|
|
Post by Sam on Sept 29, 2019 18:31:09 GMT
Hello and Welcome To keep our online community a welcoming, supportive and safe place we ask that all members follow our Forum rules so before posting please take a moment to read the guidelines found here. You can get started by adding a bit about yourself here in the introduction board (not required). Or just jump in--you can post in any thread at any time or start your own. Most MDers are secretive about their daydreaming in real life, online communities often being the first experience they've had with talking to others like them, but I promise you; everyone here wants to hear what you have to say. The forum is monitored by a team of volunteer moderators who are here to offer advice and support when they can and will also be looking out for any posts which do not follow the forum guidelines or are abusive to other members and will remove them if necessary. If you have any questions about how to use the forum, please message one of the moderators and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. If you'd like to introduce yourself to all of us here on the forum, go back to the "New Members" board (the board that this thread is in) and click on the yellow button in the upper right corner that says "Create Thread." You can share as much or as little as you like :) We look forward to getting to know you better and to hear more about you about your experiences with maladaptive daydreaming. Best Wishes from all at Daydream in Blue x Moderator Introductions- Dimmer : Hey, Dimmer, 34, married, one kid. Been daydreaming as long as I can remember. It goes through it's cycles of kinda ok and very bad, I found out about MD a few years ago but sort of ignored it for a while, and then things got a lot worse so I finally started addressing it and trying to curb the 'mal' part. It's going alright, been some ups and downs but I'm making progress. Glad to be here!
- alvi : I'm Alvi and I've been a member of Daydream in Blue since day one. I really don't remember a time when I didn't excessively daydream. I first found out about MD in 2015 and I've been part of the community since then. I think the reason I have this problem is that has been a source of comfort and my way of coping with a difficult past, mental health problems and it is a way for me to escape from my health conditions. At the same time it has made me lose out on real life experiences and has caused many missed opportunities. I'm trying harder to change and get some control over my daydreaming but its a long and painfully slow progress.
I'm not an expert on MD by any means but I will always try to answer your posts, messages and chats to the best of my ability so please don't feel shy to reach out for support.
- Sam : Hi everyone! My name is Sam. I've been a maladaptive daydreamer since my preteens and I'm almost 20 now. The daydreaming is mostly a coping mechanism for my severe anxiety and the isolation that I've had as a result of my anxiety. I became a member of this forum shortly after it was started and its helped me so much. Being able to talk about my experiences with other people has benefitted me in so many ways and I love being able to use my knowledge to help others. I try to check in when I can, usually a few times a day, so if you ever have any questions about MD or the forum in general, feel free to message me and I'll respond as soon as I can.
- Theaxe :
Hi everyone! I am one of the co-creators of DIB when we launched in 2018, and I also manage the maladaptive daydreamers' Twitter account @md_SupportGroup. I was born in 1974, and throughout my entire life I have had daydream-addiction. I have found various ways to live with it, talk about it, yet I can never seem to truly eliminate it. I spend time taking on some real-life projects that include some freelance writing and taking a course to learn a new language which I have found helps me manage my MD. I'm here on daydream in blue and on other platforms to engage in some great discussion about MD with you all and to offer my help and support.
- katie : Hello to all our members my name is Katie. I am 30F from Ireland. As far as I can remember I was a daydreamer and it became maladaptive when I was about 6 or 7.
I remember getting my first CD player and that was it I was stuck into my daydreaming world and made it so comforting that I didn't want to get away. It help me through some pretty hard time and I am grateful for that but now I am wanting to ease it and to talk to people that I can relate and have this in common with too.
