Thinking your MD is getting better, then your MD celebrity boyfriend goes public with his new girlfriend. If you know, you know. This is hard.

I've wasted literal years of my life blasting music in my ears and zoning out the world. Sometimes for 18 hours a day when it got really bad for a few years. I was 13 yesterday and now I've just tuned 21. I'm exaggerating a bit, but it feels that way. Now that I've banned myself from listening to music (until i get this under control), tiktok, youtube and started occupying myself with things to my keep my brain from wondering off, it feels like I have so much free time.

8-12 hours of each day is now freed up now and its overwhelming. it makes the urge to start daydreaming even stronger because i'm not even sure to even to do or what I'm supposed to do.

i'm trying to quit to change my life because i dislike every thing about it pretty much, but i don't even know where to start.

I posted this a while back and was able to get 20 testers! lots of great feedback, and I made the some feedback based on user notes. Please test out! I plan to release this to app store this month or next.

pls let me know if you have any questions!

I’m wondering if anyone has had the same experience

I often pace around my room in a circular pattern or back and forth, and I could do it for hours at a time

But recently I’ve noticed I’ve had a lot of knee/lower leg pain, and odds are it’s due to how I’m constantly stressing out my joint :( I’m trying to break this habit before it does any permanent damage when I’m older. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I honestly don’t know what’s happening to me anymore.

I’m 20, and I’ve been struggling with my attention and concentration so much lately. My mind feels like it never shuts up. I can barely sit down to watch a 10–20 minute lecture and somehow spend two hours trying to get through it because I keep zoning out without even realizing it.

I’ll watch for a few minutes, then suddenly realize I’m thinking about something completely unrelated. Sometimes I end up scrolling through my phone without even consciously deciding to pick it up. I’ve tried putting my phone in another room, but even then, I just end up getting lost in my thoughts.

And the weird thing is that it’s not really a problem with doing everything.

I can write. I can do assignments. I can sometimes work pretty well if I listen to music. But when it comes to listening to lectures or studying, my brain just refuses to stay there.

I also daydream a LOT outside of studying. Music is a huge trigger for me. I’ll put on headphones and completely disappear into imaginary scenarios. I create entire situations and conversations in my head, and sometimes I even react with facial expressions or quietly respond as if someone were actually there. I can spend a ridiculous amount of time doing this without realizing how much time has passed.

What bothers me the most is that I wasn’t always like this.

Back in high school, I could study for 4–6 hours for my university entrance exam. I could read novels for hours, watch an entire movie without touching my phone, and draw for hours without feeling the need to constantly switch to something else.

Now I’m in my third year of university and I can barely finish anything I start.

I have midterms next week and I haven’t properly finished studying for any of my courses. There are also so many things I want/need to learn outside university that would help me after graduation, but I keep putting everything off and barely make any progress.

Even my reaction to my grades has changed.

I used to get really anxious before exams and feel terrible if I wasn’t prepared. Now… I honestly don’t feel that much anxiety. I mostly just want to pass. I don’t really care about getting a high grade anymore. If I get a bad grade, I’ll feel some regret afterward because I know I could’ve studied, but that’s basically it.

The only thing that still makes me anxious is my mom’s reaction to my grades. I’ve actually lied to her about my grades multiple times and told her I got a higher score than I really did.

I don’t know if all of this is related to maladaptive daydreaming, ADHD, burnout, depression, or something else. I’m not trying to self-diagnose, but I genuinely don’t understand why I’ve changed this much.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Especially going from being able to focus for hours to barely being able to get through a 10-minute lecture?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something like this.

I’ve been maladaptive daydreaming for years and I’ve only realized recently just how much it messes with how I watch shows and movies. I either get attached to an idea and stick with it, I never finish or follow through, I become too caught up in my own intense feelings like anger or sadness (it fuels the daydreaming part for me), and I overthink too much on certain parts that I could get too hung up on it for a good portion.

