer, I do know what’s real and what’s not. In fact, knowing my daydreams are fake and will never exist is a major source of depression for me. So saying maladaptive daydreamers can’t tell the difference between reality and their daydreams is technically false. Not just in my case, but that’s the definition of MD. If you can’t tell the difference between reality and your dreams, then it’s delusional and ends up being psychosis. MDer’s CAN tell the difference between reality and their dreams, which is what differentiates them from someone who’s psychotic.

Not only that, MDer’s wouldn’t typically interact with their daydreams in from of other people. They’re typically very careful not to let anyone know of how they spend their time (aka, daydreaming). It’s a very secretive and at times, shameful-feeling disorder. Just thought I’d drop my two cents here to help educate people!

[ayyitslary]

my daydreaming is so extreme I lost touch with reality and make up storys so much.I even zone out every minute and make face expressions.I don't notice that I make face expression but my family does notice them.They think it's hilarious.Its embarrassing for me tho.It's hard to get rid of my maladaptive daydreaming.I've been daydreaming since I was 9 or younger.

[ericahaddock]

See here's the thing, I have full control over what I daydream and can snap out so I don't get caught looking like a psycho but I know its meladaptive daydreaming that I have. I also know this is something new that researchers are looking into. Awesome video though. I related to all the symptoms on many different levels.

[kebah]

I daydream a lot but I always know that I’m daydreaming. Sometimes I lose track of time, but I’m aware that’s it probably been a while, and I just choose not to stop.

But my daydreams are always more fantasy-like, involving characters inserted into my own life, or me inserted into a their worlds. It doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally I spend from 30mins up to 3-4 hours daydreaming a vivid story, and I’m always very emotionally invested in it. I don’t talk out loud but I often make facial expressions, laugh, and even cry.

I also tend to daydream for a long time in the morning, or at night as I’m falling asleep.

And even for periods when I’m not daydreaming, I often think of the stories and characters and when I can get back around to daydreaming again. I’m very emotionally attached to some of these characters, and they almost feel like real people to me.

I feel like my experience is nowhere near bad enough for me to be diagnosed with maladaptive daydreaming, but I feel like it’s more than just regular daydreaming and I’m not sure what to describe it as

[khalilahd.]

Too much of a good thing is bad in every social situation and this is no different. Thanks for bringing awareness to this type of maladaptive coping mechanism 💛

[alisbtw]

I didn’t know this was a bad thing, I do it way too often- as to where when i’m trying to get ready for the day, I start saying it as if it’s a story. It’s also gotten hard for me to not think about whatever I happen to be “day dreaming” about.

[CamilaRangel]

Timestamps:
0:54 - Daydreaming blackouts
1:44 - Extremely Vivid Daydreams
2:32 - Living the Daydream Out Loud
3:17 - The Daydreaming Evicts Night Dreaming
4:00 - Lucid Daydreaming
Hope this helps!

[BrenaCedraz]

When I was a kid/teenager daydreams was like a hobbie to me. This video helped me to undestand that that usually happend probably because of the domestic violence cycles I experienced because of my father. Now I still have daydreams, but not to escape from the world, but for the oppositive, to help me better concretize my goals :)

[nnbrlght]

Interesting thing, daydreaming is actually my storytelling method... Except I'm telling those stories to myself lol. Whenever I get bored, I can start daydreaming about random stories that usually don't have me or anybody I know, just characters semi-representing me or things I know. And that one thing where people act things in their daydreams out irl, it happens to me sometimes, but in my opinion, it just makes imagining my kind of stories easier

[Raghav-txym]

0:55 Daydreaming blackouts.
1:45 Extremely vivid daydreams.
2:30 Living the daydream out loud.
3:18 The daydreaming evicts night dreaming.
4:00 Lucid dreaming.

[yasmine]

It's really disturbing especially when you zone out and feel disconnected from reality sometimes it's scary is that common to all of you ?
And sometimes you can't tell if you're remembering a memory or it is just a dream or imagination
Furthermore, sometimes i keep making a conversation and imagining a situation and talking to myself as if i'm the other persons haha

[darksmiley]

