Do I possibly have Maladaptive Daydreams?

I never talk about it with anyone - not even my lovely, omnipotent cat. However, since I was approximately ten years old I have constantly daydreamed and fantasized about fictional worlds and characters. I spend several hours each day doing nothing but daydreaming. Although my social skills are somewhat strange, mostly involving hissing at random strangers at various intervals for no particular reason, I still have plenty of friends. Unlike what Maladaptive Daydream Disorder usually suggests, I do not have any particularly abnormal social dysfunctions, although I am naturally introverted.

I am always thinking of one fantasy world in particular which seems oddly real. If I were to choose between this one and that one, I would gladly accept the fantasy world. The more I think about it the more I wish for it. I cannot stop thinking about it.

Hello, hamasnk358, and welcome to Psych Central! I am no expert on this matter, but I am concerned for you. I encourage you to see a professional and get officially evaluated. I guess what concerns me the most is the hissing at people and that you are now beginning to prefer your fantasy world.

What do others think?

I'm like this a lot, too, to be honest... I love reading stories, fanfiction, and pretty much any kind of fiction, and then picturing myself in that world, and how amazing it would be if it were real. I daydream putting myself in a character's shoes.

It used to be really bad, actually... I could hardly stand not being able to daydream for at least a couple of hours every day... Now, I can handle myself without it, and some days I even forget about it for an entire 24 hours (anytime that happens, I'm amazed when I realize the next day). But, I still daydream myself to sleep every night... Most of the time I accompany it with music. It just helps me get into the mood.

My social life isn't necessarily impaired by this, either, but I'd still rather not be around people for long periods of time. I enjoy being by myself much more.

Whether you should be concerned about this or not, I would say depends on how much affects your every-day life. With me, it affected my life horribly for a couple of years, before I learned to balance it out to where I could do it freely without interruption, and it wouldn't affect me during the day (which is why I usually daydream myself to sleep, now).

If it doesn't really adversely affect your everyday life too much, I honestly wouldn't be too concerned about it... but if you're worried because you do it so much, perhaps you'll be like me, where it dies down a bit after awhile.

Honestly, talking to a therapist would probably be a good idea. I wouldn't know, because I don't have access to one, but they seem to help a lot of people.

I don't know how much this'll help you, but... at least you know you're not the only one. To be honest, I didn't even know there was a name for extremely excessive daydreaming... but it makes sense.

You cannot be two places at once. If you are spending time in a non-existant space, you aren't "here" where your body is so, yes, that would be pretty much the definition of maladaptive? Everyone daydreams and the daydreams in themselves are not maladaptive if they help you live your actual life better.

Oh, the hissing is nothing. I just do that because I love cats.

Oh, okay, so you mean it as humor, in a way. I like cats, too. There are people I would like to hiss at occasionally. Some people write "Grr" when they are unhappy with something. You, I think, would likely write "hiss."

Come to think of it, I sometimes say, "Boo, hiss" when I don't like something!

I so much prefer the expression day dream to fantasize. However, the only time I broached the subject with a T he called day dreams fantasy. I spend my only happy hours in my day dreams, but now I'm so depressed that I have lost the ability to day dream, let alone be happy there.

I started day dreaming because I have trouble making friends, in the past these other lives have been so real for me that I spoke out loud during conversations while day dreaming.

If day dreaming puts you at risk of harm or neglect then it may be a problem, but if it keeps you safe and happy then OK, but don't get your other worlds and this one mixed up and don't disconnect from real life entirely.