I've had this since Kindergarten. I'm in 8th grade, going to high school soon and I was today years old when I finally found out I wasn't crazy and just had Maladaptive Daydreaming
I’ve had this since I got imaginary friends in my childhood. They’re still by my side and I’m 26, and I always thought that I was going insane and never wanted to talk about this with anyone because I thought that my mental parallel universe was just madness, but just today I found out that it has a name and that I’m not the only one who has it… 😮
Does anyone else get really sad when you’re daydreaming a story you like and all of a sudden something sparks a new daydream with a different story and now you can’t go back to the old one because you keep thinking about the new one?
yeah!! i understand that so so much! i hate it all so much that i get so frustrated and i fall asleep 😂 i just found out about maladaptive daydreaming from yt recommendations and i finally feel safe. everyone got confused whenever i entered my "dreaming zone". yt was tryna tell me something lol
It happen with me. I remember when I was 12 year old I love to daydream about my college life and bf but now even I want to do that I can't. Right now I'm prime minister of my country.
I used to vigorously rock back and forth. It was also weird when people walked in because I looked possessed. I only stopped because I noticed the rocking affecting my back.
oh my gosh i used to walk around in circles around my kitchen island and my sister walked in on me doing it cause my footsteps were too loud and i was so embarrassed when she asked me what i was doing 😭
that or i'm walking down the street mouthing my daydream dialogue/mirroring my characters' breathing (idk if other people do this too but for me i have a lot of physical hurt/comfort scenes, like someone dying on a battlefield in the arms of their lover type thing and i cannot for the life of me imagine those realistically unless i myself am breathing like someone choking on their own blood💀 it's embarrassing lmao) and then someone passes me and i cringe so hard from them having seen/heard that😭
@@darkacadpresenceinbloodyo are y a girl cuz i did this before to walking down the street when i was 16 in 2021 and these girls were laughing at me i was so embarrassed n when i snapped out of it i screamed i hate it fr
When y’all are playing out your scenes, do you have to find the perfect song, and get annoyed when you can’t find something that fits the energy of the scene. I will stand there looking through all my songs. 🤣
Daydreaming is almost kind of ritual for me before going to bed. I switch off the lights and start creating scenarios that is never gonna happen in real life. It kind of slows down my system and help me sleep. Edit: I've never ever thought that there would b 5k PPL out there doing the same thing...I thought I was the only one doing this😂...tysm for all the likes❤️
You know, I never realized how unsettling this might look from an outsiders perspective. When I did this in front of my family, my mom just let me do it because I was a creative kid. I still do this as an adult but in private because of the awkwardness I feel having others around seeing me do it.
@@shylapollard5165 I usually play the most emotional part of the music- towards the end- over and over. My therapist said maladaptive daydreaming is sometimes related to ADHD, which I have, but I always felt it was related to my OCD because of the way I repeat it.
Omg haha! Just want to share this,pacing makes my legs a little bit slim and toned. I always wonder why my lower body is a little slimmer than my upper but I realized that it's my daily pacing lmaooo. I also wonder how many steps we get everyday from pacing
My parents always wonder how I get 10,000 steps a day when i have school and have to sit down at a computer all day... Some days i can get up to 20,000, i mean its a pretty good workout
same hahahhaha i just there like :D and laughing when something's funny, and sometimes i realise it is the happiest i ever feel on a day. that's why it is so difficult to stop, i'd just take the thing that actually makes me happy and excited away and leave only the emptiness underneath it lolol
I’m more happy being in this state to be honest. I know psychologist would say differently but fuck em. I’ve been doing this years and it relieves the stress that i’m facing in daily social life and work life. I’m so happy that i’m not alone doing this. Sometimes i got caught by a few people when im in knee deep in my MDD while doing my work asking me if i’m ok coz they caught me muttering or my expression change suddenly when i just doing some boring worksheet. 😂
@@LiviaVengence yess. The fact that it relieves your stress and that no other activity would make you as happy as this ( irrespective of what others think about you, personally its a very big stress buster )
I feel the most validated and understood that I've felt my entire life, 15 years of struggling through this shit. We need to come out of this and take control of our lives no matter how addicting MD is.. It's gonna be difficult tho, since MD isn't even recognized as an actual condition. My support to everyone struggling through this, we will make it.
I would say don't fight it, ever since I was a kid and watched The Mummy I started doing it at age 5 and, the power to see vivid images, can lead to creating stories and filmmaking and that's what I decided to do. Then again is difficult and I do see it as a curse, yet a gift, watch a film like Birdman or the irishman and then try to recreate your own with the music in the film and you will discovered a whole new world
this video and comment section is so validating for me. i’ve dealt with maladaptive daydreaming for literally my whole life. i don’t remember how it started, but i know it was very early on. over time it became my number one coping mechanism, and it remains that way to this day. it gets in the way of my daily functionality, but it’s still the thing that calms and soothes me the most. only one person in my life knows i do it, so it can get isolating at times. i hope everyone here is okay ♡︎
Same. I remember being yelled at in school (5th grade?), "You've gotta stop day-dreaming! You can't dream your life away!" I should've asked if they ever wondered why. It was because I was BORED. I should've been in more difficult classes!
omg yes i will get up at 4 in the morning and pace/daydream downstairs then in between my classes i pace/daydream and then after school i pace/daydream. its affecting my school work but i literally cannot stop
@@sarcasticrayofsunshine75 woww that sounds bad. But there are definitely some things that help like actually setting time aside for it and knowing what triggers it (for me it's definitely music, I'll listen to music and there is no way I won't start daydreaming)
I got caught daydreaming by my aunt, and she told the entire family that I am "crazy" and that I talk to myself. I was so embarrassed and hurt, to say the least.
My family knows that I do this (although I dont think they know its a mental illness) and my mum told my aunt and uncle because they were joking about swapping me with one of their kids and I felt so embarrassed
@@Shafeek258 well maladaptive daydreaming is termed as a disorder but after further research I found out im actually an immersive daydreamer which is the same as md except md is when it starts causing problems in your life
@@yes_noa sorry if that sounded like i stopped daydreaming. I never really started. There have been times where my mind would wander and go to places like that. But I would just tell myself no like when you have to slap food from a dog's mouth when it's eating something that it shouldn't be eating.
Does anyone else “act out” their daydreams? I’ll put my earbuds in and act out my scenarios. I’ll pretend I’m having conversations with people, pretend I’m working etc. I would be devastated if anyone actually saw me. They’d wonder what the heck I was doing! I’m so thankful I found this video. Ive wondered for years if something was wrong with me. I’m 44 and I’ve never told anyone about this.
I do that! I'm 19, sometimes I just talk or act out my scenarios when I"m getting ready or alone. Usually acting out as fictional characters I make and when people walked into me doing that I'd be so surprised and scared that they'll think I'm crazy bc none of my family members do that
It’s really awesome that I found this video. I never knew there were others like me! There’s a whole community of people with this. It makes me feel not so alone!
As a person who has Maladaptive Daydreaming I really admire you for having the courage to film while you're daydreaming. Because I know how complicated and embarrassing this can be. But one day we will win this, I'm sure it will. We are strong! ❤️
Maladaptive daydream is scarry for me, i am maladadaptive daydreamer and i never know it was called that until a mount ago. I hate my daydreaming because i cannot let it stop, when i daydream i just walk around my house and my mouth is look like speaking but doest have sound, the sound is just in my head. I think my daydream trigger is when i get jealous or I want to have a conversation with someone but can't and when i read some fictional story, its weird but i remember that one day, i mean a lot, when I randomly watch a new show or read a manga or manhwa, novel and suddenly get up from sitting and unconsciously walk around the house just to day dream. I'm in first year of high school and I know I have to start getting serious about my education but this daydream is torturous and at the same time a place where I can be free to be anyone and everything i want to be like, adventurers in fantasy worlds, romance stories, life dramas and others. My chest feels strange when i realize it just a dream, I know this is just a fictional story, I can never be them in the real world but in my dreams I can be them, in the end this is just a way for me to escape from my useless self. If anyone reads my comment, please pray that I can recover and one day be able to get a decent job and be part of society, thank you.
I have the same triggers that you have. I found one of the root cause for my daydream is the feeling of powerlessness. I had kind of a traumatic childhood where I felt completely powerless and some of that transform to my daydreaming. Daydreaming gives me complete control over everything vs reality where I feel I have no control over anything. I have to keep saying to myself “I’m NOT powerless” over and over when i start to slip. There’s a lot of other reasons why I daydream but that’s just one realization that God has help me to see. I’ll pray for you. Keep fighting. God bless you. ❤️
OMG I DO THE SAME I will literally put headphones in and act out a scenario based off of the mood of the song and play it all out in front of my mirror
I like to just lay down and close my eyes so i can enjoy the scenarios i creat. Im not sure i have this yet, but i feel like i do. Anyways, its good to meet others who do the same thing
This entire place is so comforting... Living "in my own world" has always been the only way to make me genuinely happy, and currently is my main source of entertainment. I can't imagine my life without this. It feels good to not feel insane.
I'm also a maladaptive daydreamer. This is very accurate. Sometimes I just sit in my room and talk to myself for hours. I can't pay attention in school beacuse of my constant daydreaming. It's pretty tough. But I hope you know that you are NOT alone! Sending love and hugs! ❤
I always wonder what my parents think when they barge into my room and I'm just randomly standing in the middle of the room without any objective, just kind of looking embarrassed. Also, my furniture arrangement was always kinda weird/unpretty bc I just tried to get the most walking space out of it as possible
So true I just discovered I have this maladative issue I have been asking myself what's wrong with Mr like it's so embarassing when u get caught off-guard by a family member talking to yourself or laughing to yourself and it has affected my social life so much I rather stay in my imagination than be with friends. It had bothered me so much that I had to Google my experiences and then came to TH-cam and saw these videos am in tears right now and it also causes me anxiety attacks a times and so minore depression and the feeling of loneliness of wanting to escape this particular space but the next second am imagining shit again
wow, so relatable. When I was younger I always paniked when my mom came into the room and I tried to get the first objects that I found, to not look so "weird" ._. But that only happend when she knocked on my door.
@@KiddAndy17 me too. when She Came back again I still had to put away my 5 pieces of laundry that i already had in my hands when she came into my room 3h ago. Lol
bruh, i mouth my words when i daydream, like i pretend someone is actually there. i even laugh for long periods of time, pretending someone made me laugh, and when i come to realization that they’re not real, i get this wave of sadness lmao 🧍♀️
Yep. It's funny because I don't think I've ever had sounds come out of my mouth when Daydreaming. It's definitely an unconscious thing. But there are times when random squeaks will escape because the dialogue I'm mouthing gets too intense or passionate and rather than words or full sentences sounds come out that make it sound like I'm struggling to speak but really it's just the words are stuck in my head and rarely make it past my vocal cords.
