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Originally Posted by FluffyDinosaur
I do daydream quite a lot and quite intensely. Often it gets to the point where I dissociate and zone out for up to a few hours. I always experience this but it might be more pronounced during episodes, I'm not sure, I've never paid attention to that. What I do know is that the themes are episode-related. The "daydreams" can be more like nightmares when I'm depressed/mixed.
Often my daydreams are like an alternative reality to me. I have whole conversations with people in my head, and I'm closer to people that I like but am unable to reach out to in real life. It can be painful to go back to the real world and realize that's all a fantasy.
It's interesting to see that many other people here have similar experiences. Next to my bipolar diagnosis I have "schizoid features" and depersonalization/derealization, so I always assumed the daydreaming was related to that.
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Thanks for sharing on this topic, FluffyDinosaur! I could really relate to your description of your more intense daydreams.
The majority of my past intense daydreams included things that I lack in life, but wish I had. It's odd how during that daydreaming period, I felt I had them. It wasn't like when I "came to", so to speak, that I grieved not having them because of the daydreams.
I really do think that my period of maladaptive daydreaming was a result of grieving and a not so perfect attempt to heal from a period of trauma.
I know there is a line between healthy daydreaming and not so healthy. In my case, it was not so very different than a self-medication. I've self-medicated with various things over my life, many unhealthy things/actions. Even though I acknowledge that, it's still difficult to stop the tendency.