I found out about madd 2 years ago and joined this group when it was a month after starting so far I have been trying ways to help control and ease my daydreaming and also give non professional advice and share my knowledge and experience to help others through it. If you need to talk to me about anything please pm me thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by ayusharai on May 23, 2020 6:39:55 GMT
Hello and Welcome To keep our online community a welcoming, supportive and safe place we ask that all members follow our Forum rules so before posting please take a moment to read the guidelines found here. You can get started by adding a bit about yourself here in the introduction board (not required). Or just jump in--you can post in any thread at any time or start your own. Most MDers are secretive about their daydreaming in real life, online communities often being the first experience they've had with talking to others like them, but I promise you; everyone here wants to hear what you have to say. The forum is monitored by a team of volunteer moderators who are here to offer advice and support when they can and will also be looking out for any posts which do not follow the forum guidelines or are abusive to other members and will remove them if necessary. If you have any questions about how to use the forum, please message one of the moderators and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. If you'd like to introduce yourself to all of us here on the forum, go back to the "New Members" board (the board that this thread is in) and click on the yellow button in the upper right corner that says "Create Thread." You can share as much or as little as you like  We look forward to getting to know you better and to hear more about you about your experiences with maladaptive daydreaming. Best Wishes from all at Daydream in Blue x Moderator Introductions- Dimmer : Hey, Dimmer, 33, married, one kid. Been daydreaming as long as I can remember. It goes through it's cycles of kinda ok and very bad, I found out about MD a few years ago but sort of ignored it for a while, and then things got a lot worse so I finally started addressing it and trying to curb the 'mal' part. It's going alright, been some ups and downs but I'm making progress. Glad to be here!
- alvi : I'm Alvi and I've been a member of Daydream in Blue since day one. I really don't remember a time when I didn't excessively daydream. I first found out about MD in 2015 and I've been part of the community since then. I think the reason I have this problem is that has been a source of comfort and my way of coping with a difficult past, mental health problems and it is a way for me to escape from my health conditions. At the same time it has made me lose out on real life experiences and has caused many missed opportunities. I'm trying harder to change and get some control over my daydreaming but its a long and painfully slow progress.
I'm not an expert on MD by any means but I will always try to answer your posts, messages and chats to the best of my ability so please don't feel shy to reach out for support. - Sam : Hi everyone! My name is Sam. I've been a maladaptive daydreamer since my preteens and I'm almost 20 now. The daydreaming is mostly a coping mechanism for my severe anxiety and the isolation that I've had as a result of my anxiety. I became a member of this forum shortly after it was started and its helped me so much. Being able to talk about my experiences with other people has benefitted me in so many ways and I love being able to use my knowledge to help others. I try to check in when I can, usually a few times a day, so if you ever have any questions about MD or the forum in general, feel free to message me and I'll respond as soon as I can.
- katie : Hello to all our members my name is Katie. I am 30F from Ireland. As far as I can remember I was a daydreamer and it became maladaptive when I was about 6 or 7.
I remember getting my first CD player and that was it I was stuck into my daydreaming world and made it so comforting that I didn't want to get away. It help me through some pretty hard time and I am grateful for that but now I am wanting to ease it and to talk to people that I can relate and have this in common with too.
I found out about madd 2 years ago and joined this group when it was a month after starting so far I have been trying ways to help control and ease my daydreaming and also give non professional advice and share my knowledge and experience to help others through it. If you need to talk to me about anything please pm me thanks. - bee : My name is Bee, I'm 44 years old and live in Germany. I think my dd started to become maladaptive when I was about 9 or 10 years old.
It helped me over a lot of bad days in my life and I'm glad I had it. Over the years the intensity of my dd varied between something that didn't bother me much and something that stopped me from participating in the real world.
I learned about maladaptive daydreaming only by the end of June this year and I'm still working on understanding it and how it influenced my life.