I am experiencing maladaptive daydreaming, and it is... I don't know how to describe it. Even while typing this comment out, I'm already having the scenarios in my head that I usually do, the voices and all that. I gesture and talk and walk around while in my daydreams, and sometimes it feels like I need to escape from the daydream in order to be in the real world again, but my mind won't let me stop always slipping back into voicing a sentence out loud or moving my hands according to what I am seeing. I am seeing the daydreams so vividly in front of my inner eyes - it's not as if I am LITERALLY seeing these things happen, but I also don't notice anything around me really, and only see what is happening in my brain (if that makes sense). It makes it difficult to sleep or get out of bed since I am always "in the zone" for daydreaming, and it's so... alive. The voices, the facial expressions, even what I feel when I imagine being touched, or doing certain things. It's hard to explain without sounding either as if I am making things up for attention, or people thinking I'm hallucinating or something. But it's a real issue, because I know I am using it as a way to escape, but sometimes I literally can not fight against the daydream, even if they are horrible scenarios I'm experiencing, like when I thought my ex may leave me (I mean he eventually did), I was seeing and hearing and feeling these scenarios as to why every single day multiple times, without being able to retain myself from being engaged in them. It's hard to explain, as I said. But I also don't know how to talk to a therapist about it. I am leaving behing school work, my hobbies, eating etc, just because I am always slipping into a daydream. I have to hold back the urge to act them out every time I'm around people. I was in so, so many situations in which I was extremely confused and scared because I could not remember if I talked to someone about something, or if I had imagined it, and multiple times I had to act situations out again and again in different ways to feel secure and prepared for whatever life throws at me.
But the daydreams give me a sense of relief as well... Which is probably why I can't stop, and am scared to get help. The feeling of being loved, accepted, of being stronger than I actually am, having a more interesting life, etc. It's a curse that you can't stop indulging in, which sucks
Maybe someone else feels this as much as I do, I feel really alone in this

[forzenfukuroanimations]

As a full fledge maladaptive daydreamer I can say one thing that was a little off about this topic your discussing; and that was explaining how a maladaptive daydreamer wouldn't be able to decipher reality from fantasy...that's not quite the case (well from personal experience). From what I read upon Maladaptive daydreamers can tell the difference (reality between fantasy), kind of like we have awareness from that!
Other than that this was a really awesome video helping explain and giving awareness about this thing some of us do!!! Luv your videos!!! XD XD

[peggy]

sometimes i imagine a scenario and it feels so real that my brain tricks me into thinking that was a real memory because of how vivid the day dream was, its weird

[wonheelovebot]

Maladaptive daydreaming is something that I've been going through for years I recently realized how bad it is but I feel like I'm in too deep into it so I can't get out. It's fun. I won't lie but I'm loosing touch with reality and I can feel the bond between me and reality shifting away. :/

[thatgirlwhousedtohavereall]

So that’s what was going on with my Great-Aunt Hester. After her husband died she would sit on the porch, walk around the yard, or sit in her room, & talk to Uncle Charlie. She got to a point of not caring if anyone saw or heard her talking to him.

We used to say Uncle Charlie’s ghost is back. We didn’t tease her about it. We just accepted that she had her own way of dealing with grief. It made her happy.

[Crystal_Clearly]

Just asking, is there more detailed definitions for maladaptive daydreaming? Like is there minor maladaptive daydreaming, as in you have some symptoms but its not that serious, or major maladaptive daydreaming where it affects your life seriously?

For me, I don’t have symptoms like daydreaming blackouts and I’m aware of how long I spend daydreaming. Also, if I read a really interesting part of a book or video game, then I get a huge urge to go into my room and daydream about that scene. If it’s daytime then I pace around in circles for a usually an hour (but sometimes more) before feeling… satisfied? and I can get back to real life. But usually when its nighttime I don’t sleep until its because I’m daydreaming, then when I check the clock its 7am and im not even that tired. I only maladaptive daydream when I’m alone though, when I’m on a call with a friend or outside then I dont daydream. Is this some sort of minor maladaptive daydreaming, because I dont have symptoms as serious as in the video?

[merediththomas]

I used to be a maldaptive daydreamer. Music was a trigger. I kept the two together. I still daydream as a coping mechanism. Very sad.

[ldAccunt]

I am always day dreaming, 24/7, never stop. I like it, I like it when I zone from reality. It's a nice feeling, it makes me feel safe. Everything is gone, I am with {day-dream guy in my head that I see life of} every second in my head, I live through him. Why? I don't know. I feel not alone, I have somebody there. 3 people to be exact, they aren't me, they are other people, and I live their lives. I feel their feelings. This probably isn't the best thing, it's probably a bad thing, but if it was taken from me I would feel incomplete and terrible. It's like half of me is in reality and half of me isn't, but what is the other half of me considered? Another person? Because I don't day dream about me. Half of me has other opinions, other views, they are completely opposite of me, but at least I get the other perspective. Day dreaming just came some random day, and it's gotten bigger and expanded.

[raes_creativity]

Around 6 months ago, I got a psychologist bc of personal events. One time, during our last few sessions (my family didn't have the money to keep letting me go), I brought up the fact that I thought I had maladaptive daydreaming disorder. Not intensely, but I make facial expressions and rock back and forth whenever I'm in my head, sometimes I forget that something didn't actually happen, I lose track of time, and I can't go for more than like, a few days without listening to music to create fictional scenarios/imaginary edits with. When I told her about this, she said maladaptive daydreaming wasn't a real thing. That REALLY messed with my head because I had heard about it a lot from people on the internet (I know, I know, don't believe everything you see online), but this REALLY helped me be fully aware that it is, in fact, a real thing. Thank you, Psych2Go!