Overcoming Maladaptive Daydreaming

[Ulaan Gom]

Hi everyone!

I'm writing here today because Maladaptive Daydreaming has been a major problem in my life: it has caused my motivation levels to drop, my priorities to get skewed, and my neglect for the things that really matter in my life to worsen. In short, I feel like MD is snatching me of my full potential. However, I also strongly believe that there is a way to overcome Maladaptive Daydreaming. Whether it be mindfulness meditation, journaling, spending more time with loved ones, exercise, or engaging in a hobby, I believe that there are many habits that can greatly curb the desire to daydream.

I know we were all meant for so much more than to spend our precious lives daydreaming and escaping from the moment. I feel that it's essential that we learn to overcome MD in order to be able to live the lives we were meant to live. If anyone has any tips, tricks, or advice for how to deal with MD or what helps them live more fulfilling lives in general, I would absolutely love to hear. Meanwhile, I will be posting whatever I find here as well.

[Ulaan Gom]

Maybe that would explain why I always seem to daydream uncontrollably after messing up somehow or making an embarrassing mistake. If that's the case, then maybe we need to focus more on accepting ourselves for who we are. For me, some of the main aspects of myself that I have trouble overcoming are those that might disappoint or look uncool to others. I need to stop focusing my life around getting the approval of others and instead consciously accept those "unwanted" aspects of myself. I also need to take risks and feel free to express myself even if doing so might spark the disapproval of others.

Stasia OBrien said:

Actually, I have read that our MDD isn't about WHAT we are daydreaming about...its about US. So, its US that we don't like and are trying to avoid.  We want to be someone else b/c we don't like who we are. It makes perfect sense to me and I am hopeful that I can figure out how to overcome this.

[Yolandi Wells]

Have any of you guys tried dding about things that you are struggling with like looking after yourselfs, cleaning or studying?

[Ulaan Gom]

That's an interesting idea, I'm actually going to try that out right now and see how it goes!

Yolandi Wells said:

Have any of you guys tried dding about things that you are struggling with like looking after yourselfs, cleaning or studying?

[Ulaan Gom]

Even when MD catches us and we feel that we've been too immersed in daydreaming and have already lost too much energy, we should not give up the fight against the addiction. I feel like viewing MD as an addiction has helped me possibly uncover some reasons behind the specific struggles I'm facing. When researching other addictions, I realized that drugs and other addictive substances release an unnaturally high amount of pleasure and love chemicals in the brain, making it harder for people to experience happiness and form strong emotional connections with others in real life. At least for me, I know that I sometimes (like I'm currently feeling) feel numb and depressed after a large daydream binge. The symptoms seem very similar to other addictions, and by understanding that I'm addicted to the pleasure that's released in my brain when I daydream certain scenarios, I can develop some more concrete reasons to try my hardest to quit MD.