Feel like Giving UP!!

[Jordan]

I havnt been on here in awhile just couldnt face it i was doing good went about a month without the daydreams then i gave in and i felt i couldnt stop i hate that i feel the compulsion to do it i hate that i feel like it controls me...

 

im tired of trying last year alone i dedicated the whole year to giving it up 235 days i didnt give in and 130 days i did and now its another year the same fight i cant take it anymore the back and forth its taking away from me wearin me down i dont have the srtength to go another year like this i want to give up but im not sure if i want to accept that this is who i am

 

so should i just accept that this is who i am, or should i keep trying to find a way out?

[Annie]

I would suggest what Laine said. Dont try to stop it cold turkey start off small. Think of it like alcoholism, if you try to stop it cold turkey you are most likely to relapse. Take it step by step. I remember when I tried to stop it too, it was so hard! I would start to feel so anxious and irritable if i did not daydream, I went through a whole month of daydream withdrawal. Then I relapsed back again. So, I tried simply just reducing my daydreams instead of cutting them off completely. 

Little by little i saw improvement and started daydreaming less and less. I went from daydreaming an average of 8-9 hrs a day to 5-7 hrs down to 3-4 hrs.  Dont try to fight it, accept that you simply daydream but do learn to control it better. You can never completely stop maladaptive daydreaming but you can definetley learn to control it. 

I accepted the fact i was gonna live with this the rest of my life but know i use it to my advantage. I use my dd as my de-stressor and entertainment, its like a coping mechanism for me when times get tough. I wont lie there are times when MD does get in my way and i find my mind sliping away into DD world no matter how hard i try to not but we must not let this illness hinder us. You can do it Jordon, don't give up! =)

P.S. One thing I found to be very helpful is learning some anxiety/stress relieving exercises, they really help during the withdrawal.

[taffle]

I was not able to completely get rid of my daydreams, but I was able to control them and did cut back on the daydreaming. I set up a specific time during the day that I want to daydream, and for the rest of the day, I got about my daily chores. Going cold turkey at once usually doesn't work. Start with small increments. For example, if you currently DD 9 hours a day, try cutting it back to 8.5 hours, then 8 hours, and so forth, until you reach your desired level of DD.