This makes me want to tear up up. I cannot explain how good it feels to see so many other people experiencing the same thing, and I'm sure many other people feel the same. I remember my daydreams being so much more alive and real than the average person's. I remember Googling this years ago and finding almost little to nothing about this topic. I think the one thing I actually found was someone talking about the movie Sucker Punch, and asking if that was technically maladaptive daydreaming. I am so glad to see all the videos, articles, comments, and research on this disorder finally being documented. I've never told anyone this. I wish TH-cam came with group chats so I could make friends with some of you. ❤
ive been doing this through my teens and early 20s, never had a clue it wasnt normal, until today i searched it up on a whim, and welp now i know i gotta stop
Been doing every since I was a little girl. Didn’t realize anything was wrong until I had kids and bigger responsibilities that needed my attention . When it was interfering with me just getting out of bed. I knew it was a issue.
She’s not vulnerable. This is completely healthy and a good form of exercising. It activates your “runners high” ability (google it). Sooo yeah she’s not vulnerable. If you disagree genuinely try walking around while listening to music and then respond to me.
I can’t be the only one who just watches some random show then randomly gets up and acting out a scene from my head. It isn’t necessarily a human scene more like fantasy scenarios. I have specific characters I daydream about. I’m still not sure if I have maladaptive daydreaming. Just glad I’m not the only one who does this.
The problem is it's so addictive. When I am anxious, deppressed or triggered I don't want to stop 😭 because it helps me escape. My favorite time to do it is when I am dancing and before bed.
However since I don’t want to self diagnose, this is just what I think I MIGHT have. If anyone can help me confirm that’d be appreciated. I do pace and daydream in my room often, and what I feel as I do that is very real. I cry, I laugh, I speak to myself, I feel like screaming sometimes when there’s an intense scene (I don’t since in the back of my mind I know my family is in the house and I don’t wanna look or sound crazy) I daydream in class, when I’m with my friends or family, and even when I’m driving (I’m still aware enough to not get into an accident but admittedly my senses are much more closed off) if anyone can help me figure out if I have this or just something similar…please respond to this. Or if anyone has any idea of how I can get this confirmed by a professional even if it’s not a condition that can be diagnosed yet.
there is a difference between daydreaming and maladaptive daydreaming. You do daydream a lot, same as me. But lot of people daydreams, the majority of children. There is only an issue if you want to stop it and you fail to do it, if the bads outweight he goods, then you need to consult a therapist that will help you to treat it. In your brain, the reason why you can't stop it alone, is because you are addicted to dopamine. Since you are a heavy dreamer, it is likely you have too much addiction to stop it by yourself. You may need external help. Try to do daily mindfullness meditations and see if you can last long without daydreaming. If there is no progression, you need help.
I see how she avoids the mirror cause in some cases looking at the mirror will destroy the fantasizing of being in a different place, this is very accurate thank you for being open
The mirror reminds people that they look awkward (TROMPING SHOULD NEVER BE EMBARRASSING!!) And so people hate being reminded that, yes, to tromp, you must move your body BUT no one should feel embarrassed about it. Nobody. :)
i actually cant focus if I dont see myself in the mirror(? like, being honest I didn't even know this was a thing, i always did it for fun or sometimes I NEED to do it. most of the times that i do this is me daydreaming about something that I really like or I'm obsessed with, most of the time is with me being the main character, and I dont know if this is something bad or if i have a problem but it makes me feel okay (except if there is people in my room, I'm not comfortable doing this with people around)
wow i do this a lot. even something as little as my own shadow can completely ruin the daydream bc i’m usually wearing completely different clothes with a completely different hairstyle when i’m doing it 🤧
For me i daydream about me beeing cool in front of others i know its because i been treated dumb by others cus i lack social skills so try to prove them wrong.
I never change my character, it’s always just the real me but a better version. Because at the end of it all I would still feel like it’s possible, like it can be reality. I’m currently trying to let it go but it’s so hard😭😭 I notice that I do it everywhere, even in the middle of conversations.
Guess I'm not the only one who paces around their house in a circle, moving their hands while mumbling to themselves and making weird expression for hours.
This is honestly the reason why I wouldn't want to have a significant other because of this habit and the fact that it almost a ritual to do it before bed to wind off.
Tbh if you truly have someone you trust and know they won't judge it doesn't hurt to say anything. With my gf I used to dip off into my living room all the time and she thought it was cause I didn't want to be around her. I then just told her I like to pace around the house cause it calms me down. Then eventually about after seven months of dating I just told her what it really is. She was really understanding cause she has panic attacks all the time around me so she kinda felt like she had no place to judge.
im shocked.,. i never heard of anyone that did the same thing, i cant go to sleep if i dont do it. sometimes its almost like im waiting for the time to pass so i can close my door, put my headphones on and just walk around my room and go places in my head
This is one of the reasons why I don’t date. I can pace for hours working through scenarios in my head, pacing or walking in circles. And because I live alone, I’ve gotten in the habit of talking out loud...
Its so depressing, because just after you daydream you hit a point where you realise none of it was real, you get a self-awareness that you did it again although you said you wouldn’t do it. And then all of a sudden you’re back into that endless loop. It doesn’t matter what you do, it just comes and goes.
After my daydream hit me and snaps back to reality, I really felt all of my worries, doubts and insecurities to my self. Like wth, am I not living a good life? Why am I making 'perfect scenarios' that is too good to be true? I am questioning my existence, worth, knowledge, physical comeliness, and attitude 😟
This is so validating, i've always been embarassed and scared of opening up abt my daydreaming because i cant explain how much it impacts my daily life. I spend hours daydreaming and never get anything done and i cant explain why to my parents or friends because they might think im weird or crazy. I admire your bravery for showing this side of yourself, just amazing!
@@nurelarslan7239 i know what you mean, up to this day the ive only ever told one person abt it and i regret ot so much even tho they dont actively say that it's weird i feel like their judging me so much
Literally me but with whispering, gestures, and making expressions then repeating all over and over and then realizing that I look like a crazy person but still going back and repeating daydreaming all over and over and over
@@mvp9 being honest I didn't know this was a thing, because I do it too, I dont really remember when it started, but it makes me feel okay. I remember one time I was talking to myself in English (I'm Hispanic) really loud, acting like I was part of the dream smp (something that I'm obsessed with, other times I daydreaming about different things, it depends on my mood), and I had headphones on so I didn't hear anything, suddenly my father came in and asked me what I was doing, I was SO EMBARRASSED that I told him I was talking to a close friend in English to learn more about the language
I get really active during daydreaming; I bounce on my bed/bounce on things and eventually break stuff. My parents wanted to get me an outside trampoline, but I don't think they realize how embarrassing it would be to daydream outside, I pace back in forth, make weird facial expressions, and mumble/make sounds
It's maladaptive though. I say this as a fellow "entertained" person- at a certain point it's not even enjoyable if it takes over like this, it's life destroying. My real life is a mess and I can't even engage in my hobbies regularly, that's not very entertaining.
Is it maybe due to the fact that you're prioritizing escaping the inevitable when you have to do some chores? If it gets in the way of your hobbies, you probably just enjoy it more than partaking in the actual hobby. Yes, it feels like you haven't done anything afterwards, but the brain usually is stimulated by dopamine to the point where it prioritizes the greater release.
Oh my fucking god. I have bpd and i had no idea this was a thing that other people face too. I thought i was seriously mentally ill for making up imaginary boyfriends and crazy ass situations to escape from reality. At one point, it got so bad that i couldn't concentrate on a five minute conversation without thinking about something else. If anyone has this problem, try repeating what the other person says in your head so you can prevent your mind from drifting off. As far as reading is concerned, take notes and repeat what you're writing in your head. This really helped me. Thanks
I've always been so embarassed that I do this, and a bit part of it is because I'm a lot cooler in my daydreams. I'm calmer, more competent, I move better. I'm usually fantasizing about myself being impossibly awesome and respected by other people, and an imaginary man who is super hot, intelligent and in love with me is usually present, being very impressed. It's cringeworthy. I'll also daydream conversations and I'll physically move to play both or all characters.
@@lghths like I'll be listen ing to something while I'm driving and I'm no longer driving 😂 I'm a fair maiden in a village in western europe or something and thankfully I haven't crashed yet.
Just wanna say this because it really annoys me. This is NOT a condition, it's a form of play. I've been doing this, every single day since the moment I learned to play with toys. I just dont use the toys anymore, I have a strong enough imagination to use characters in my head without the physical object of a toy. I act it out wherever I am, walking to town, lying in bed, doing the dishes and so on. It is not psychosis, it is not hallucinating and it is not a trauma response. We are playing. Winding down, building stories, enjoying music, inspired by a new movie. Passing the time. Saying it is "caught on camera" is silly because she literally, decided to film this, set up the camera, and started doing it by choice. It's not like DID where a switch happens. It's imaginary play. If you are suffering, seek help. Especially if you are suffering enough to pretend or even fully believe that this is a disorder and you're "struggling with it" and it's "getting in the way of your life". That's ridiculous and you need help, real, loving, compassionate help from a good counsellor because you're being really silly and miserable. It's not a disorder. We. Are. Imaginary. Playing.
Bruh lol this really makes me wanna see a therapist... I’m afraid tho :\ if I find out I actually am struggling with these things I wouldn’t know what to do lol
I am trying so hard to figure out what it is I can do. Someone recently told me that it could be paracosm, but maladaptive daydreaming? I don’t think it’s that. For me to focus, I need to be either sitting or laying down, and in most cases, my eyes closed. I’m able to control my dreams, and it is very uncommon for the dreams to actually be in my perspective or about me in general. When I say control, I mean… I am pretty much a “god.” I can control time, observe galaxies/universes, add alternate timelines, create boundaries, alter/erase people’s memories, etc. I can do all this either when I am awake or in - what did they call it? - hypnagogia. Although looking it up, it’s actually hypnopompia. If anyone knows what I have, I would love the info. I could use all the help I can get. I’ve been trying to figure this out for the past five years.
im actually crying while watching this because ive been maladaptive daydreaming for like over a year now and at this point it consumes my entire day. i cant stop doing it. im hiding under my blanket because if not ill start doing it unconsciously. i dont even have to listen to music to daydream it just happens all. the. time. and i seriously don’t know what to do at this point.
In the fourth grade, I don’t have that much friends in school. So I would daydream about the “cool kids” coming over to my house to play Mortal Kombat. I would jump around the bed, walking around the room rubbing my palms together when I daydream.
