Are You a Maladaptive Daydreamer? Here's How to Quit! 1/4

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[thehealthywriter]

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Thank you <3

[madison]

Normally I pace around my room and listen to music while daydreaming but I still end up integrating my daydream characters into other real life tasks, even if daydreaming wasnt the initial plan. Like when i'm cooking a meal by myself or even just watching netflix, i'll imagine the characters doing the thing with me and whenever I try to just do stuff and be present in reality I just feel bored and like im in a void. Its so annoying 😂

[Papelito-bdvq]

Is hard to get over this, it truly like a drug

[noanoa]

Just waking up every morning is the trigger for me. Being awake is a trigger, there's nothing in my life that i like, so i escape

[catherine.rome.]

Loneliness, Self dissatisfaction, Isolation, and Traumatic experiences are all reasons why I use this mental diasscoation coping mechanism. It saved me

[shubhranshrai]

I have been so ashamed of admitting this, this habit has taken on an average of 6-7 hours of my day for the past 4 years, it has helped me to learn a lot about myself but it's time I bid this addiction goodbye, this comment section spoke to me in ways I've never felt before

[joy__division_is_cool]

This started for me around five. At age 8 or 9 I’d thought I would grow out of this way of thinking. I’m 23 and I never did. I’m learning today that MD is what I’ve been doing all my life.

[LISMEDEIROS-sojx]

If you are feeling dismotivated there is hope to overcoming this vice.I started maladaptive daydreaming when i was 12/13 and now im almost 17. I now realize how much it affected my life, making me feel worthless, making me go into bad habits, and all the bad things that were happening in my life were because of that really. When i first realized what md was and how it ruined my life was three months ago. I would spend i think ab three hours of my daily life daydreaming, whether it was during my school classes, my free time or even my ballet classes. The day that i really panicked was when i had spent ab the whole chemestry class(40 min) daydreaming. And then i made a decision to stop. Three months later i can´t even imagine how i could spend so many time in my head. Md is, still, a battle that i have daily, however sometimes i spend a whole day without even having the urge to do it, or when it comes i say no we´re not doing that. In the worst cases when i step into md(like today, that´s why i searched this video) it´s only ab ten minutes. Ten minutes is still a lot for non maladaptive daydreamers but for me, even though im teally disappointed at myself for falling into md again, is a huge victory that my worse is ten minutes.

[Ssa]

Thank you for this video… im 32 years old I’ve been maladaptive daydreaming ever since a kid maybe around 6 or 7. I put on headphones, blast my music and rock back and fourth on my couch. I can do this for hours on end and it’s very depressing. Daydreams usually just consist of me imagining my best self, my dreams accomplished, being successful, it’s very addictive and I hate it. It interrupts my life and living and becoming a better person. I’ve started to meditating and it definitely helps but I’m not all the way there yet but I’m working towards it. Going to the gym and meditating helps. It’s so hard to quit it’s so addicting but I know i need to stop it’s not good for m, I’m to old for this now 😢

[eurekajon]

MD is a huge mental health problem that can have a crippling effect on people's lives. It has on mine. It's a pity that it's not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, preventing the MH community from focusing on it to develop effective care, treatments and solutions.

This is a huge problem that can spiral into much deeper episodes of depression, anxiety and a multitude of other issues if there's no help. The MH community must consider this seriously as so many people may not even be able to understand why this happens or be willing to discuss it and further their self-isolation and suffering, instead of seeking the help they need. Thank you for making this video.

[darkghoul]

I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember… the pleasure is usually too much to intervene in my daydreams.

[crearcollective]

I didn't know that this is a disorder because it's therapeutic for me. Thanks for this.

[mariama.]

How do you deal with the silence/emptiness in your mind when you control or try to control the daydreaming? It's like going from a vivid world to an empty void. It's either the void, maladaptive daydreaming, or thinking about life matters repetitively.

[cosslogan]

The pandemic has made it so much worse for me. Also finding out I'm autistic makes sense of my struggles to make and keep friends, and being lonely and isolated I use daydreaming to not get overwhelmed by the depressing reality of being alone.

[Ortium]

I suffered from maladaptive daydreaming ever since i was 8, which has harmed me later very much mentally and caused me powerful and intense depressions through the years , thankfully i am now 17 and i managed to quit intense daydreaming, i started building good habits and disposing of bad ones, replaced meditation with praying, improved cold resistance, and now i am fine!, After all i managed to study very well after i got rid of this plague, i am grateful for you

[yoshimoshi]

I've struggled with MD since I could talk. I believe my daydreams started by loneliness, and playing with dolls. I used to have a magical fantasy, but now my daydreams surround real life and people. My daydreams are usually about future conversations and events, and most of the time they're correct. Which can be helpful as I also have social anxiety; but I daydream for hours upon hours every day. I daydream while in school, while doing homework, even in the middle of conversations. Sometimes I leave people on read or don't text back so I can daydream. Its exhausting, and I feel guilty for it. It doesn't give me any relief or pleasure. I just feel as if I'm constantly in a daydream and I'm so out of tune with real life. Thank you for this video, I felt very seen and I learned a lot about MD that I didn't know before. P.S. Your voice is so calming, and your eyes are very pretty :) You look very similar to Natalia Dyer!

I was dreaming while listening to it that itself explains its severity

[zimzalabim]

i started maladaptive daydreaming when i was in 7th grade and now im in 11th grade and i still constantly do it. i think it became my coping mechanism due to childhood trauma and feelings of anxiousness(not clinically diagnosed). i tried talking to my family about my struggles with mental health but they told me i'm still young to figure out and control my emotions. today is my day 1 of trying to stop md and i hope it gets better for me. thank you so much for your video, it made me feel less anxious knowing that i'm not alone :)

[NatOfTheManyCats]

"Do you want to live in your head, or in the present?" Oh, in my head, definitely. Wait, was I supposed to want the other one?

[CandyCandy-kl]

It started when i was 10
Now iam 25 it ruined my life completey it costed me my reationship and my career
My mind got crippled bcz of these thoughts