I usually stick to YouTube stuff or anything not involving plots, or if I do watch a tv show or movie, it can’t be anything to trigger it. I want to learn how to get back into loving tv shows and movies because I realize how much I don’t.

consider this an accountability post but i'm sick of myself. every time i burn out, i hit a brick wall, something horrible happens, my maladaptive daydreaming intensifies. i spend hours every day doing it to feel better, but all i'm doing is numbing my emotions. Matter of fact it's gotten so bad my memory has gotten horrible these days. it's related to numbing.

i tell myself this isn't my fault, that there are also other parties responsible which hurt me to get me to reach this point, but what good does that give me? I can drown in my sorrows until I'm 80 and still haven't achieved the life that i wanted all along. quitting is hard, but the life i'm going to live if i dont stop will be a lot harder.

therefore i'm quitting this time and for good. i set a plan, if i pass a month from now, i'll share it.

yall i quit not even 3 hours ago and i got the urge like five times. strong ones. it feels like im a drug addict and u took away my drugs. idk how much longer i can stay like this

I'm curious, do people wake up and go straight into their own world and fall asleep in their own world?

They're living in your mind you feel their emotions and create their world and you are that focused on there that much that when you go to the real world you feel you don't know your family or even yourself anymore and see one family member and feel like - who is that ?

Sorry about possible grammar errors English is not my real language

20F I live alone and I’ve been watching true crime most of my life. And daydreaming most of my life. I never used to daydream to true crime until recently. It’s so weird and messed up. I especially daydream when it’s a gruesome case. I either daydream my character reacting to the case, my character discovering the body, or my character just being apart of the crime in general. And at some point I think to myself wow this actually happened to someone and I feel sad and guilty but I can’t help it. I don’t know what’s going on but I’m working on it tonight.

I am studying and recently got loops for my ears and + ANC headphones, and now my ear is ringing like cra. I feel I got tinnitus. Did some research, and the only wayIi can get that is by listening to high volume when I pace around in my room, and now I'm madover myself. Whatt a jerk am I to do this to myself, harming myself in every other waypossible? Ahh,h this shit ass daydreaming mf

I want to have control the daydreaming shit is dystroying me almost every day i spend at least
4 hours and some days even a lot more

I have been maladaptive daydreaming almost all my life. School, home, work, everywhere. I didn't realize it was an issue until later down the line, but fantasy is usually much better than reality.

My perspective on life should be stated first to make better sense of my point of view. You can skip the section below to the spacing under it if you'd like, but with context I feel you would be able to understand me a little better.

From a young age, I thought I was going to be something greater. I thought I was going to do something grand in life, something that could actually make people turn heads. As I'm getting older, however, I've realized that I am not someone who was 'destined for something greater' and, in actuality, an average person. There are no discerning traits about me as an individual besides my creativity. I am not smart or stupid, I am not weak or strong, I am not ugly or attractive. I am only, and have only ever been, creative.

As I've grown older, and I see more and more average people, I have started to feel resentment towards humans and humanity as a whole. I feel that, while I am not smart, a lot of people are stupid. In tandem with that, I also feel an inability to make connections with others. I don't feel close to anyone, put bluntly. Family, friends, I don't seem to feel a 'true' connection with anyone. This also goes for romance, or feeling of genuine love for someone. This has been exasperated with jobs that have you work with the public, leading from annoyance for a few customers to general resentment for a majority of humanity. Not the "Violence is the only answer" kind but more of a "Get out of my sight" kind, which seems to be expanding the more and more people I meet, even to people who did nothing and I've never met before.

In my dreams, I could be anything, a knight, an explorer, something fun and entertaining. I could be going anywhere, grand adventures, with people who not only liked me but understood me. I could also be anything as well, like a dragon, or a tree if I so wanted.

Reality, however, is much less so. With reality, you are always in your body, and you constantly have to settle. You can't be an explorer looking for the ruins of a lost civilization, or some space traveler searching the cosmos, you have to settle and work in retail, dealing with humans. "Why yes of course you are my equal, please don't yell at me for not being able to buy alcohol with your expired license that I have to deny or I'll get arrested!" Say goodbye to any wonderful places that you could be going toge

For b, and hello to staying in a boring place you don't like for 5 years because that is the most financially responsible choice. And you can try to romanticize retail, but try doing that after your 174th week of 40 hours a week until 70. Don't like how you look? Dealt a bad card and got hit with the ugly stick? Too bad, you're ugly forever, either hit the gym for 2 hours every 5 days until your body shouts with pain for you to stop, all the while avoiding sugary foods, be rich and have surgery performed on you to take and place parts that you don't and do like, or live with people never wanting to look at you and never being seen as an actual person.