I feel a bit relieved knowing that there are other people who daydream endlessly as well, and even pace around the room doing so. Personally I sit and stare at nothing for hours and I can never really stop. When I'm doing something that allows for a momentary silence in my head, daydreams eventually erupt and then I'm stuck again. Even in between doing multiple tasks I daydream. These days there has been no lull in my daydreaming. It's honestly ruining me and I feel bad that I can't get out of it especially since some time ago I actually managed to break out of it even if it was only for three days.
Same, I daydream every single day, to the point I can't even tell when it begins. Usually I'm talking to people, and just getting out all the things I've bottled up
Omg, I used to think I was the only one too. For me it started because of bullying and now I still do it even though it stopped . And a week ago I found out it was actually mental illness. How perfect.
I WAS TODAY YEARS OLD WHEN I FOUND OUT THERE’S A NAME FOR WHEN I PACE AROUND MY ROOM BLASTING MUSIC IN MY EARBUDS AND IMAGING MYSELF INTERACTING IN A RANDOM FANDOM UNIVERSE OF MINE EVERYDAY. Literally thought I was the only one, good to know I’m not.
this is a disorder. this is not just fantasizing about another world or whatever. i have it and its horrible, imagine having a job interview and your brain just shuts off. please dont self diagnose this stuff, its tough :(
I got myself really injured while daydreaming and now I m a normal person who doesn't daydream and it costed me my health. It's serious and it must be treated somehow. I meant it
So your telling me everyone doesn’t do this. I do think on a daily basis without knowing it, and when I snap of it I get so mad because I just lost 3 hours of my life just walking around my house and talking to my self...damm
I do the same thing. Would get pissed when literally 5 hours passed and I was only on the second scenario in my head. I’ve calmed down some, but dang it does take a huge chunk out of my day.
Im going crazy Bro I remember I did this at the pool when I was younger and I was talking to myself and then looking at my hands pretending like I was some mythical being that got put in a humans body and my dad caught me and was looking at me so weird
When I daydream I fake to be someone else( a real person or character) and create such complexes plots, I also talk with the other characters as if they are there with me and laugh, have fun and even cry..I feel emotions towards the people I’m daydreaming of, anger, love, attachment.......anyone else?
Yup I can get REALLY sad about a daydream, even it hasn't nothing to do with my real life. Like, sometimes I woke up in a good mood, but then a trigger, like a sad song, makes me daydream about sad things then I end up being sad for real lol
Nope ur not the only one. I have created a character whom i aspire to be like and hoped she was real.. Then realized daydreaming about this character with her adventures, plots, her past and future won't make me become the person i aspire to be...
learning about maladaptive daydreaming remembering the realization I made a month ago I was crying and realized that my mind was trying to force itself to daydream because in my daydreams I had so many people who cared about me and would comfort me and came back to reality realizing I dont really have anyone irl and that I was sitting in the corner in my room crying in pitch black darkness alone I used to be able to control it in front of people but then I got sent to a residential treatment a year ago and I got comfortable and people ended up seeing me walking around mumbling, waving my hands around, and making many facial expressions and they said I looked scary and laughed I go one long car rides with my dad every weekend now and play music loudly while he drives I drift into daydreams and still slightly make facial expressions but dont move my body much anymore I mouth words but I hope to him it looks like I'm mouthing lyrics and not a whole other conversation in a whole nother world I made up it happens a lot and i thought it was just normal daydreaming until i realized how happy i felt in that made up world and not irl and when my friend would come crying to me to talk about her problems but I'd catch my mind wandering to that other world to avoid the negative or when people are yelling my mind blurs it out and puts me elsewhere it's an everyday thing now and goes for hours I dont know what to do anymore
Does anybody else sometimes daydream about real people they know? And then get irrationally anxious about it like: "omg what if they somehow find out I daydream about them, they're gonna think I'm a weirdo"
Oh my gosh this has become such a problem for me! I’ve daydreamed so much about certain people I know that my anxiety around them in real life has caused me to shake around them, or have panic attacks.
I will sit there and laugh at the jokes I make in my head with my “imagination me” like my family just think I’m weird but at this point I just wanna be inside my imaginations... if that makes sense, the life I make inside my head is top tier and it’s so depressing that I am stuck out here😐
ESPECIALLY WHEN IM IN A CAR AND MY MUSIC IS BLASTING DONT TALK TO ME I’m in my other world but either way don’t talk to me I could be daydreaming and I sometimes wouldn’t even know it
I totally understand you. Just yesterday I was telling my friend that I've had enough of the real world and that I want to escape into my world.. Or the very least an anime universe
THIS IS SO ACCURATE, AND MY MOM WILL COME INTO MY ROOM AND ASK WHO IM TALKING TO AND WHEN I SAY NO ONE SHE DOSENT BELIEVE ME AND ASKS TO SEE MY PHONE LIKE-😀
For years I have paced around my room acting out scenarios as fictional characters and talking out loud to myself. I even do it with music! I have ADHD…and have been doing this before and after being diagnosed. I never knew it had a name and always thought I was the only one and it made me feel like I was freaking crazy lol. Some of the characters in my scenarios are based off of real people that I either have met or have seen and admired online. Other characters are purely fictional and I never act as myself in these scenarios either. I’ve only done that once. This is a real phenomenon…
I think the moment of realization for me was when my MD started going out of control and it began interfering with my academic life. It was also when I almost did it in front of my friends that I realized this can be an actual problem when its excessive.
@@nyx5408 OMG SAMEEEEEEEEEEE. AFTER WATCHING A MOVIE AND READING EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER EMOTIONALLY ID PRETEND AS IF IM IN AN INTERVIEW AND THEY ASKED ME ABT THE CHARACTER AND ID EXPLAIN WHY THEYD DO THE STUFF THEY DO AND ACT SO SMART AND AMAZGIN 🙄
does anyone else get urges to daydream randomly? it’s hard for me to get things done cause i can’t stop. it’s like i don’t have control over it anymore
I got worse for me ....when i was young it was ok but now its like i cant control it anymore , i would literally be in my bed in the middle of the night daydreaming and suddently get up and then i would be like "why did i do this? "
yeah, sometimes when I'm doing work I just suddenly feel like getting up with a scenario in my head and it interferes with my progress but I can't control it..... then end up wasting away an hour or so.
IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE FOR ME, like whatever it is triggers me or just simply cant stay still I just stand up, start going un circles and daydream, sometimes even as soon as i wake up
@@ihaveyourgrandma3709 i know exactly how you feel. more people are like you than you think, my mind was blown when i found out i wasn’t the only one who daydreams so intensely like this 🤯 it can be a very good coping mechanism, i always thought it was like my brain protecting me by putting me in a “different world” but too much of anything is bad for you i suppose
i act out my daydreams to the point that i imagine talking to someone and i try to physically interact with them. I do it daily and in majority of my time in a day is spent acting them out. youre brave for posting this and thank you, makes me feel like im less alone
Daydreaming is my safe place. I get so happy when I realize I will have some alone time (esp if i know that my family will drive somewhere and i will be able to listen to music and think of scenarios lol) it really does help me escape reality and it honestly is the only thing that makes me sane right now. I did think I was very weird for doing this until I found out it’s an actual thing with an actual name lol. Also after reading the comments, I realized I’m really not alone:) however, even if it makes me happy, it sets so many unrealistic expectations and also interferes with my daily work but I can’t help it. I don’t think I will ever stop daydreaming tbh, it almost feels like it’s a part of me now. I feel like it’s also part of my coping mechanism, I’m a lonely person and it helps me avoid the loneliness even if it’s done with only my imagination
It’s the fact that I do this but I’m usually sitting down. Imagine just hearing someone talking to themselves for 5 minutes, realizing that they’re talking to themselves and stopping, but then doing it again. That’s what my family hears.
I used to pace around when i was younger but now that i'm an adult i'd sit down or pace a bit in my room.. it doesn't look that weird when you were younger but seeing a big grown ass doing that.. they'll ask if i'm seeing or hearing thing😑
you're so brave and strong for posting this. i could NEVER show people how i look pacing around and mouthing the same words and all the faces i make while im dreaming because its just so personal and private. and i dont want to share my one safe space where im genuinely in control with anybody. thank you for posting
You recorded yourself with MDD AND put it on the internet? You have ovaries of steel. I've never shared it with anyone (not even my closest friends or my former therapist).
I agree it takes guts to do something like that. No one knows about my MD except for my girlfriend, and it's such a non issue that we basically never talk about it.
Honestly me, daydreaming in public while people are seeing you is embarrassing enough what more posting it in the internet. But I just love her bravery she somehow made me feel normal
Yeah, it does feel safe and it frees me from embarrasment to read these comments! I found out about two years ago that malapative daydreaming is actually a thing, i've been doing this since i can remember doing anything at all.. It feels scary to be confronted with other people having that same habit/addiction/issue, because it connects something I only live in my fantasy world to the real world. Simultaneously, it makes me feel a lot more accepted and "ordinary" to read other people's comments! I think that maladaptive daydreaming really is a kind of mental struggle that seems very harmless but also very "embarrassing" on a surface level, like depression and anxiety seem more harmful, but i've never been embarrassed about these issues. About daydreaming, however, I feel sooooo awkward, I just don't want to tell anyone who doesn't have it the whole truth, only partly to my best friends, relate some lighter version of the real thing. But actually, I think this is the most damagining mental issue I have, whilst also being my best-working coping mechanism. But it is freeing and relativising to see other people who are the same
I literally thought i am crazy and i am the only one doing this, god lord i am so happy to find this video , i used to like doing this but now i find myself in a hard time to concentrate on studying because of this and i literally can spend hours doing this and waste my time so bad
I told a few of my friends about it and they don’t think it’s a big problem or big part of my life, little do they know I spend like 8 hours a day daydreaming and even more on the weekends-
@@butterflyshootout5462 yes I do relate to that, what people I know especially don't understand is the ways in which it hinders many of us and myself to actually engage with "real life" and kind of build a very conscious existence of my own in which I am really totally present, being able to be myself in real life etc. without feeling held back, and without feeling like my daydreams are more engaging than anything real I come across, and when something fun happens, I care more for my imagination anyways and incorporate that event in my daydreams, do you also feel like that?