|
|
|
|
Post by ayusharai on May 23, 2020 7:03:34 GMT
Hi guys my name is Ayusha! I’m 16 and I’ve been day dreaming since I was in kindergarten and still to this day, but as I grow up I need to be focused on other things like school and I can’t focus cause my day dreams have got so explicit that it’s so hard for me to get out. I was diagnosed with ADD last September, but I stopped taking the pills because it really didn’t help. I have anxiety and I live in a community where people really don’t acknowledge mental illness, so it’s hard for me but I have amazing friends that love and support me! I never really talked about my day dreams to anyone because I thought it was just “expectations” for people but I realized I talk to myself (talking to yourself is not bad btw) but I ac feel those feelings and it feels so real but at the same time I know there not. But it’s gotten out of control. I walk, it helps me relax myself and we’ll I’m walking I’m day dreaming, people think I do it to exercise but honestly all that energy I have gets to much. I believe it’s a coping mechanism for me to get away from reality, I didn’t have the best childhood and I was always alone. I am kinda shy at first but after a couple minutes I am very talkative and out going, but especially after a lot of important people leaving you and anonymous texts saying “You’re spread negatively in your friend group” you start to doubt yourself and start to distance yourself with people that care about you. But I’ve been reaching out so that’s good. Back to the day dreams, I don’t really know what to do about it. It’s not like I can make them just stop even when I’m trying to distract myself by doing math or homework, they come back stronger! It’s like a whole war zone in my head. But knowing I’m not the only one makes me feel comfortable talking about since I don’t have a therapist.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam on May 23, 2020 19:04:18 GMT
Hi guys my name is Ayusha! I’m 16 and I’ve been day dreaming since I was in kindergarten and still to this day, but as I grow up I need to be focused on other things like school and I can’t focus cause my day dreams have got so explicit that it’s so hard for me to get out. I was diagnosed with ADD last September, but I stopped taking the pills because it really didn’t help. I have anxiety and I live in a community where people really don’t acknowledge mental illness, so it’s hard for me but I have amazing friends that love and support me! I never really talked about my day dreams to anyone because I thought it was just “expectations” for people but I realized I talk to myself (talking to yourself is not bad btw) but I ac feel those feelings and it feels so real but at the same time I know there not. But it’s gotten out of control. I walk, it helps me relax myself and we’ll I’m walking I’m day dreaming, people think I do it to exercise but honestly all that energy I have gets to much. I believe it’s a coping mechanism for me to get away from reality, I didn’t have the best childhood and I was always alone. I am kinda shy at first but after a couple minutes I am very talkative and out going, but especially after a lot of important people leaving you and anonymous texts saying “You’re spread negatively in your friend group” you start to doubt yourself and start to distance yourself with people that care about you. But I’ve been reaching out so that’s good. Back to the day dreams, I don’t really know what to do about it. It’s not like I can make them just stop even when I’m trying to distract myself by doing math or homework, they come back stronger! It’s like a whole war zone in my head. But knowing I’m not the only one makes me feel comfortable talking about since I don’t have a therapist. I agree that knowing you aren't the only one is a huge relief. You're right about MD being a coping mechanism. A lot of us use MD as a coping mechanism for other mental illnesse and really anything that makes daydreaming preferable to real life. Daydreaming itself is natural and necessary for things like problem-solving, creativity, and even stress relief (when used in moderation). The maladaptive portion, the part that interferes with your real life or causes you significant distress, is what needs to be dealt with. Non-MDers have a healthy balance between daydreams and real life, so what we need to do is figure out what that balance looks like to each of us and work on getting there. A lot of us feel like our daydreams control us more than we control them, and that's not very healthy. |
|
|
|
Post by noodlesinspace on May 25, 2020 5:49:04 GMT
Hey I’m Joy.
25 from the United States
I have struggled with MADD since middle school. I’ve always been an imaginative child but I knew this was something different. I can’t tell you how happy I am to know I’m not the only one that has this and that it has a NAME.
|
|
|
|
Post by jay0126 on May 25, 2020 6:42:19 GMT
Hi my name is jay I am 22 years old. Its been 8 years I have been going through this. At first I just used to feel good by imagining but now i cannot stop it.