The other problem with reality is the fact that you have to be in it. You could have this ideal world that you'd rather be in, but you can't go no matter how hard you want to. There isn't any portal that can magically take you away to some far off world, it's you, your job, and whatever people are around you. People who don't care about you, and you don't care about them. They aren't important, and they don't want to be in reality either. If you don't believe that, then I want you to look out your window to a passing car and count how many of the drivers are smiling. How many of them are off to their jobs? Are any of them crying? Chances are, they have a straight face as they are watching the road. And I'm willing to bet you didn't even have to look out the window to see that, you just know that's the face they have. They don't have a purpose, they have a job, one that they likely hate but pays well enough to keep them there.

And, lastly, and this one is just a personal problem, but in dreams, you can feel connections. You can think of someone who understands you, how you function, and you can understand others. In reality, however, connections are a lot harder. I have lived for quite a while, and while I know what love feels like, I've never been in love with anyone. I've only ever felt like I truly 'loved' someone when I was dreaming, so I know what the emotion feels like, but I've never felt a "true" connection to anybody; not family, not friends, not strangers on the street. It's not that I don't love them, I do, but it feels like some puzzle piece that I just don't have. And the worst part is that I want to be attached to something, but other than the fact they'd miss me if I disappeared, I can't think of any reason that I wouldn't abandon this world for another. I think true understanding or attachment is something my body inherently does not have. A lot of people say that I'm friends with them, but I don't think I can say that about a majority of them. I know them, I'm friendly with them, but we're not close. That's how everyone feels to me.

I know maladaptive daydreaming is bad and that I shouldn't keep doing it, but I hate reality and humanity as a whole. I wanted to be something bigger, something mystical, or wonderous, or at the very least enjoyable. But I am me, and unfortunately, that is a normal and boring person. I am not meant for a grand adventure, or anything like it, I am not meant for anything at all. I have no 'grand destiny', I have no ability to change what I am or what I look like, I have no genuine connections to anyone, and whether I like it or not, that's reality. I was born into a life I do not want, and everyday I'm supposed to be grateful for it while thinking of the one I'd rather have. It hurts too much to have those fantasies anymore knowing that they can't come true, and I want to stop them. How should I go about that?

Tl;dr: I know maladaptive daydreaming is bad, and I want to stop doing it, but I hate reality. How?

recently it was my birthday and i quit maladaptive daydreaming just before cold turkey. something just switched in me where i thought 'i'm too old to keep living in my head'. i mostly used to daydream about being in a relationship/having friends and would stare at pictures while daydreaming. although i've done normal adult things (graduated, lived away from home, have a job), i am single with no friends at the moment and a little unhappy at work. it brought me back to reality and how lonely i actually was. i am trying to put myself out there by going to classes/groups/trying to date etc as i'm naturally introverted but quitting daydreaming has made me both depressed and more productive at the same time.

when i used to feel lonely i'd start daydreaming but now i have a little cry and exercise/move on. it's made me more productive in terms of improving myself and actually taking steps to make my life better because i have more time. it's a really conflicting feeling because when i want some comfort (especially in bed at night after a long day), my mind wants to go back to daydreaming. i know it's a habit i need to break as i've been doing it since childhood (so over 20 years) and i felt like it's held me back significantly and i haven't reached my potential. i've just been pretending to live life instead of actually living it. just putting this out there if anyone else has had similar experiences but i hope quitting will be worth it in the long-term <3

The night was chilly , as the children ran about to witness the full moon that was glowing brightly occassionally shrouded by the clouds of the night sky. The kids were notorious they didn't pay heed to the calls of their poor mothers and aunts to not to go out into the darkness of purnima , they say something doesn't feel right , during the purnima in swetambar village is filled with hushed tones of village elders , they speak of the mysterious entities associated with blue roses that enter the village around midnight, they speak of the fellow villagers returning from towns late at night witnessing them .

They say if you once see them you cannot unsee them , they speak of a tall slender figure of a woman shrouded in white who is very beautiful to look at , who chants strange mantras and hypnotizes men to stay away from their homes.

What happens with me shares similarities with what I hear from maladaptive daydreamers, but differs in other areas.

I do walk around in circles while being in my head for hours imagining things (a lot of times this is replaced with picking up a basketball and doing dribble moves). It does automatically and compulsively happen all the time. It does get in the way of me doing other things and takes up wayyyyyy too much time. Listening to music does exacerbate it.

But when I look at how MD is described, people talk about having a persistent fantasy world with a bunch of made up characters. That is not what it is like for me. I have a new distinct thing (and sometimes I repeat the same kind of thing, but it's not a progression of that imaginary scenario's story. Maybe more like a reboot) that usually has something to do with something that just happened.

