You most likeley need CBT or other trauma therapy!

[Louise ström]

I think, from my own experience, and from reading others stories that the need to daydream come from ongoing stress and trauma (ongoing stress will lead to trauma. You don't have to be raped or abused to develop post traumatic stress.) and getting treatment for this exessive dreaming will therefor need to involve trauma therapy. You that read this, have you noticed that the dreaming will occur while in a stressfull situation, or that the need to dream is triggered by certain situations or even sentences? Think about it and consider what it is that triggers the need to daydream. You might find a pattern. I went through trauma therapy and I found that pinpointing the triggers, really helped in making me daydream less. I am 30 and tired of wasting my life. I want to live my life before it is to late. I didn't even know what maldaptive daydreaming was until after the therapy, but  I now see the link. (I got CBT at the therapist.) When going to a therapist about this, tell them about this and they will more likely be able to help you!

I really hope this help! I am so glad to have found a community and to know that I am not alone, because I thought I was my entire life.

[Samantha]

Thank you for clarifying that you do not have to be raped or abused to develop post traumatic stress. I feel like I have always known that instinctively, but I can get pretty hard on myself. I grew up relatively wealthy and was never physically abused, so I can find it difficult to describe my childhood as "traumatic." But it really was. Now that I am grown and able to educate myself, I understand that there was LOADS of emotional abuse. 

I may decide to seek out a therapist who can help me identify my triggers, but I've honestly found that therapy has not been super helpful for me in the past. I don't think MDD is as well understood as it needs to be. I've seen many confused looks when I try to describe my day-to-day mental experience, from both friends and professionals. I still feel completely lost in the sea of my daydreams. Over the years, I have made efforts to become more self-aware, and I now realize just how drastically MDD is affecting my life. It's something I've been doing since I was a child. It's my drug. 

[Louise ström]

Most people underestemate how easy it actually is to develop PTSD or CPTSD (complex post traumatic-stress syndrome.) which is why so many are suffering from it without even realising. And why so many people subject others to the kind of abuse that cause it, many times without realizing it too. Then on top of that there is a stigma about going to get therapy so many suffer stubbornly.  I'm sorry to hear that therapy hasn't worked for you.  Calling it a drug is very true statement. All drug addicts replace the comfort they should have gotten from friends and family, with their choice of drug. Which is why drug addiction is much deeper then just a choice to do drugs, (and that is why not everyone that do drugs become addicted to drugs, there need to be neglect and trauma to create an addiction.) When we got neglected, bullied and traumatised we turned to our drug daydreaming, and it can ruin our lives as much as any other drugs. Like make us loose our jobs, neglect relationships, neglect eating or hygiene, or fail at a study etc. My sleep have always been really bad because at night I choose to daydream instead of sleeping, it has effected nearly every part of my life. 

For me, and it might not be the same for you, the key was to pinpoint and understand the original trauma (What was done to me and by whom.) The trauma(s) need to be put in to light to be processed correctly, we do our drug because of them. The daydreaming is the symptom of the problem, but it's not the original problem. So only focusing on the daydreaming is to only treat the symptom instead of the problem. That would be like giving painkillers to cancer patients thinking it will make the cancer go away. The cancer need to be treated, not just their pain. Thats where the therapist and understanding your triggers can help. But therapy is limited, specially since MDD still is such a new concept. To me self-reflection and a lot of research helped possibly more then therapy. (For me the trauma was narcissistic abuse, so researcing narcissistic personality disorder and the different ways they abuse helped too.) I would recommend youtube, there are experts and therapists on there that know more about MDD, trauma, PTSD, personality disorders etc.

I found that this woman has a lot of great information, as well as a really sweet personality that makes it easier to watch and learn about difficult things. This link should take you to a playlist where she talk about MDD and dissociating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=232977b1LNs&list=PLQIr4W4X1evrw...

Hope you can get the help you need soon!


Samantha said:

Thank you for clarifying that you do not have to be raped or abused to develop post traumatic stress. I feel like I have always known that instinctively, but I can get pretty hard on myself. I grew up relatively wealthy and was never physically abused, so I can find it difficult to describe my childhood as "traumatic." But it really was. Now that I am grown and able to educate myself, I understand that there was LOADS of emotional abuse. 

I may decide to seek out a therapist who can help me identify my triggers, but I've honestly found that therapy has not been super helpful for me in the past. I don't think MDD is as well understood as it needs to be. I've seen many confused looks when I try to describe my day-to-day mental experience, from both friends and professionals. I still feel completely lost in the sea of my daydreams. Over the years, I have made efforts to become more self-aware, and I now realize just how drastically MDD is affecting my life. It's something I've been doing since I was a child. It's my drug.