Is it just me who like, in a sword fighting scene, just phantomimes around my room like a maniac? Like I’ll be pacing around normally and a song’ll come on and I just start absolutely running around doing both sides of the fight
I’ve always done this as a child until even now (29 years old). I only discovered the term for this today. I also have AVPD. My family has caught me a few times doing this. I tend to do it with music. A few times they have opened the door to my room and had been watching me and I didn’t see them until I turned around. They would see me prancing and talking to myself and look at me crazy. ( Cringe). My mom caught me doing it one time and had been peeking at me down the hallway and called me retarded. That really hurt. I had done it once washing my car in the yard. I was whispering and talking to myself and my sister had discreetly come out on the porch and I looked up and saw her and she was staring at me like I was a lunatic watching the whole thing for who knows how long. I try to hide it as best as I can to the point of locking my door to do it. It just makes me happy from my misery and the workplace bullying I endure. I’ve been bullied my whole life. It’s a wonderful escape. Some people meditate or hang out with friends. I do this and enjoy it.
Yeah, I normally lay on my bed, when I’m in front of my family I try not to. I have no door to my room and my brothers room is next to mine (he keeps his door open slightly) but when he’s out of his room I move sometimes. On my bed, I continuously get up and down and look like I’m thrashing- and move a lot.
Although I still daydream in public but I force myself to not move or talk (which is really difficult, especially when listening to music which is a big trigger for me.)
oh right!! when i was 8 i used to do it all the time and my mum once found me crying and it was hard to explain to her. i told her that i made a sad story up in my head and she got very confused. i've thought it was only me who did it and i felt very alone and sad but i just found out about maladaptive daydreaming so thats good :)
This is perfect. The emotional tromping moments are the best. One of my characters gets a bullet to the head by the protagonist after another main character tried desperately to save him from that facility. Freda (the villain and the leader of the main 5) literally chased them down and cornered Rainet and Claude, and Rainet starts begging Freda to put down the gun and Freda kills Claude. Rainet is the janitor and in the forensic disposal department of the bunker so she’s forced to clean his body off the pavement. It’s one of the only traumatic scene in the “series” world domination. The show will never exist.
Car journeys, walks, tidying my room, and laying in bed are where my daydreams "flourish". Theyre so addictive 😭 thank you for helping raise awareness for this and for when it gets to unhealthy amounts ❤
She's brave enough to record herself in order to inform others. It's crazy how long it took me to realize that this thing is common and an official psychological disorder. I spent many months thinking that there is something fundamentally flawed in my brain because I kept on doing exactly what she was doing in the her recording! In my case, it sometimes got to the point of talking out loud and laughing alone, then I would snap out of it and wonder why I was doing that. I have never told anyone about it until now. STAY INFORMED!
It’s very common and I believe everyone does it to varying degrees but I would say it is for sure very common. Maybe not so much a psychological disorder which can have negative implications but When I think of the word disorder it simply means out of order. that’s not to say that we’re not working properly but that we’re sorting things out. And when we sort things out that can often show up in ways where we talk to ourselves and even day dream, which isn’t a bad things. A majority of the most brilliant minds In history were known to of talked out loud to themselves which makes me wonder if it really should be classified as a psychological disorder attached with negative implications. Just a thought. 🤔 We’re all a work in progress and most of the time talking out loud and even imagining is an effort to sort things out in an attempt to move forward in the process of growing. Life is hard and by no means easy. The mind can only handle so much and everyone is in different stages of growth and their minds can become overwhelmed with the burdens of this world. daydreaming and talking out loud I would say is very common. Most people do this, they’re just worried of what others would think. :) we need to be more gentle and kind to ourselves. We’re all weird anyways if we can be honest with ourselves :) I hope I was in no way disrespectful to your comment. But talking out loud is good for you, even those crazy hypothetical arguments we have with someone who isn’t there lol. We all do it in our heads or out loud.
@@gottagogottago21 Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this! You're right, many brilliant thinkers have had MADD but you have to also acknowledge that it can sometimes get out of hand, like daydreaming while driving!😱
for me, the worst thing is when i realize what I'm doing, it's literally depressing because I know i have this and that i start doing it unconsciously and i only waste my time not truly living. damn.
what the fuck? no dude, intense dreaming is litteraly fucking awesome, i feel like i grow more creatively and my imagination gets bigger and like litteraly my acting too.
@@imovedtoanotherplaceuwu9355that's really good for you but when your mind only makes situations that are unlikely to happen, sometimes repeats them to make them fit perfectly and you get triggered by movies and songs or any aspect of life I wouldn't call it good. my imagination is crazy and it has helped me with some stuff but it has only wasted my life. your brain doesn't distinguish between reality and imagination so sometimes knowing that makes me feel worst. but it's really good you have it as something that really helps you and you like bc in my case i hate not being able to do things because more dopamine comes from imagining things and not actually doing them. thank you for coming to my ted talk, i think i got lost in what i wrote lmao.
@@imovedtoanotherplaceuwu9355 yeah, i mean is fun and all but i waste so much time in vain , and i have a hard time trying to fall asleep at night because of the intense thinking. I found this as a copeing mechanism and when i feel socially stressed i tend to start it and loose myself when i should be in the present (at a party for example) , i realise that when i am happy with my life it starts to fade away and i forget about it and when things are not so ok i do it more often
I came here for comfort. I was literally daydreaming rn, talking to myself and my dad walked in on me. I didn't even realise until I heard the door close (he came and went away). When I went in his room to ask if he actually came outside, he agreed. I was freaking out so bad cuz ik how I must be looking, like a mentally ill person. Oh god, I just hope he does'nt say this to my mom 😭😭
So I have Maladaptive daydreaming, and going outside on my scooter listening to music has become so much of an obsession I cant stop doing it. I dont pay attention to my surroundings and I basically turn off whats actually going around me so I can day dream my own world. I have my own friends- ok yeah im too old for imaginary friends and I dont know how to stop them from keeping me busy but I can sometimes walk around my room for hours on end just imagining random scenes or scenarios over and over. Most of you would probably not care and think Maladaptive daydreaming isnt really a problem but I have been doing it for 2 years straight and its honestly pretty much torture being stuck in your own world. anyway- thanks for reading I guess
For a while i thought i was the only one that did this. I spend most of the day in my room with my headphones in creating scenarios in my head, when i learned that a lot of people do this i feel a lot more normal about it. Every time someone walks in and catches me doing it i feel really awkward and like they are judging me, but it is just something i do without even thinking about it now, it is just a second nature now
Same, I have my headphones with me then search for certain songs and start creating a scenario for myself. I even talk to myself 😅 and just keep walking for an hour, I would be even caught by my family 😬
I am literally so happy, I cried reading the comments. It's so good to know I'm not alone. I literally feel so good right now, I feel like I could do anything. Thank you so much, you guys are my angels.
It’s easy to say lol. When you have no friends to talk to or just too shy to open up about your feelings during particularly horrible times (like me) some people use it as their coping mechanism. This is especially true for me, In a few weeks I will be going to a high school that I don’t want to go to and I am probably going to stay there for a minimum of 4 months. The worst part is the only person I cared about from middle school is going to another high school which I could have gone to if I did two more questions right on a stupid exam (I got 470 out of 500). And those questions I could have totally done if I had just studied the whole time instead of in the last 2 months. I feel like an absolute fool and an idiot. My father is in another country and I am alone with my mother who is also very stressed. I was supposed to start high school there but because of problems with the visa we have to wait like 5-4 months before we can go. So long story short I am going to be stuck in an high school that I don’t want to be in for an entire term and worst part is I am going to be stuck there with no friends. These days the only way I can cope is by putting on some songs and start roaming around my room daydreaming like this girl here.
I put music on, pace around and act out scenarios over and over again. It wasn’t until recently that I found out that not everyone does this. It’s hard to be trapped in my mind 🥺
I'm shocked. I didn't know that something so specific and personal that I do is a thing, I never talked abt it to anyone. I'm a bit overwhelmed and wanna cry a little lol
My mumbling slowly starts to get louder if I don't pay attention to it. One time I was in 7th grade and one of the other kids noticed I was talking to myself. And she had the most shocked expressions on her face and she thought I was crazy. I felt like I was crazy for the longest time. When I first found out about Maladaptive Daydreaming, I actually cried because for the longest time I thought I was alone.
Dude saaaame! I’ve had it for 7 years and I swear I was fcking crazy for the longest or it was some new weird development that formed from my social anxiety.
my daydreaming has a rooted reason for sure..for me it started in lockdown and its almost 3 years now. i used to be a top student and now im losing it all. in my daydream im a person who's life is being recorded always and im the most kindest but evil ,healing but wounded etc etc person there
I have been maladaptive daydreaming for as long as I remember and sometimes when I snap back to reality and really process the fact that I had just been daydreaming for hours; I just get depressed. Also, not to be dramatic or anything but I feel as though it is ruining my life like I'll eat really badly and not look after myself but not care bcos my character in my head is perfect
Moment of silence for people who still don’t know the name for this...
I've had this since Kindergarten. I'm in 8th grade, going to high school soon and I was today years old when I finally found out I wasn't crazy and just had Maladaptive Daydreaming
I’ve had this since I got imaginary friends in my childhood. They’re still by my side and I’m 26, and I always thought that I was going insane and never wanted to talk about this with anyone because I thought that my mental parallel universe was just madness, but just today I found out that it has a name and that I’m not the only one who has it… 😮
@@ThisIsBrendaUrie I think we all thought we were insane until we saw this
Had it ever since 5
@@ThisIsBrendaUrie same but im only 14 :))
Does anyone else get really sad when you’re daydreaming a story you like and all of a sudden something sparks a new daydream with a different story and now you can’t go back to the old one because you keep thinking about the new one?
yeah!! i understand that so so much! i hate it all so much that i get so frustrated and i fall asleep 😂
i just found out about maladaptive daydreaming from yt recommendations and i finally feel safe. everyone got confused whenever i entered my "dreaming zone". yt was tryna tell me something lol
gwt out of my heaad!!
Sameeeeeee
It happen with me. I remember when I was 12 year old I love to daydream about my college life and bf but now even I want to do that I can't. Right now I'm prime minister of my country.
Yess!
I see so many people speak quietly or whisper when they daydream and then there's me who just speaks like im performing an opera lmao
Same
Same
Lmao same
I would literally pace the entire house and talk as loud as I can when nobody is home but me 🤣🤣
@@vynnie_vinylfurr5183 samee i even throw myself on the ground sometimes if the scene needs me to do so xD God it's so crazy
That moment when your parents/siblings walk into the room and you then try to act like you're doing something other than walking around💀
I used to vigorously rock back and forth. It was also weird when people walked in because I looked possessed. I only stopped because I noticed the rocking affecting my back.
oh my gosh i used to walk around in circles around my kitchen island and my sister walked in on me doing it cause my footsteps were too loud and i was so embarrassed when she asked me what i was doing 😭
that or i'm walking down the street mouthing my daydream dialogue/mirroring my characters' breathing (idk if other people do this too but for me i have a lot of physical hurt/comfort scenes, like someone dying on a battlefield in the arms of their lover type thing and i cannot for the life of me imagine those realistically unless i myself am breathing like someone choking on their own blood💀 it's embarrassing lmao) and then someone passes me and i cringe so hard from them having seen/heard that😭
SO TRUE
My family already got used to it at this point but it's still so embarrassing
@@darkacadpresenceinbloodyo are y a girl cuz i did this before to walking down the street when i was 16 in 2021 and these girls were laughing at me i was so embarrassed n when i snapped out of it i screamed i hate it fr
When y’all are playing out your scenes, do you have to find the perfect song, and get annoyed when you can’t find something that fits the energy of the scene. I will stand there looking through all my songs. 🤣
Absolutely! Music is my "trigger" as well. I don't necessarily need it all the time, but with music my daydreams are much more expressive.
