I lost the most important year of my life to MD.

[SKG]

I'm a 17 year old, who's just finished schooling. My final examinations got over last month and I'm currently preparing for the competitive exams, more like trying to prepare for them. I haven't been able to study properly for the past one year and I still can't focus. I'd taken therapy last year to treat a mental health issue but just as the therapy got over, I fell into this trap of MD. And I haven't told anyone about this because I have a very strong feeling that nobody will understand. Nobody sees daydreaming as a serious problem. I've spent so many hours in the past year just daydreaming(mostly in the washroom, so nobody can catch me doing it or interrupt me). And, it's getting worse. I've started loving it much more than my reality. I seem to forget that my daydreams are not real. It's like I'm waiting for something that's literally never going to happen, and that waiting has lowered my patience drastically. But my daydreams aren't always positive, at times, they make me cry too. I don't feel good about having MD, it makes me feel like I'm dumb and an underachiever. My mental health has  been horrible for the past four years, but MD is the thing that's affecting me, especially my studies, the most. I've always been an ambitious person, but I'm not able to work towards achieving my goals. And I feel terrible for not working hard, while people out there are creating the life of their dreams, I lay in bed daydreaming. I've been trying to quit doing this but I just can't. I really need help. I don't know if anybody can relate to me, but Thank You to anyone who took out their time to read this.

[SKG]

@Camoran I agree. But that's the main problem, I can't figure out the reason behind me doing it. I know what I want out of this life, but some of those things are not in my control and I know I can never have them so I daydream about having them. I sometimes fear that maybe the way my mind works is the only thing that's ruining my life. MD was mild when I was younger but it is so noticeable now. And I have no idea what to do about it.

[Camoran]

You can't just "quit doing this", it doesn't work that way. Disconnecting from reality and banishing yourself to an imaginary world doesn't just happen. You started doing it for a reason, and it won't stop until that reason is addressed.

The impression you seem to have of the outer world certainly doesn't help, but it's understandable. At your age people are basically guaranteed to fall for the "work hard and you can do anything" propaganda.
No one out there is "creating the life of their dreams", it's just a lie we tell ourselves and each other to make it look like we're okay. Most people are just holding on to the grind for dear life while trying to figure out a way to not be consumed by the perpetual absurdity of human existence.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Enslaving yourself to projected secondhand expectations will never help you with anything. Know what you truly want and how much you want it, then you can start thinking about how to achieve it.
Believe me, I know. I had it backwards for far too long.