Daydreamers

Are there any maladaptive daydreamers around?

I've been a daydreamer since early childhood. I'ld say it's maladaptive in that, at times, I'm not as present to what's going on around me and what I'm in the middle of doing, as I ought to be. This was quite a problem during the first few years that I was driving a car.

But I find ways to compensate. Like I always set a timer, if I've got something heating up on the stove. In general though, I've always liked having an inner world of my own that I can retreat to.

Im definitely a daydreaming ive been this way since a child. I have lost time when I come to everything is different and im kinda lost. While in school I would go into a daydream while the teacher was speaking and come out everyone was doing the assignment and I was lost.

I find it problematic as it I would much rather live in my mind and get lost there.

I'm a daydreamer as well and have had it be problematic in the past, since I'd rather daydream than do what needed to be done.

yes there are many here on psych central with this. here in the USA short version maladaptive daydreaming is a common symptom of mental disorders that have psychotic symptoms. psychotic symptoms are things like being out of touch with reality, not being able to tell what is real and what isnt. hallucinations and delusions. you might find people with this in the schizophrenia type mental disorder boards.

before may 2013 maladaptive dreaming used to be also part of dissociative problems but due to new diagnostic criteria concerning dissociative problems can not be because of fantasy \ play\ ....maladaptive daydreaming (excessive daydreaming) has been removed as a dissociative symptom. short version when someone is daydreaming to this extreme, they are engaging in fantasy thoughts, fantasy role playing on a mental level.

I sometimes slip into excessive daydreaming, most times out of stress or boredom. I have learned to control this through medication for my anxiety\stress and through the use of yoga and other physical activities when I find that I have slipped into excessively day dreaming.

My day dreaming occurs mostly as I lay in bed desperate to fall asleep. In some cases I will while away hrs daydreaming.

You sound like me. I do it very often when I'm trying to get to sleep.

i first started 'day-dreaming' when i still had OCD thoughts,, manic episodes, etc. where my mind would not sit still. i began meditating and realized that this was an actual 'uncontrollable phenomena. then i decided that if i had to have thoughts, i should at least get something out of it.

i began imagining i was building houses; i would go into great detail about digging the foundations, laying the piping, etc. (in which i have a degree and some experience), right up to the landscaping and interior decorating. i was quite fond of some of those houses when they were done.

what i didn't actually understand until much later is that this type of focused day-dreaming is very much like meditation, which is a way of focusing the mind and gaining control over one's thoughts. well, not so much 'control over' and directing them in the ways they should go. eventually, i discovered that the 'extras', or the un-directed things that arose in my day-dreams were often indicative of what i was experiencing subliminally, emotionally, or non-verbally~!

this has proven to be a great help in monitoring myself and releasing otherwise pent-up emotions and exploring old ways of thinking and new.
i actually recommend this type of intentional day-dreaming to others, few of whom seem to understand the value of 'non-judgemental viewing' of one's own thoughts~!

i hope those of you who are finding the 'daydreaming' to be intrusive, can turn it to your advantage, gaining skill in focus and mindfulness, and all the other benefits of meditation. best wishes~~
Gus

I agree about the meditative aspect of daydreaming, and you're very right about the idea of using daydreaming to train your brain. Mindfulness is a skill everyone ought to work on.

This book helped me enormously: http://www.amazon.com/Daydreaming-Un...dp/0965621510/

Full-time daydreamer. I rarely dream at night, or least not that I can remember. But, in the day or while I am awake, I tend to daydream often and get lost in my thoughts, which can be both a good or bad thing..depending on what I am daydreaming about.

I haven't had many daydreams since one of my friends died.

Why is it bad to daydream? I feel like crap right now. Is this normal and life is supposed to be like this? No way!

Ya trip n I'm just one of them. I don't remember when I exactly started doing it BT now it seems to have become a part of my life and its troubling me badly...

i love daydreaming but don't think the amount of time i do it is healthy. my teachers noticed it in high school and told my parents. especially if i'm listening to music it happens more and i listen to music as much as i am able all day.

Maladaptive in what sense? I daydream all day everyday.

I am one. I watch a lot of anime. I download the sound tracks and imagine I'm living in that world as the music plays through my headphones.

It helps me forget about my anxiety, POTs, fibromyalgia and other stresses before I go to bed.

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Ddying is a talent... not all can.. gut it becomes maladaptive when u live ur dds...
U can find about more about it on web by typing MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING...
U can test whether u r one of them or not by taking a simple test

I'm not sure about you others but my frequency of daydreaming is directly connected to periods of depression or struggle with an unhappy situation. Conversely, the more stable or happy I am the less I daydream. The same goes for the scenarios I daydream about. They have a strong connection to the scenarios playing out in my life.

(Someone above mentioned getting absorbed enough to forget things like food on a hot stove. I too experience this and set myself timers and other reminders about such things)

I have a strong feeling that dds have some or the other connection to r hormonal balance... I too did more when I'm sad.. but again then I also did when I'm too excited n my energy level is high....while drying I sometimes experience some hormonal changes going within me... I have a feeling that the thought processes in our mind have relation to our hormones.. whether it is accepted or not...

I started daydreaming since I was 7 or 8 years old. I remember I used to ran around the house when I daydreamed. Then, when I'm in my teenage years, I shifted to music, I can stay still and daydreamed without much moving. Lately, I began to dance, like everytime I daydreamed I need to dance it while listening to music. It interferes my daily life, because everytime I started to daydreamed, I need at least 2 hours before I can stop, sometimes it's up to 4 hours. I get tired easily because lack of sleep and dancing is very energy consuming. I want to stop daydreaming but I have attachment to the characters in my head, and I'll get lonely if I don't 'interact' with them even though I interact with real people like friends, colleagues, families a lot.

Are you me? But with dancing instead of pacing?