Same. When I have an idea about a scene, I can't start thinking about it until I play the right song.
Yes absolutely
@@miya2760 THATS LITERALLY MEE!!! and also i have to find a picture of the person i’m “talking” to lol
Yes! I'll play one song and I'm like mmm this isn't write and then i spend 2 hours looking for the right song ;-;
Daydreaming is almost kind of ritual for me before going to bed. I switch off the lights and start creating scenarios that is never gonna happen in real life. It kind of slows down my system and help me sleep.
Edit: I've never ever thought that there would b 5k PPL out there doing the same thing...I thought I was the only one doing this😂...tysm for all the likes❤️
Watch some neville goddard "imagination creates reality"
wow 😳 its the same for me
I do this every night like they’re bedtime stories
I think everyone does this, definitely not related to maladaptive daydreaming
YEP I DO THIS
You know, I never realized how unsettling this might look from an outsiders perspective. When I did this in front of my family, my mom just let me do it because I was a creative kid. I still do this as an adult but in private because of the awkwardness I feel having others around seeing me do it.
Same. But I put on a video that sets the vibe for my daydreaming and it's on loop. So ppl think I'm watching videos on TH-cam. I have a blank stare.
@@shylapollard5165 I usually play the most emotional part of the music- towards the end- over and over. My therapist said maladaptive daydreaming is sometimes related to ADHD, which I have, but I always felt it was related to my OCD because of the way I repeat it.
I'm terrified of someone walking in on me... I'm 35 and just figured out wha this is.
@@anarcho-communist11 I have OCD too, so you might be onto something there. 😭
Replace it with masturbation
Me: “I can’t wait for the weekend!”
My weekend:
Lmao
Samee
Can relate lol 😭💀
Fr
When your doctor asks if you're getting 60 minutes of exercise a day.
Omg haha! Just want to share this,pacing makes my legs a little bit slim and toned. I always wonder why my lower body is a little slimmer than my upper but I realized that it's my daily pacing lmaooo. I also wonder how many steps we get everyday from pacing
Oh dude i always have the BEST step count
My parents always wonder how I get 10,000 steps a day when i have school and have to sit down at a computer all day... Some days i can get up to 20,000, i mean its a pretty good workout
LITERALLY LIKE ‘i pace around majority of the time’
I sit on the bed and rock in circles or back and forth or make other movements. I do pace sometimes too
The sad part is I'm more happy when I am doing this, I don't even realize I'm smiling so wide when I do this and I probably look so creepy and weird.
same hahahhaha i just there like :D and laughing when something's funny, and sometimes i realise it is the happiest i ever feel on a day. that's why it is so difficult to stop, i'd just take the thing that actually makes me happy and excited away and leave only the emptiness underneath it lolol
I’m more happy being in this state to be honest. I know psychologist would say differently but fuck em. I’ve been doing this years and it relieves the stress that i’m facing in daily social life and work life. I’m so happy that i’m not alone doing this. Sometimes i got caught by a few people when im in knee deep in my MDD while doing my work asking me if i’m ok coz they caught me muttering or my expression change suddenly when i just doing some boring worksheet. 😂
@@LiviaVengence yess. The fact that it relieves your stress and that no other activity would make you as happy as this ( irrespective of what others think about you, personally its a very big stress buster )
@@LiviaVengence True it's my best coping mechanism, everything is in my control, everything goes according to my script.
Same I was daydreaming and my friends were just staring at me because I was laughing and smiling, I didn't even realize 😭
I feel the most validated and understood that I've felt my entire life, 15 years of struggling through this shit. We need to come out of this and take control of our lives no matter how addicting MD is.. It's gonna be difficult tho, since MD isn't even recognized as an actual condition. My support to everyone struggling through this, we will make it.
I would say don't fight it, ever since I was a kid and watched The Mummy I started doing it at age 5 and, the power to see vivid images, can lead to creating stories and filmmaking and that's what I decided to do. Then again is difficult and I do see it as a curse, yet a gift, watch a film like
Birdman or the irishman and then try to recreate your own with the music in the film and you will discovered a whole new world
@@xingincool9672 I’m a filmmaker actually and MD makes it hard to get anything on paper. It’s incredibly frustrating. I wish I were more productive.
@@kaylynn4750 damn :/ it does get In the way, I also struggle to put it on paper, that's why I record my self even though I sound crazy
@@xingincool9672 well, since we’re both into film, do you have a website or Instagram? Lol
❤️❤️
this video and comment section is so validating for me. i’ve dealt with maladaptive daydreaming for literally my whole life. i don’t remember how it started, but i know it was very early on. over time it became my number one coping mechanism, and it remains that way to this day. it gets in the way of my daily functionality, but it’s still the thing that calms and soothes me the most. only one person in my life knows i do it, so it can get isolating at times. i hope everyone here is okay ♡︎
i feel you, i am just realizing that my daydreams are a problem and im thankful that i found this video.
Same. I remember being yelled at in school (5th grade?), "You've gotta stop day-dreaming! You can't dream your life away!" I should've asked if they ever wondered why. It was because I was BORED. I should've been in more difficult classes!
so i’m not the only one that puts on music and pretends i’m in a movie or music video while pacing my room for 2 and a half hours
I DIDNT KNOW OTHER PEOPLE PACED, AHH. This makes me so happy
Yes I do this
bruhhh thank god I'm not alone
This.
I do it all day, everyday. HAHAHA
I feel like my daydreaming has gotten worse with me being in quarantine and having more time by myself 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
omg yes i will get up at 4 in the morning and pace/daydream downstairs then in between my classes i pace/daydream and then after school i pace/daydream. its affecting my school work but i literally cannot stop
I think u guys should see some therapists (I did too and I was diagnosed with maladaptive daydreaming and dysthymia (type of depression) 2 years ago.
@@sarcasticrayofsunshine75 woww that sounds bad. But there are definitely some things that help like actually setting time aside for it and knowing what triggers it (for me it's definitely music, I'll listen to music and there is no way I won't start daydreaming)
Sameee!! Have you had any progress on stopping daydreaming!!
@@213243D yeah its music and movies for me. I'll watch something and immediately come up with at least 13 different daydreams
I got caught daydreaming by my aunt, and she told the entire family that I am "crazy" and that I talk to myself. I was so embarrassed and hurt, to say the least.
Oh dear.. its happened to me
My family knows that I do this (although I dont think they know its a mental illness) and my mum told my aunt and uncle because they were joking about swapping me with one of their kids and I felt so embarrassed
@@Dr81a is it really a mental illness
@@Shafeek258 well maladaptive daydreaming is termed as a disorder but after further research I found out im actually an immersive daydreamer which is the same as md except md is when it starts causing problems in your life
@@Dr81a what problems can it cause
My heart goes out to the people struggling with this. The amount of time this can eat up is frightening. I'm glad I hardly daydream anymore
How-
How do you stop it???
@@yes_noa sorry if that sounded like i stopped daydreaming. I never really started. There have been times where my mind would wander and go to places like that. But I would just tell myself no like when you have to slap food from a dog's mouth when it's eating something that it shouldn't be eating.
@@TaxingIsThieving "dr k daydreaming" on youtube. hopefully that might provide some help
Does anyone else “act out” their daydreams? I’ll put my earbuds in and act out my scenarios. I’ll pretend I’m having conversations with people, pretend I’m working etc. I would be devastated if anyone actually saw me. They’d wonder what the heck I was doing! I’m so thankful I found this video. Ive wondered for years if something was wrong with me. I’m 44 and I’ve never told anyone about this.
I do that! I'm 19, sometimes I just talk or act out my scenarios when I"m getting ready or alone. Usually acting out as fictional characters I make and when people walked into me doing that I'd be so surprised and scared that they'll think I'm crazy bc none of my family members do that
yes yes yes i do this as well! i have never related to something more!
It’s really awesome that I found this video. I never knew there were others like me! There’s a whole community of people with this. It makes me feel not so alone!
I do this exact same thing when I'm alone but without music in the bath tube or maybe on the toilet
I ALWAYS DO THE SAME THING!! To the point I even act out real tears since my scenarios are purely angst 💀
I literally started daydreaming about explaining to people how I maladaptive daydream. 🤦🏻♀️
ME💀💀
SAME LMAO
Sameee
That's so me😂😂😂
Broooooo thats meeeeeee
As a person who has Maladaptive Daydreaming I really admire you for having the courage to film while you're daydreaming. Because I know how complicated and embarrassing this can be. But one day we will win this, I'm sure it will. We are strong! ❤️
Maladaptive daydream is scarry for me, i am maladadaptive daydreamer and i never know it was called that until a mount ago. I hate my daydreaming because i cannot let it stop, when i daydream i just walk around my house and my mouth is look like speaking but doest have sound, the sound is just in my head. I think my daydream trigger is when i get jealous or I want to have a conversation with someone but can't and when i read some fictional story, its weird but i remember that one day, i mean a lot, when I randomly watch a new show or read a manga or manhwa, novel and suddenly get up from sitting and unconsciously walk around the house just to day dream. I'm in first year of high school and I know I have to start getting serious about my education but this daydream is torturous and at the same time a place where I can be free to be anyone and everything i want to be like, adventurers in fantasy worlds, romance stories, life dramas and others. My chest feels strange when i realize it just a dream, I know this is just a fictional story, I can never be them in the real world but in my dreams I can be them, in the end this is just a way for me to escape from my useless self. If anyone reads my comment, please pray that I can recover and one day be able to get a decent job and be part of society, thank you.
You're not alone 🙏
I'll pray for you... You can do it, the process is the success itself. You can recover, I promise.
I thinks we have the same problem bro...
