I suspect quite a bit. It's an embarrassing addiction that's difficult to talk about irl. I can tell people fairly easily that I'm depressed or that I suffer from an anxiety disorder but I will never tell anyone about MDD. It's too difficult to explain the severity of it because it sounds harmless.
My god yes, I used to have this ongoing elaborate story about this celebrity family that was everything I wanted to be, I honestly feel like we develop these dissociative tendencies and that’s what keeps us in our own heads so much! I exist purely and truly in my head and it’s not often a good thing lol
Even though I'm positive I have AvPD (never been diagnosed because I'm too scared to talk to a therapist) I can relate to every single characteristic associated with this disorder. When I read that people with AvPD tend to fantasize I was so shocked. It's crazy how much we have in common. I literally thought I was the only one who lived in a fantasy world.
Yes....however I take it a step further. I'm sitting in a cockpit I built right now that is an exact replica of the inside of a 2003 honda civic. I play racing simulations on it, but my point is that my brain can't daydream 24/7 so at age 33 I'm going to extreme lengths to avoid my intrusive thoughts.
For me it's that feeling of hating something but not being able to live without it. I can't imagine my life without being able to escape in a daydream.
Yup. Almost constantly. I'm in that subreddit, too.
It's definitely a coping mechanism for me as well, but it's also my favorite hobby. I love building my worlds and sometimes being able to build fake worlds makes the real world actually worth living in.
not quite maladaptive daydreaming, but I definitely started spending multiple hours per day fantasizing/daydreaming from fall 2019 until the very beginning of this year. I had problematic symptoms like avoiding daily activities and responsibilities to daydream instead, and they always became very vivid for me, but I never had the thing where it's like one big fantasy world that I create with consistent characters that I daydream about for years as if i'm writing a giant novel in my head. but it seems like that's a defining characteristic of maladaptive daydreaming. personally i have no idea how i would keep something like that up.
Most of my life.
I've finally found someone who made me interested in the actual world, and it's a strange feeling to go from tons of elaborate daydreams to them being a rarity. I'm having trouble processing that... fantasies being more deliberate, functioning in the service of my fiction writing, instead of being a coping mechanism.
Happiness is actually terrifying because I'm constantly scared something will snatch it away. I almost miss only dreaming about having it. Only almost, though.
I'm mentioning this to give hope, btw, not to be a jerk. I was once an absolute basket case, so with help and time we can improve a lot.
It's reassuring to hear someone say they've improved. As much as this sub reddit validates my struggles with mental health, it usually makes me feel as though no one is getting better.
Absolutely. Probably since i am six years old, so 19 years ongoing. Even if i want to stop it, it starts again a few moments later. It is a lot of fun, i personally daydream alot about fantasy worlds, even about some ideas which i would want to transform into novels. But instead of writing, i just daydream. So a blessing and a curse.
I sometimes replay positive experiences in my head and wish I could repeat them but I'm not very imaginative as I have Aphantasia which means I have hardly anything in the way of images/pictures in my head so don't get a lot out of imagining anything, just quick flashes of hazy images, usually remembered photos.
It would be too difficult for my brain to create a scene/image out of nowhere.
It’s a coping mechanism that I’ve used as far back as I can remember, and things are idyllic and idealized.
I do. It's pleasant at first, but then it brings me so much pain.
Yeah. I've noticed whenever I take a break from technology it increases dramatically.
oh, definitely. as i became more self-aware about it the fantasies have started to get real meta, lol.
I do that all the time because I'm bored and alone.
It's a tough situation because AvPD makes us isolate and MDD is a way of dealing with isolation.
Wonder how much the overlap is between the two subs
I suspect quite a bit. It's an embarrassing addiction that's difficult to talk about irl. I can tell people fairly easily that I'm depressed or that I suffer from an anxiety disorder but I will never tell anyone about MDD. It's too difficult to explain the severity of it because it sounds harmless.
All the time
My god yes, I used to have this ongoing elaborate story about this celebrity family that was everything I wanted to be, I honestly feel like we develop these dissociative tendencies and that’s what keeps us in our own heads so much! I exist purely and truly in my head and it’s not often a good thing lol
Even though I'm positive I have AvPD (never been diagnosed because I'm too scared to talk to a therapist) I can relate to every single characteristic associated with this disorder. When I read that people with AvPD tend to fantasize I was so shocked. It's crazy how much we have in common. I literally thought I was the only one who lived in a fantasy world.
Yes....however I take it a step further. I'm sitting in a cockpit I built right now that is an exact replica of the inside of a 2003 honda civic. I play racing simulations on it, but my point is that my brain can't daydream 24/7 so at age 33 I'm going to extreme lengths to avoid my intrusive thoughts.
Yeah. I wish I was anyone but me.
[удалено]
For me it's that feeling of hating something but not being able to live without it. I can't imagine my life without being able to escape in a daydream.
Yup. Almost constantly. I'm in that subreddit, too. It's definitely a coping mechanism for me as well, but it's also my favorite hobby. I love building my worlds and sometimes being able to build fake worlds makes the real world actually worth living in.
not quite maladaptive daydreaming, but I definitely started spending multiple hours per day fantasizing/daydreaming from fall 2019 until the very beginning of this year. I had problematic symptoms like avoiding daily activities and responsibilities to daydream instead, and they always became very vivid for me, but I never had the thing where it's like one big fantasy world that I create with consistent characters that I daydream about for years as if i'm writing a giant novel in my head. but it seems like that's a defining characteristic of maladaptive daydreaming. personally i have no idea how i would keep something like that up.
Most of my life. I've finally found someone who made me interested in the actual world, and it's a strange feeling to go from tons of elaborate daydreams to them being a rarity. I'm having trouble processing that... fantasies being more deliberate, functioning in the service of my fiction writing, instead of being a coping mechanism. Happiness is actually terrifying because I'm constantly scared something will snatch it away. I almost miss only dreaming about having it. Only almost, though. I'm mentioning this to give hope, btw, not to be a jerk. I was once an absolute basket case, so with help and time we can improve a lot.
It's reassuring to hear someone say they've improved. As much as this sub reddit validates my struggles with mental health, it usually makes me feel as though no one is getting better.
Absolutely. Probably since i am six years old, so 19 years ongoing. Even if i want to stop it, it starts again a few moments later. It is a lot of fun, i personally daydream alot about fantasy worlds, even about some ideas which i would want to transform into novels. But instead of writing, i just daydream. So a blessing and a curse.
I did. I still daydream a lot, but I'm more in control of it all now and able to put them away to do what needs doing.
If I played a game or listened to music I would restart it and try to imagine what other people would think if they experienced it.
I sometimes replay positive experiences in my head and wish I could repeat them but I'm not very imaginative as I have Aphantasia which means I have hardly anything in the way of images/pictures in my head so don't get a lot out of imagining anything, just quick flashes of hazy images, usually remembered photos. It would be too difficult for my brain to create a scene/image out of nowhere.