Sad That It's Not Real

[Aj]

Most people say the biggest negative of MD is that it prevents you from living in reality and going after real goals. While I've definitely experienced that to a degree, I think the worst part of MD for me is feeling intense, gut-wrenching despair because I love my characters so much but they aren't real. Does anyone else experience that? 

[Silver Swan]

If you want to live a better reality, you'll have to get through the pain of leaving your characters. When I first stopped doing Maladaptive Daydreaming, I also felt despair for leaving a world I used to know. It used to make me feel happy, cherished and empowered. After I quit living in fictional worlds, everything changed altogether, like I began to feel very "funky" in a very uncalled for way. I realized how many years of reality I neglected over my fantasies, and for that reason, I woke up to a very empty and isolated looking life that I deserved. Since I grew up not doing the correct things for myself, I've fallen ways behind and don't have other people's skill sets to get back on my feet. So I gawp around wondering what to do next. It's a really embarrassing experience, and hopefully it won't happen to you. As for my characters, I really don't miss them myself, as I've forgotten all about them after quitting. I'd rather be seeing real people for a change. So I feel no despair for them. They weren't real!

[Jessica Ballantyne]

If you stepped away from daydreaming for a year, and put your mind to other things, whether it's new interests, sports, socializing and education, your mind will be so clear and you'll understand how unreal everything used to be in your head. Eventually, you will not feel sad anymore. My fictional characters come and go, but they don't last forever. I feel sad when I wake up to the fact I never payed attention to people and developed real relationships, all because I wanted to live in my head. Now I feel very angry at my former maladaptive daydreams. They did me no good, and nothing came true. All they did was put me in a 20 year trance. I never found my dream job or my man. All I ever did was make everything so much worse for myself. So, please don't feel sad that you left your characters.