I have the same triggers that you have. I found one of the root cause for my daydream is the feeling of powerlessness. I had kind of a traumatic childhood where I felt completely powerless and some of that transform to my daydreaming. Daydreaming gives me complete control over everything vs reality where I feel I have no control over anything. I have to keep saying to myself “I’m NOT powerless” over and over when i start to slip. There’s a lot of other reasons why I daydream but that’s just one realization that God has help me to see. I’ll pray for you. Keep fighting. God bless you. ❤️
I'm walking endless hours in my room with headphones on. When my roommate moved in again I went to the other room to play out my scenarios lol
I have been doing this my whole life
OMG I DO THE SAME I will literally put headphones in and act out a scenario based off of the mood of the song and play it all out in front of my mirror
Same
Same lol
I like to just lay down and close my eyes so i can enjoy the scenarios i creat. Im not sure i have this yet, but i feel like i do. Anyways, its good to meet others who do the same thing
It's kinda sad that this is when we feel most alive
Yeah ;(
We're just trying to escape reality
@@nolifegirlie hey atleast we never have to deal with the problem of boredom right?..
@@a.r.i7330 yup
Same
YESSS ☹️
This entire place is so comforting... Living "in my own world" has always been the only way to make me genuinely happy, and currently is my main source of entertainment. I can't imagine my life without this. It feels good to not feel insane.
same, and when you ever want something, you just daydream about having it
I don't think I can handle life 24/7 without it. It's really the only thing that makes me happy
I do this very much..even i avoid talking to real life people to do this.. are we crazy..how are we ever gonna be normal..do we need medication..
I'm also a maladaptive daydreamer. This is very accurate. Sometimes I just sit in my room and talk to myself for hours. I can't pay attention in school beacuse of my constant daydreaming. It's pretty tough. But I hope you know that you are NOT alone! Sending love and hugs! ❤
I always wonder what my parents think when they barge into my room and I'm just randomly standing in the middle of the room without any objective, just kind of looking embarrassed.
Also, my furniture arrangement was always kinda weird/unpretty bc I just tried to get the most walking space out of it as possible
So true I just discovered I have this maladative issue I have been asking myself what's wrong with Mr like it's so embarassing when u get caught off-guard by a family member talking to yourself or laughing to yourself and it has affected my social life so much I rather stay in my imagination than be with friends. It had bothered me so much that I had to Google my experiences and then came to TH-cam and saw these videos am in tears right now and it also causes me anxiety attacks a times and so minore depression and the feeling of loneliness of wanting to escape this particular space but the next second am imagining shit again
wow, so relatable. When I was younger I always paniked when my mom came into the room and I tried to get the first objects that I found, to not look so "weird" ._. But that only happend when she knocked on my door.
Lol I just pretend like I'm on my way to do something. Then continue when they leave.
@@KiddAndy17 me too. when She Came back again I still had to put away my 5 pieces of laundry that i already had in my hands when she came into my room 3h ago. Lol
Same, I’ve had them look at me weirdly and kinda ignore me for the rest of the day, and I feel guilty
bruh, i mouth my words when i daydream, like i pretend someone is actually there. i even laugh for long periods of time, pretending someone made me laugh, and when i come to realization that they’re not real, i get this wave of sadness lmao 🧍♀️
Yep. It's funny because I don't think I've ever had sounds come out of my mouth when Daydreaming. It's definitely an unconscious thing. But there are times when random squeaks will escape because the dialogue I'm mouthing gets too intense or passionate and rather than words or full sentences sounds come out that make it sound like I'm struggling to speak but really it's just the words are stuck in my head and rarely make it past my vocal cords.
@@dylancole1910 me too
@@dylancole1910 so right. Me too
I do it too, I thought it was normal it's not?
Omg same, I was made fun of, by my relatives when I was young because of it.
This makes me want to tear up up. I cannot explain how good it feels to see so many other people experiencing the same thing, and I'm sure many other people feel the same. I remember my daydreams being so much more alive and real than the average person's. I remember Googling this years ago and finding almost little to nothing about this topic. I think the one thing I actually found was someone talking about the movie Sucker Punch, and asking if that was technically maladaptive daydreaming.
I am so glad to see all the videos, articles, comments, and research on this disorder finally being documented.
I've never told anyone this. I wish TH-cam came with group chats so I could make friends with some of you. ❤
yes mate yes
ive been doing this through my teens and early 20s, never had a clue it wasnt normal, until today i searched it up on a whim, and welp now i know i gotta stop
I mean daydreaming is supposed to be healthy but if you do it too much, seek a therapist or somethin
Been doing every since I was a little girl. Didn’t realize anything was wrong until I had kids and bigger responsibilities that needed my attention . When it was interfering with me just getting out of bed. I knew it was a issue.
You are brave enough to share your vulnerable side. Hats off to you.
FR I COULD NEVER- ✋😭
💪💪💪true
1.1k likeso
@@ellia9976 me too
I always scrunch up my face and move my fingers a lot
Way too embarrassing
She’s not vulnerable. This is completely healthy and a good form of exercising. It activates your “runners high” ability (google it). Sooo yeah she’s not vulnerable. If you disagree genuinely try walking around while listening to music and then respond to me.
I can’t be the only one who just watches some random show then randomly gets up and acting out a scene from my head. It isn’t necessarily a human scene more like fantasy scenarios. I have specific characters I daydream about. I’m still not sure if I have maladaptive daydreaming. Just glad I’m not the only one who does this.
Same !!!
Same I honestly thought that everyone does this
I have that with the witcher games. Or Vikings tv show. I generally day dream so much about being a warrior and escaping my life..
How sad is that
I once saw about a character so much that I even saw his exact life through my eyes in dreams
Yes yes same
The problem is it's so addictive. When I am anxious, deppressed or triggered I don't want to stop 😭 because it helps me escape. My favorite time to do it is when I am dancing and before bed.
Didn’t even know I had this until I realized one day that I was pacing for an hour in my room, listening to one song on repeat while I daydreamed lmao
However since I don’t want to self diagnose, this is just what I think I MIGHT have. If anyone can help me confirm that’d be appreciated. I do pace and daydream in my room often, and what I feel as I do that is very real. I cry, I laugh, I speak to myself, I feel like screaming sometimes when there’s an intense scene (I don’t since in the back of my mind I know my family is in the house and I don’t wanna look or sound crazy) I daydream in class, when I’m with my friends or family, and even when I’m driving (I’m still aware enough to not get into an accident but admittedly my senses are much more closed off) if anyone can help me figure out if I have this or just something similar…please respond to this. Or if anyone has any idea of how I can get this confirmed by a professional even if it’s not a condition that can be diagnosed yet.
there is a difference between daydreaming and maladaptive daydreaming. You do daydream a lot, same as me.
But lot of people daydreams, the majority of children.
There is only an issue if you want to stop it and you fail to do it, if the bads outweight he goods, then you need to consult a therapist that will help you to treat it.
In your brain, the reason why you can't stop it alone, is because you are addicted to dopamine. Since you are a heavy dreamer, it is likely you have too much addiction to stop it by yourself. You may need external help.
Try to do daily mindfullness meditations and see if you can last long without daydreaming. If there is no progression, you need help.
MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING?? I thought I was just practicing to be an actress 🤺
ME TOOOO ID ALWAYS BE LIKE "o no im not crazy just acting😅😅😅"
Right!!! I’m just imagining my life as a famous actor who casually meets other famous actors during their career 😂😂
@@yoshitoes2763 aaaa oh my god me too
maladaptive daydreaming can make you a better actor if you can learn to control it
Me too
I see how she avoids the mirror cause in some cases looking at the mirror will destroy the fantasizing of being in a different place, this is very accurate thank you for being open
The mirror reminds people that they look awkward (TROMPING SHOULD NEVER BE EMBARRASSING!!) And so people hate being reminded that, yes, to tromp, you must move your body BUT no one should feel embarrassed about it. Nobody. :)
I cover mine with a blanket
i actually cant focus if I dont see myself in the mirror(?
like, being honest I didn't even know this was a thing, i always did it for fun or sometimes I NEED to do it. most of the times that i do this is me daydreaming about something that I really like or I'm obsessed with, most of the time is with me being the main character, and I dont know if this is something bad or if i have a problem but it makes me feel okay (except if there is people in my room, I'm not comfortable doing this with people around)
wow i do this a lot. even something as little as my own shadow can completely ruin the daydream bc i’m usually wearing completely different clothes with a completely different hairstyle when i’m doing it 🤧
SAME
For me i daydream about me beeing cool in front of others i know its because i been treated dumb by others cus i lack social skills so try to prove them wrong.
This is literally me
Same 😂😢😭🥺
I never change my character, it’s always just the real me but a better version. Because at the end of it all I would still feel like it’s possible, like it can be reality. I’m currently trying to let it go but it’s so hard😭😭 I notice that I do it everywhere, even in the middle of conversations.
Guess I'm not the only one who paces around their house in a circle, moving their hands while mumbling to themselves and making weird expression for hours.
Yea, you're not alone
@@amaichuan1566 I finally found my brethren.
I don’t pace but rock back and forth on a chair. People ask me if I get motion sickness from it but I’m so deep in my daydream that I don’t notice.
Lol I stay stationary and wave my arms around XD
IKR THANK GOD
This is honestly the reason why I wouldn't want to have a significant other because of this habit and the fact that it almost a ritual to do it before bed to wind off.
Thissss ☝️
Tbh if you truly have someone you trust and know they won't judge it doesn't hurt to say anything. With my gf I used to dip off into my living room all the time and she thought it was cause I didn't want to be around her. I then just told her I like to pace around the house cause it calms me down. Then eventually about after seven months of dating I just told her what it really is. She was really understanding cause she has panic attacks all the time around me so she kinda felt like she had no place to judge.
im shocked.,. i never heard of anyone that did the same thing, i cant go to sleep if i dont do it. sometimes its almost like im waiting for the time to pass so i can close my door, put my headphones on and just walk around my room and go places in my head
This is one of the reasons why I don’t date. I can pace for hours working through scenarios in my head, pacing or walking in circles. And because I live alone, I’ve gotten in the habit of talking out loud...
I have a bf and I still do this. Though he doesn't know. I feel bad whenever I need to go home to take a break because I have the need to do this.
Its so depressing, because just after you daydream you hit a point where you realise none of it was real, you get a self-awareness that you did it again although you said you wouldn’t do it. And then all of a sudden you’re back into that endless loop. It doesn’t matter what you do, it just comes and goes.