|
|
|
|
Post by gayle on May 25, 2020 11:21:55 GMT
Hi I'm gayle and I have always been daydreaming excessively ever since I can remember and I always thought that it is normal. That its normal that I feel  to go to bed knowing that it is time to daydream (I daydream for hours before I can go to sleep), or even when I'm watching tv or scrolling through my phone while daydreaming at the same time, or just messing up my daily activities because my mind is somewhere else, and even when someone is talking to me I daydream and as a result I dont have a clue what the person was saying. Most of the time I find myself acting out what I am daydreaming about when I'm alone and its kinda weird. I am sure if someone will see me that way, they would think I am crazy. Now I am a little concern with myself and I would want to stop this MD stuff, mainly because I think I am getting addicted to it. I dont know if there is such thing as getting addicted to daydreaming or if it is just a part of the illnes itself but I did'nt know any of these before so maybe I am just overreacting? I don't even know yet if I truly have MD but I'm really scared of to what extent this daydreaming stuff takes me. I'm young and I have a LOT of plans for myself and I'm afraid that my daydreams about these 'SOMEDAY' of mine might be just delusions or part of the made up stories I have in mind and that I can't really live up to it. I would want to stop these excesssive daydreams but I dont know how. I dont even know how to adress it. So yeah |
|
|
|
Post by Imadiboi on May 27, 2020 17:19:53 GMT
 I'm Imadiboi, thirteen (almost fourteen)-year-old boy from Texas. I've been daydreaming since sometime in my early childhood, and it has gotten worse over the years. I do not know the exact root cause, but I know that I use it as a method of escape from stress, procrastination, and as an enjoyable act. I have been feeling that I need to do something, than I Googled the issue, and discovered MD. I am no expert, but I think most of the symptoms apply to me. I tried emailing my former school counselor (I just finished eighth grade, and am going into high school,) but she said referrals for outside counseling or school counseling on a regular basis require parental consent, and there is NO WAY your boy will speak to his parents about his mental issues. While I am usually being good to my parents, I think I will do myself much more bad than good by informing them of my issue. I found this forum via Healthline, and here I am. I appreciate the existence of this forum and hope to get help. |
|
|
|
Post by elawbhs2 on May 27, 2020 19:27:15 GMT
Hi my name is elawbhs2. I’m 22 years old and I’ve been daydreaming excessively since I was about 6 years old. I don’t know why exactly or even when exactly I started daydreaming but I know it’s a problem. I don’t believe I experienced any trauma but I know whatever I felt to do what I started doing it couldn’t have been good. I dream about all kinds of scenarios. Most of the time, it’s about me excelling in scenarios I’ve been in real life, but I’m not actually doing those things. What’s even stranger is I dream in third person so although I may be happy in those dreams and I can bit of an adrenaline rush, they’re not as surreal and enjoyable as other people’s dreams are. When I try to dream in first person I feel a greater sense of awareness and stronger emotions but it last for a couple seconds at at best. I’m always adapting to my surroundings in my daydreams, doing what will be praised so I feel like there’s some place I belong. Thanks for reading this. I’m to meet people on the forum. It seems like there are cool people on this forum with interesting backgrounds. |
|
|
|
Post by tabularasa on May 28, 2020 2:07:06 GMT
Good day! I am a 22 year old college student. I have been experiencing maladaptive daydreaming since I was 10. It has become a "hobby" for me when i was a kid and I would invite my friends to daydream with me about our crushes and would often skip class for this. I often want to be alone and in the dark, would prepare and make sure no one is going to disturb me while im zoning out. I've tried daydreaming for straight 24 hours and I considered it to be one of the causes for my sleep deprivation. Recently, it is getting out of control. I nearly got into an accident because I was walking and was almost hit by a car because i zoned out while walking alrhough my eyes are wide open. My mind seems like in a different dimension while sketching a beautiful scenario. I had trouble controlling myself. Few years ago I was diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder and dependent personality disorder. I dont know if this is somehow connected to MD.
|
|
|
|
Post by zadish on May 30, 2020 4:52:05 GMT
Hi everyone,
I am Zaid. I've had MaDD since I can remember. I joined this community a few days ago, and I am getting a lot of help from it. I really appreciate the moderators and volunteers for the work they are doing here. Thank you guys.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam on May 30, 2020 4:52:43 GMT
Good day! I am a 22 year old college student. I have been experiencing maladaptive daydreaming since I was 10. It has become a "hobby" for me when i was a kid and I would invite my friends to daydream with me about our crushes and would often skip class for this. I often want to be alone and in the dark, would prepare and make sure no one is going to disturb me while im zoning out. I've tried daydreaming for straight 24 hours and I considered it to be one of the causes for my sleep deprivation. Recently, it is getting out of control. I nearly got into an accident because I was walking and was almost hit by a car because i zoned out while walking alrhough my eyes are wide open. My mind seems like in a different dimension while sketching a beautiful scenario. I had trouble controlling myself. Few years ago I was diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder and dependent personality disorder. I dont know if this is somehow connected to MD. Welcome to the forum! While MD can exist by itself, it most frequently occurs in conjunction with other mental illnesses. Often those are anxiety or depression, but it can occur with literally any other mental illness. MD is often used as a coping mechanism, and not only do people with mental illnesses often need coping mechanisms more than the general population, they are also usually more prone to unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs or alcohol, or, in this case, daydreaming maladaptively. |
|
vss
New Daydreamer
|
Post by vss on Jun 1, 2020 21:19:11 GMT
Hello, Vaishnavi here. I've been a daydreamer since forever. I'm 21, I've this urge of daydreaming and now i realise that it affects my real life badly. I don't know how it all started but i guess it was when i used to feel alone in my childhood. I'm a single child of my parents and my parent were always strict and restricted me to go out and play with other children. I guess that's when i started day dreaming, loneliness. I don't know why, but this makes me so happy. Like i feel so happy, i feel like it's some drug for me. I can't spend a single hour daydreaming. I was failed in 11th standard because of this. It's like i want to study and i want to chase my aim but i can't stop daydreaming. I see vivid dreams. It's funny but I've killed myself during daydreaming. Sometimes i see myself dating a handsome man, sometimes i see myself living alone. It's all imagination, i know. But i don't know why, but I'm scared of this now. I now imagine a man which I've created in my imagination who is now always with me. Like i live with him. It's crazy i know, but it makes me happy. When i feel like crying i see him wiping my tears kissing my forehead. When I'm happy, i see him dancing with me, laughing with me. I don't want to lose him to be honest. But at the same time it hurts when i realise that it's all in my head. I want to escape this. I want to stop this now. I want to live a real life.
