Wild Minds network

Maladaptive Daydreaming: where wild minds come to rest

Trying to stop..not working :/

So, I am trying to stop..but it is too addictive..

Has anybody stopped?? Does anybody have any tips??

I don't know how to stop...and it's making me feel good when I'm in that world..then once I'm out..I feel bad..

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Comment by McNamara on September 4, 2011 at 12:25pm: I guess it's like any other addiction or compulsion, we get a lot of pleasure from MDD and there's no obvious incentive to stop. As our lovely girl, Gloriana says, we all have our own reasons for what we do, and I think managing the MDD will be an individual path for all of us. I'm trying to stop or at least manage the time I spend on it, and it's been really hard. I'm trying to think of all the incredible REAL things I could be doing instead of spending an hour not connecting with the people who truly care about me, rather than people who don't even know I exist. Good luck xxx

Comment by sasi on September 4, 2011 at 12:24pm: I tried to stop earlier this year when it all became too overwhelming and started to interfere with real life.These are the things that helped:

1.Grounding tecniques(look them up online and see which one suits you).I found that every time my thourghts wandered to DD I would either stand up and imagine my feet rooting into the earth or fold my arms and apply pressure to them with my hands.While doing either of these I would focus my attension on my physical surroundings so I became acutely aware of reality.

2.Looking at a piece of specific jewellery/clothes that reminds you of something real in your life each time you start to DD.For me it is a ring which has 2 bands representing my 2 children.

3.Realising that there is a large element of habit in your thourght patterns.Every time I started to DD i would say "stop this" in my head and focus my thoughts elsewhere even if only for a few seconds.the time periods got longer and longer with practice.

For me,like Gloriana,I realised that I didn't want to stop completely as I get some positives from DD.It took a few months(2-3ish)before my DD was much more controlled and my real life wasn't affected too much.

I wish you the best of luck