After my daydream hit me and snaps back to reality, I really felt all of my worries, doubts and insecurities to my self. Like wth, am I not living a good life? Why am I making 'perfect scenarios' that is too good to be true? I am questioning my existence, worth, knowledge, physical comeliness, and attitude 😟
This is so validating, i've always been embarassed and scared of opening up abt my daydreaming because i cant explain how much it impacts my daily life. I spend hours daydreaming and never get anything done and i cant explain why to my parents or friends because they might think im weird or crazy. I admire your bravery for showing this side of yourself, just amazing!
right. I’m so happy theres people like her :)
I felt that
I feel you
My aunt used to call me dumb when I was kid because I daydream a lot. I still as a 19 yo, feel ashamed of this
@@nurelarslan7239 i know what you mean, up to this day the ive only ever told one person abt it and i regret ot so much even tho they dont actively say that it's weird i feel like their judging me so much
Literally me but with whispering, gestures, and making expressions then repeating all over and over and then realizing that I look like a crazy person but still going back and repeating daydreaming all over and over and over
Yeah same, i would suddenly wake up(?) if there was someone come
@@iniknetz9663 yes is so awkard when someone walks in and i'm in the middle of an intense scene...it probably looks like i'm out of my mind. 😞
So if your talking to yourself and making some hand gestures that's called maladaptive daydrraming?
@@mvp9 being honest I didn't know this was a thing, because I do it too, I dont really remember when it started, but it makes me feel okay. I remember one time I was talking to myself in English (I'm Hispanic) really loud, acting like I was part of the dream smp (something that I'm obsessed with, other times I daydreaming about different things, it depends on my mood), and I had headphones on so I didn't hear anything, suddenly my father came in and asked me what I was doing, I was SO EMBARRASSED that I told him I was talking to a close friend in English to learn more about the language
DUDE I DO THIS TOO!! LIKE ALL OF THAT
I think we all just need a real life boyfriend
I get really active during daydreaming; I bounce on my bed/bounce on things and eventually break stuff. My parents wanted to get me an outside trampoline, but I don't think they realize how embarrassing it would be to daydream outside, I pace back in forth, make weird facial expressions, and mumble/make sounds
i didnt know that this is actually maladaptive daydreaming. i do this everyday in my room. this is also the reason why i take so long in the shower😭
MOOD LMAOO 😭
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE
I thought it was normal. My mother got mad at me if I stayed long enough in the bathroom like it's the only way to make myself happy.
OMGG SAME AS MEE 😭😭
Same lmao I always took 2hrs in the bathroom
i can’t believe i’ve done this my whole life and never knew there was a name for it and that other people did it. thank you for sharing 😭
Same😭
same
lol ikr, i thought it was normal to do this
Same
Sammmmeeeeeeee
If anybody is thinking what a poor soul she is...believe me, she's more entertained than the best movies you've watched in your life put together!!
Yes we daydreamers are 😂❤
It's maladaptive though. I say this as a fellow "entertained" person- at a certain point it's not even enjoyable if it takes over like this, it's life destroying. My real life is a mess and I can't even engage in my hobbies regularly, that's not very entertaining.
Is it maybe due to the fact that you're prioritizing escaping the inevitable when you have to do some chores?
If it gets in the way of your hobbies, you probably just enjoy it more than partaking in the actual hobby. Yes, it feels like you haven't done anything afterwards, but the brain usually is stimulated by dopamine to the point where it prioritizes the greater release.
Yes but daydreaming happens because we are unhappy in the real world, it’s an escape from reality
Oh my fucking god. I have bpd and i had no idea this was a thing that other people face too. I thought i was seriously mentally ill for making up imaginary boyfriends and crazy ass situations to escape from reality. At one point, it got so bad that i couldn't concentrate on a five minute conversation without thinking about something else. If anyone has this problem, try repeating what the other person says in your head so you can prevent your mind from drifting off. As far as reading is concerned, take notes and repeat what you're writing in your head. This really helped me. Thanks
I've always been so embarassed that I do this, and a bit part of it is because I'm a lot cooler in my daydreams. I'm calmer, more competent, I move better. I'm usually fantasizing about myself being impossibly awesome and respected by other people, and an imaginary man who is super hot, intelligent and in love with me is usually present, being very impressed. It's cringeworthy.
I'll also daydream conversations and I'll physically move to play both or all characters.
Same with me I am 15 year old 😢😭
@@Calm_Kisara404 im 14 y o i get depressed when i know that none of this is real..😂💔
Sameee i started when i was just 8 and my parents thought im crazy HAHAHA.
Same and it's mostly an anime character
@@roxiebot823 me also anime boy characters 😆😂 whole day I think about them as my imaginary boyfriends😝
I can't listen to music without this happening
NO CAP
Same
EXACTLY
Yesss😬music that I love is a major trigger
@@lghths like I'll be listen ing to something while I'm driving and I'm no longer driving 😂 I'm a fair maiden in a village in western europe or something and thankfully I haven't crashed yet.
Just wanna say this because it really annoys me. This is NOT a condition, it's a form of play. I've been doing this, every single day since the moment I learned to play with toys. I just dont use the toys anymore, I have a strong enough imagination to use characters in my head without the physical object of a toy. I act it out wherever I am, walking to town, lying in bed, doing the dishes and so on.
It is not psychosis, it is not hallucinating and it is not a trauma response. We are playing. Winding down, building stories, enjoying music, inspired by a new movie. Passing the time.
Saying it is "caught on camera" is silly because she literally, decided to film this, set up the camera, and started doing it by choice. It's not like DID where a switch happens. It's imaginary play.
If you are suffering, seek help. Especially if you are suffering enough to pretend or even fully believe that this is a disorder and you're "struggling with it" and it's "getting in the way of your life". That's ridiculous and you need help, real, loving, compassionate help from a good counsellor because you're being really silly and miserable.
It's not a disorder. We. Are. Imaginary. Playing.
I also want to add! It's super normal and popular amongst autistic women! So if you really wanna be diagnosed with something start there haha.
@@sonicpissedonmywife Clueless.
It's sad that I have wasted a huge chunk of my life doing this and there was no one to help me
And it feels embrassing to tell someone too...how to say i'm addicted to daydream
@@shristi_9939 yeah that's why I have stopped sharing my feelings to people as they don't understand
I just thought everyone should know that maladaptive daydreaming is most common in people with OCD, ADHD, or Depression
yeah mate i also have OCD :((
Bruh lol this really makes me wanna see a therapist... I’m afraid tho :\ if I find out I actually am struggling with these things I wouldn’t know what to do lol
my depression : 👁👄👁
👀
👄
i think i have adhd, idk, i cant afford theraphy :/
Getting filmed while doing this is my worst nightmare. 😭
Welcome here then
Ahahsgkss same
Same
Rn't u an indian?
@@hibashashil4839 Yes I am.
I am trying so hard to figure out what it is I can do. Someone recently told me that it could be paracosm, but maladaptive daydreaming? I don’t think it’s that. For me to focus, I need to be either sitting or laying down, and in most cases, my eyes closed. I’m able to control my dreams, and it is very uncommon for the dreams to actually be in my perspective or about me in general. When I say control, I mean… I am pretty much a “god.” I can control time, observe galaxies/universes, add alternate timelines, create boundaries, alter/erase people’s memories, etc.
I can do all this either when I am awake or in - what did they call it? - hypnagogia. Although looking it up, it’s actually hypnopompia. If anyone knows what I have, I would love the info. I could use all the help I can get. I’ve been trying to figure this out for the past five years.
It was very brave of you to film yourself like this, you have more courage than me
So far while I'm reading the comments section, we're like a bunch of long lost relatives
I was SO HAPPY to found you guys , i cannot belive that i am noy alone
i feel like i found my real home here😭
Omggg I am so happy I have someone to talk about it !!!!
I felt calm when I saw people comments
True. I thought I was the only one who did this but now I can freely express what I feel because everyone here relates.
if someone ever saw me doing my maldaptive daydreaming routine id simply die
same.. god its so embarrassing
@@ainursofeatalib5781 why
Happened to me once with my grandma 😭 she was appearantly watching for more than 5 fucking seconds
:( I've been caught. I had to explain why I was arguing with myself while walking the street. Mortified af
@@daisybell2252 same, with my grandpa
im actually crying while watching this because ive been maladaptive daydreaming for like over a year now and at this point it consumes my entire day. i cant stop doing it. im hiding under my blanket because if not ill start doing it unconsciously. i dont even have to listen to music to daydream it just happens all. the. time. and i seriously don’t know what to do at this point.
same :(
In the fourth grade, I don’t have that much friends in school. So I would daydream about the “cool kids” coming over to my house to play Mortal Kombat. I would jump around the bed, walking around the room rubbing my palms together when I daydream.
I feel a bit relieved knowing that there are other people who daydream endlessly as well, and even pace around the room doing so. Personally I sit and stare at nothing for hours and I can never really stop. When I'm doing something that allows for a momentary silence in my head, daydreams eventually erupt and then I'm stuck again. Even in between doing multiple tasks I daydream. These days there has been no lull in my daydreaming. It's honestly ruining me and I feel bad that I can't get out of it especially since some time ago I actually managed to break out of it even if it was only for three days.
Same, I daydream every single day, to the point I can't even tell when it begins. Usually I'm talking to people, and just getting out all the things I've bottled up
We do the same and we have the same name hahha
Omg, I used to think I was the only one too. For me it started because of bullying and now I still do it even though it stopped . And a week ago I found out it was actually mental illness. How perfect.
Wait what were you thinking about those three days? Just curious
Wait what were you thinking about those three days? Just curious
I WAS TODAY YEARS OLD WHEN I FOUND OUT THERE’S A NAME FOR WHEN I PACE AROUND MY ROOM BLASTING MUSIC IN MY EARBUDS AND IMAGING MYSELF INTERACTING IN A RANDOM FANDOM UNIVERSE OF MINE EVERYDAY. Literally thought I was the only one, good to know I’m not.
this is a disorder. this is not just fantasizing about another world or whatever. i have it and its horrible, imagine having a job interview and your brain just shuts off. please dont self diagnose this stuff, its tough :(
@@napkinhoarder21 Bloop, aight.
@@napkinhoarder21 lmao
@srry im mentally ill u wont get a reply no she's right it's a disorder
OMG
I sometimes cry because the characters in my daydream had the biggest fight ever
I got myself really injured while daydreaming and now I m a normal person who doesn't daydream and it costed me my health. It's serious and it must be treated somehow. I meant it
I can totally agree!!
I just sprained my knee this evening! I need to Stop 😭🤧
So your telling me everyone doesn’t do this. I do think on a daily basis without knowing it, and when I snap of it I get so mad because I just lost 3 hours of my life just walking around my house and talking to my self...damm
I do the same thing.
Would get pissed when literally 5 hours passed and I was only on the second scenario in my head.
I’ve calmed down some, but dang it does take a huge chunk out of my day.
Everyone must do this
This is like a natural human thing
Im going crazy
Bro I remember I did this at the pool when I was younger and I was talking to myself and then looking at my hands pretending like I was some mythical being that got put in a humans body and my dad caught me and was looking at me so weird
@@theshiningblood6136 daydreaming, yes. Daydreaming for hours consecutively, I don't think so.
