Maladaptive daydreaming?

So, for the longest time psychologists couldn't determine what was wrong with me. ADHD? Bipolar? I'm pretty sure I just diagnosed myself, with no thanks to years of psychologists. I fit the bill exactly, to a T.

Has anyone else heard of this? How can I benefit from therapy when psychologists haven't even heard of it? I want to fix this but I would really like help...Any suggestions?

I have this, have had it for years now. I used to use it for daydreaming about negative things while I was depressed (self-injury and suicide), but now I use it to make up stories inside my head. When I told my therapist about it, she said that as long as it doesn't interfere with my life, and it makes me feel better, then she sees nothing wrong with it. I am glad, because I enjoy it.

I have found that for me, I do my daydreaming best when I'm listening to music, rocking on the couch. By rocking on the couch, I mean that I sit on the couch, and rock the upper part of my body forward and backward while sitting, alternating between coming forward and then hitting the couch with my back again. I have been doing this since I was a kid, and it makes the daydreaming SO much better. I have always listened to music while rocking on the couch, I love it. ^.^

Daydreaming can be a good way to try things and see if you think you would enjoy doing them in person, for real. They can help you to feel better now and when you feel better you are more capable and confident in dealing with stresses in your life. But mostly, I have found that when I just sit and ask myself what it is I want to have in my life I come up blank ... but by encouraging daydreaming I can find things I want to do or have, and at some point soon I think I will finally be able to write down both short term and long term goals. Then I can have something to look at every day to help motivate me to move forward. So I see daydreaming as a good thing, depending on what you choose to do with it.

You control what you day dream about, it's your fantasies. If you are thinking/day dreaming about things that don't "help" you do better in life and get what you "want" (imagining being a movie star, for example), that's pretty much a waste of time? It's okay for a minute or two but if you are doing a lot of day dreaming and most of it isn't useful or gets in the way of your "normal" day (i.e., you aren't paying attention at work or in the classroom, aren't getting your homework or work work done, etc.) then that isn't good?

Here's a good list of articles, some of which might give you ideas how you "change" your daydreaming over so it helps rather than hurts you?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...er-daydreaming

Right, the daydreaming has been a method of escape. I don't think I could write much about my daydreams, they are mostly delusions of grandeur type daydreams. Dance routines or "hearing music intensely" are the alternatives to a lesser extent. Sometimes I'm playing around with the kind of person I would like to be, but they are often end in delusions of grandeur type things again.

It's kind of like doing drugs without the drugs. I can do it for hours. I pace back and fourth, usually to music. It started for me as a child in response to various kinds of stress and difficulty in coping with depression at a young age. I was a poor student and struggled to socialize, I had endless family troubles. Its hard to know how to cultivate my imagination for good things. But for the most part, I do it when I feel anxious or depressed, and then don't get things done that I should. But you guys are right, I should work on manipulating them to be more useful rather than get rid of the habit completely. I'll check out the link.

Wow. Never knew there was a name for it. Interesting.
But I've done it my whole life.

I think a lot of people do this to some extent. I do it all the time and it didn't start bothering me till recently. Gets annoying

I guess it is down to your mood. you'd have got to check out what was different. I can fall under an altered state really easily - I've DID and daydreams-r-us. I pracised to mesmerise at the drop of a hat sometimes to but there's to be a clear route through, whenever there is a greater trigger to stick alert, then it dominates.

I bought a book a few months ago by a well known figure in western Buddhism called "The attention Revolution, unlocking the power of the focused mind." I finally opened it in response to this problem, I hope it balances me out!!

I am day dreaming since i was a kid. I did the same leaning backward and forward thing. Never had any problem with that until i got stressed last dec due to some family problems. Now i am dreaming all thr negative things like imagining fights with my bf and many more horrible things. Things that triggers this thing are stress and some bad things done or said by people to me. Now i am not able to control this thing. Please tell me if anyone has a solution to this coz these negative things are killing me from inside. Please help

Yes, I've heard of this. I believe I've had this since I was about four. I had imaginary friends then and I would daydream a lot, believing they were always right there beside me. I gave them names, lives, homes, worlds, etc. It helps me to escape from my life and the pain. I still do this because it keeps me sane and also it's become addicting. It's an obsession that I no longer have any control of, but I wouldn't want it to stop. If it did I don't think I'd be able to live on. Also, it's been a huge inspiration, giving me ideas to write interesting stories.

I don't have any solutions though. Sorry.

Interesting! I have had this all my life. I feel it's part of disassociation for me where I space out. I find mindfulness an excellent tool to keep me in what I'm doing in the present.

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I have this. after a lot of struggle i got to know that i have this. I always imagine negative things and it hurts me a lot. please tell me if someone has the solution to it

i have found day-dreaming to be very helpful, insightful, and an excellent coping mechanism when i am overwhelmed. letting the mind run free and watching where it goes, or gently leading it into exploring new behaviors, is a good thing, in my opinion.

too often someone else is trying to tell me how much time i get to take care of myself. sorry me if i listen to that~! if you label what you are experiencing as negative, how can you use it to help yourself ? look at it for what it is, an honest report by your own mind on it's condition. then use self-soothing skills, or change your external environment, or your meds, or something that actually benefits the destructive thoughts and emotions you are having.

there is a post in the Emotions forum on Self-Soothing Skills.
http://forums.psychcentral.com/copin...whelming~.html

best wishes~
Gus

When you daydream, do you make up dialogue sometimes? Like you are creating dialogue for both parties in a conversation or confrontation, you being one of the participants? If so, do you "rehearse" it several times, making up better dialogue for yourself, making it an even more real experience? I do this.

Yes, I make up dialogue, for both myself and the other person I'm daydreaming of. I wouldn't exactly call it "rehearsing", but more of an obsessive compulsion to get it exactly right and sound right. I'm not a perfectionist, but I make sure the dialogue makes sense.

But the rehearsing thing...Now that's giving me ideas. xD

I used the word "rehearse" cause there was a time in my life, a time of high anxiety and paralyzing social phobia, when I did rehearse what I was going to say, when I saw a conversation on the horizon. So when the time came, I could depend on reciting my lines, while the better part of my mind was occupied with steadying myself. I was probably more than a bit of a bore, and it was Hell on any sense of spontaneity or true conversational exchange. But it got me though a tough period. That's in the past. But on occasion, I still make up and revise dialogue in my head, (playing both parts). It usually happens in anticipation of a somewhat fraught interaction.

I see. I'm sorry to hear that. I think conversation becomes paralyzing for me when I have to attend job interviews, which I find myself hoping never happens (which is illogical because I need a job). But I couldn't do that though. I can't time or "see" a conversation coming. I mean, sometimes I can, but I can't react fast enough. I can't rehearse right then and there. My mind goes blank on me. There is no thinking, there is no processing, there's no anything. Everything just shuts down and I'm doing the classic stare with my mouth gaped open as if I just witnessed some horrible event.