|
|
|
|
Post by flygirl on Jun 5, 2020 17:48:00 GMT
Hi. I’m Cory aka flygirl. I’m 49 and a daydreamer since I was a kid. In the last few years it’s gotten out of control. Just now I showered with the intention of conquering some way overdue tasks and I felt myself desperate to let my mind wander off again. I usually get lost with books or music and can’t focus on anything else. Which means serious aspects of my life are suffering. So when I felt it start happening again I googled ‘daydreaming is interfering with my life’, and I felt such a sense of relief and validation to find out that this is a real condition listed on Healthline site and followed their link here. Like depression, people that don’t suffer from this will always think you’re just lazy, but you’re really not. I’m hoping to FINALLY find a way to control this issue and so grateful for a forum like this one.
|
|
|
|
Post by lylac922 on Jun 23, 2020 19:00:44 GMT
Hi my name is Adia - I am 34 years old and have experienced MaDD since I was 7 years old. Ive been through a lot of different traumas in my life from when I was very young and I created a world where I was always in control so as to cope. It worked so well that even if life is going positively, I still devote at least an hour day to escaping. I have told 5 different therapists about this since I was 12, but just found out about MaDD and this community today. It feels like such a relief to know it has a name and that I am not the only one going through this. Quarantine and being out on disability has given me hours every day to escape and I know I need to develop healthier ways to cope.
|
|
am
New Daydreamer
|
Post by am on Jun 24, 2020 21:22:39 GMT
Hi,
I am new to this forum. I have had MADD since I was a kid, but struggle more with it as an adult. My situation is a little different than most in that my career is creative and I love it-and I think MADD has helped me be a better creative in my industry. It doesnt hurt my day to day, unless I am idle.
But I would love any advice on how to get rid of it. I fantasize with a particular celebrity, and in my fantasies I am a high achiever who has a relationship with this celebrity. Any advice on how to stop with the particular fantasies with the celebrity?
|
|
to go to bed knowing that it is time to daydream (I daydream for hours before I can go to sleep), or even when I'm watching tv or scrolling through my phone while daydreaming at the same time, or just messing up my daily activities because my mind is somewhere else, and even when someone is talking to me I daydream and as a result I dont have a clue what the person was saying. Most of the time I find myself acting out what I am daydreaming about when I'm alone and its kinda weird. I am sure if someone will see me that way, they would think I am crazy. 
I'm Imadiboi, thirteen (almost fourteen)-year-old boy from Texas. I've been daydreaming since sometime in my early childhood, and it has gotten worse over the years. I do not know the exact root cause, but I know that I use it as a method of escape from stress, procrastination, and as an enjoyable act. I have been feeling that I need to do something, than I Googled the issue, and discovered MD. I am no expert, but I think most of the symptoms apply to me. I tried emailing my former school counselor (I just finished eighth grade, and am going into high school,) but she said referrals for outside counseling or school counseling on a regular basis require parental consent, and there is NO WAY your boy will speak to his parents about his mental issues. While I am usually being good to my parents, I think I will do myself much more bad than good by informing them of my issue. I found this forum via Healthline, and here I am. I appreciate the existence of this forum and hope to get help.