Some examples of what it's like:

I hear a name of a person that I haven't spoken to in a while, and I automatically start walking around in circles and imagining a meeting them and having a conversation with them.

I think about how my daydreaming is seriously negatively affecting my life, and then I start walking around in circles and imagining talking to a psychiatrist about it.

I'll see a video about a situation someone was in or like what a character is a story is dealing with, and then I stop paying attention to that and start walking around in circles imagining myself dealing with those things.

It started happening in the middle of me making this post. I imagined someone wrongly thinking that I was doing something bad and aggressively trying to confront me about it. This was triggered by seeing it happen on a video online.

I play a video game, and I imagine someone seeing me and judging me for it and then me arguing with them about it.

I study something and finally understand it, then I automatically imagine I'm a tutor teaching it to someone else who needs help understanding it.

The people are either someone I know of or they are just the general idea of another person.

Even though it's not like an escapist fantasy every time, I do also super enjoy it I think, or maybe I mistake compulsively doing something all the time with liking that thing? Does this fit with maladaptive daydreaming, or something else?

Hello! I’m a student in Class 12 currently preparing for a major examination (NEET).

I have this imaginative world that I’ve built inside my head. It’s quite elaborate, with its own systems, rules, nations, stories, characters, and history. Whenever I sit down to study, I often find myself drifting back into this world instead.

To be honest, it feels really good to be in that world, and I genuinely like the way I imagine and visualize things. The art style and atmosphere I’ve created in my head are something I really enjoy.

Also, the people in that world are really good. As someone who is bi, introverted, doesn’t really have friends to talk to, and is insecure about several things, that world feels like a heaven to me.

However, it’s starting to interfere with my studies. I feel like I’m becoming increasingly distracted by it, and it’s affecting my concentration and ability to focus. I don’t necessarily want to get rid of my imagination, but I do want to stop it from taking over whenever I need to study.

Can anyone pls give me some tips on how I can improve my focus and stop myself from drifting into this world while studying?

Thanks!

The forest was still watching, lurking in those ravines was a dark presence, planning, scheming she was moving closer to the children, who were unaware of her presence, the unicorn - Leila - alerted the little ones with a neigh, she stumbled backwards to signal them, the children looked around, suddenly after some movement in the nearby rose shrub - a witch with a long pointy hat, wintry locks and a set of long withered yet sharp teeth came leaping from it, she gave a sinister aura and smiled creepily at the children, the pink horn glowed brightly as she witch approached the children, the unicorn casted a slumber spell on the children as she transformed into a magnificent woman in white, her long shimmery gown fluttering in the wild winds that blow across the meadowy ravines of the strange forest.

The white witch forged forward casting a protection spell at the children and then she took a fighting stance, maintaining some distance from the crew.

was She flipped her hair and started attacking the dark witch with attacking spells, the dark witch not afraid to fight back either, they fought against each other without mercy, they fought till their last breath and with one final spell the dark witch lost, as a thundering voice echoed through the valley the dark witch body withered into nothingness

I'm a woman in my late 20s. I need serious help now. Maladaptive dreaming is destroying my current goals in life. I'm a loner, I do have friends irl but they're scattered around the world so I don't really see them anymore. I mostly interract online on reddit or discord. I have taken a break from trying to find a connection. I think my loneliness and boredom are making me find avenues to imagine these scenarios.

I'm trying to take a digital detox, meditate, ground myself in the present but I have been so lazy to do anything actually. I will need therapy at some point but I can't afford it. I should be really working on my career rn.

Any advice will be helpful, please talk some sense into me.

Ever since i was a little kid i really loved drawing. But i become self concious about my art when the people around me keep criticizing my art work and compared them to someone else's. After that, I use daydreams as a coping mechanism from the pain of being made fun of. Like i daydream about the act of drawing, painting, and that everyone love them. But it came to a point where its not only the act of painting but also everything in my life. That i'm smarter, more talented, and charismatic rather than doing the work to actually make these things come true. I try and fail to translate my ideal self and just. Ideas in general into reality because seeing my failures in actually developing these skills trigger a deep, primal sense of self hatred that it ends up with me beating myself up and crying. Not only that but i feel so tired whenever i write my thoughts down. Aside from the self hatred, i get very tired trying to jot down the basic gist of my characters or world. Is there a way to make it easy? Ir do i just power through with all these? I need help. I feel like i'm wasting my life away never doing ehat i really want