I'm not alone!!

[Nick]

Hi all! I'm Nick!

First, sorry for my english, need to train more!

I don't know how can I feel now, I'm a bit happy because now i know what is "maladaptive daydreaming" and there are others like me, but i'm sad too.. I mean, i understand that's not a mental illness, but... 

Anyway, nice to meet you all, here's my story!

I'm 21 and I live in Italy, I'm studying architecture at the university and I am at the first year.

Since the childhood, I always daydreamed a lot but only in the last week i made a research for my excessive daydreaming, and here I am! Since the childhood i always had no friends, and my parents spent few times with me in their spare time so I started to imagine my own world, where i had adventures (inspired by cartoons like Disney's etc.) with often I interact with the main characters of those cartoons. I started to play videogames early, when i was 11, and i spent a lot of time playing them. When i was 15, my parents bought me an mp3 player i began to daydream while listening to music (I listen mainly to movies and videogames soundtracks, in relations of what i'm "dreaming"). And I started to "dream in movement": I'm not still but I'm pacing and walking around while dreaming. Since I began to play "serious" videogames, like Halo or Half-Life i dream about me as the main character of those stories, often mixed together with a story created by me (Meh, it's so strange to talk about this!). Every time I see an interesting movie or I play a new videogame with a fantastic story, i create my own new dreams and now too, and I'm 21!

As I said, I had no friends in the childhood, since i was 17. I began to go out with a group of people i met for luck in the school, after that i met a lot of new people (thanks to them) and now I have a lot of people that are brothers for me!!! I can't imagine myself without them, they are the best.

But i never stop daydreaming a lot. In the last year, I (sometimes) began to imitate my alter ego expressions and moods in real life (like anger or important phrases). And this make me think a lot. I'm scared, if this "daydreaming" grow up in the future, what can I do? 

Yes, I can control them, when I need to do important (or not) things in real life I stop to dream and do them.

And I dream only when I don't know what can I do, at home, when I'm alone or inoccupied, and not more 1-2 hours per day. 

I'm scared, what can I do if this situation goes worse in the future? I spoke with my mother and she's not worried, but i don't think she fully understand the situation. And now, my little brother too is starting to doing this... he has no friends, no activities to do, and he stays all the day in the bed, daydreaming and he doesn't want to go out with me and my group of friends... what can I do?

[greyartist]

benvenuto Nick. Sorry I don't have any answers for you. I have recently found myself doing the same thing, speaking out load what the character is saying, and the facial expressions. I hope it doesn't get to where I can't controll it in front of people. So far I can. At least your brother will have you to talk to about it.