@@bobturtle1935 OOOH so people day dream like this for hours? Wow thank you for teaching me
I was so very confused I thought everyone daydreamed lol
When I daydream I fake to be someone else( a real person or character) and create such complexes plots, I also talk with the other characters as if they are there with me and laugh, have fun and even cry..I feel emotions towards the people I’m daydreaming of, anger, love, attachment.......anyone else?
Yeah i think im going to be insane beacuse of daydreaming often😂😥
I'm glad to know that i'm not alone
Yup
I can get REALLY sad about a daydream, even it hasn't nothing to do with my real life. Like, sometimes I woke up in a good mood, but then a trigger, like a sad song, makes me daydream about sad things then I end up being sad for real lol
Nope ur not the only one. I have created a character whom i aspire to be like and hoped she was real.. Then realized daydreaming about this character with her adventures, plots, her past and future won't make me become the person i aspire to be...
yes! my daydreams have been like this since my teenage years and i still do the same thing now in my 20's
learning about maladaptive daydreaming
remembering the realization I made a month ago
I was crying and realized that my mind was trying to force itself to daydream because in my daydreams I had so many people who cared about me and would comfort me
and came back to reality realizing I dont really have anyone irl and that I was sitting in the corner in my room crying in pitch black darkness alone
I used to be able to control it in front of people
but then I got sent to a residential treatment a year ago and I got comfortable and people ended up seeing me walking around mumbling, waving my hands around, and making many facial expressions and they said I looked scary and laughed
I go one long car rides with my dad every weekend now and play music loudly
while he drives I drift into daydreams and still slightly make facial expressions but dont move my body much anymore
I mouth words but I hope to him it looks like I'm mouthing lyrics and not a whole other conversation in a whole nother world I made up
it happens a lot
and i thought it was just normal daydreaming until i realized how happy i felt in that made up world and not irl
and when my friend would come crying to me to talk about her problems but I'd catch my mind wandering to that other world to avoid the negative or when people are yelling my mind blurs it out and puts me elsewhere
it's an everyday thing now
and goes for hours
I dont know what to do anymore
Does anybody else sometimes daydream about real people they know? And then get irrationally anxious about it like: "omg what if they somehow find out I daydream about them, they're gonna think I'm a weirdo"
Yep, you are not alone.
Oh my gosh this has become such a problem for me! I’ve daydreamed so much about certain people I know that my anxiety around them in real life has caused me to shake around them, or have panic attacks.
Yep, It felt so awkward n
Same-
Yes all the time
I will sit there and laugh at the jokes I make in my head with my “imagination me” like my family just think I’m weird but at this point I just wanna be inside my imaginations... if that makes sense, the life I make inside my head is top tier and it’s so depressing that I am stuck out here😐
ESPECIALLY WHEN IM IN A CAR AND MY MUSIC IS BLASTING DONT TALK TO ME I’m in my other world but either way don’t talk to me I could be daydreaming and I sometimes wouldn’t even know it
I totally understand you. Just yesterday I was telling my friend that I've had enough of the real world and that I want to escape into my world.. Or the very least an anime universe
Literally same
THIS IS SO ACCURATE, AND MY MOM WILL COME INTO MY ROOM AND ASK WHO IM TALKING TO AND WHEN I SAY NO ONE SHE DOSENT BELIEVE ME AND ASKS TO SEE MY PHONE LIKE-😀
the accuracy-
For years I have paced around my room acting out scenarios as fictional characters and talking out loud to myself. I even do it with music! I have ADHD…and have been doing this before and after being diagnosed. I never knew it had a name and always thought I was the only one and it made me feel like I was freaking crazy lol. Some of the characters in my scenarios are based off of real people that I either have met or have seen and admired online. Other characters are purely fictional and I never act as myself in these scenarios either. I’ve only done that once. This is a real phenomenon…
I think the moment of realization for me was when my MD started going out of control and it began interfering with my academic life. It was also when I almost did it in front of my friends that I realized this can be an actual problem when its excessive.
Who else here also day dreamed about being in a Ted talk whenever you felt motivated or inspired?
I like psychology so much and i literally imagine i explain to someone the way the brain works and hypotesis about certain topics
@@nyx5408 OMG SAMEEEEEEEEEEE. AFTER WATCHING A MOVIE AND READING EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER EMOTIONALLY ID PRETEND AS IF IM IN AN INTERVIEW AND THEY ASKED ME ABT THE CHARACTER AND ID EXPLAIN WHY THEYD DO THE STUFF THEY DO AND ACT SO SMART AND AMAZGIN 🙄
@@ahaha15yearsago51 yes same!
YESSS
Meeeee I always do that instead of just doing the thing that would actually get me there😂
does anyone else get urges to daydream randomly? it’s hard for me to get things done cause i can’t stop. it’s like i don’t have control over it anymore
I got worse for me ....when i was young it was ok but now its like i cant control it anymore , i would literally be in my bed in the middle of the night daydreaming and suddently get up and then i would be like "why did i do this? "
@@nyx5408 i’m the same way, it’s frustrating lol
yeah, sometimes when I'm doing work I just suddenly feel like getting up with a scenario in my head and it interferes with my progress but I can't control it..... then end up wasting away an hour or so.
IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE FOR ME, like whatever it is triggers me or just simply cant stay still I just stand up, start going un circles and daydream, sometimes even as soon as i wake up
@@ihaveyourgrandma3709 i know exactly how you feel. more people are like you than you think, my mind was blown when i found out i wasn’t the only one who daydreams so intensely like this 🤯 it can be a very good coping mechanism, i always thought it was like my brain protecting me by putting me in a “different world” but too much of anything is bad for you i suppose
i act out my daydreams to the point that i imagine talking to someone and i try to physically interact with them. I do it daily and in majority of my time in a day is spent acting them out. youre brave for posting this and thank you, makes me feel like im less alone
Sameeeee i swearr
@@daveendaveen6305 and do you make weird facial expressions ? Because I do alot
Daydreaming is my safe place. I get so happy when I realize I will have some alone time (esp if i know that my family will drive somewhere and i will be able to listen to music and think of scenarios lol) it really does help me escape reality and it honestly is the only thing that makes me sane right now. I did think I was very weird for doing this until I found out it’s an actual thing with an actual name lol. Also after reading the comments, I realized I’m really not alone:) however, even if it makes me happy, it sets so many unrealistic expectations and also interferes with my daily work but I can’t help it. I don’t think I will ever stop daydreaming tbh, it almost feels like it’s a part of me now. I feel like it’s also part of my coping mechanism, I’m a lonely person and it helps me avoid the loneliness even if it’s done with only my imagination
Me too, but is it a mental health issue
have you stopped daydreaming now?
It’s the fact that I do this but I’m usually sitting down. Imagine just hearing someone talking to themselves for 5 minutes, realizing that they’re talking to themselves and stopping, but then doing it again. That’s what my family hears.
Exactly the same for me
my parents don't speak english but i talk to myself in english.. they legit thought i have an online friends :)
I used to pace around when i was younger but now that i'm an adult i'd sit down or pace a bit in my room.. it doesn't look that weird when you were younger but seeing a big grown ass doing that.. they'll ask if i'm seeing or hearing thing😑
wait, but that’s what i do too.
Same
you're so brave and strong for posting this. i could NEVER show people how i look pacing around and mouthing the same words and all the faces i make while im dreaming because its just so personal and private. and i dont want to share my one safe space where im genuinely in control with anybody. thank you for posting
I feel so supported reading this I wish there was a real support group for this cause I. Struggle with this my entire life
Am i the only one that daydreams about the same scenario again and again, just in different versions??
You recorded yourself with MDD AND put it on the internet? You have ovaries of steel. I've never shared it with anyone (not even my closest friends or my former therapist).
"you have ovaries of steel" if those aren't my last words I'm not dying.
aaah! same
I agree it takes guts to do something like that. No one knows about my MD except for my girlfriend, and it's such a non issue that we basically never talk about it.
Honestly me, daydreaming in public while people are seeing you is embarrassing enough what more posting it in the internet. But I just love her bravery she somehow made me feel normal
i always read MDD as major depressive disorder so I was really confused for a second
i feel so safe here, i haven’t told anyone about this and i’m too scared too because i don’t want to be judged.
Yeah, it does feel safe and it frees me from embarrasment to read these comments! I found out about two years ago that malapative daydreaming is actually a thing, i've been doing this since i can remember doing anything at all.. It feels scary to be confronted with other people having that same habit/addiction/issue, because it connects something I only live in my fantasy world to the real world. Simultaneously, it makes me feel a lot more accepted and "ordinary" to read other people's comments! I think that maladaptive daydreaming really is a kind of mental struggle that seems very harmless but also very "embarrassing" on a surface level, like depression and anxiety seem more harmful, but i've never been embarrassed about these issues. About daydreaming, however, I feel sooooo awkward, I just don't want to tell anyone who doesn't have it the whole truth, only partly to my best friends, relate some lighter version of the real thing. But actually, I think this is the most damagining mental issue I have, whilst also being my best-working coping mechanism. But it is freeing and relativising to see other people who are the same
Its also hard to explain too
I literally thought i am crazy and i am the only one doing this, god lord i am so happy to find this video , i used to like doing this but now i find myself in a hard time to concentrate on studying because of this and i literally can spend hours doing this and waste my time so bad
I told a few of my friends about it and they don’t think it’s a big problem or big part of my life, little do they know I spend like 8 hours a day daydreaming and even more on the weekends-
@@butterflyshootout5462 yes I do relate to that, what people I know especially don't understand is the ways in which it hinders many of us and myself to actually engage with "real life" and kind of build a very conscious existence of my own in which I am really totally present, being able to be myself in real life etc. without feeling held back, and without feeling like my daydreams are more engaging than anything real I come across, and when something fun happens, I care more for my imagination anyways and incorporate that event in my daydreams, do you also feel like that?
Is it just me who like, in a sword fighting scene, just phantomimes around my room like a maniac? Like I’ll be pacing around normally and a song’ll come on and I just start absolutely running around doing both sides of the fight
I’ve always done this as a child until even now (29 years old). I only discovered the term for this today. I also have AVPD. My family has caught me a few times doing this. I tend to do it with music. A few times they have opened the door to my room and had been watching me and I didn’t see them until I turned around. They would see me prancing and talking to myself and look at me crazy. ( Cringe). My mom caught me doing it one time and had been peeking at me down the hallway and called me retarded. That really hurt. I had done it once washing my car in the yard. I was whispering and talking to myself and my sister had discreetly come out on the porch and I looked up and saw her and she was staring at me like I was a lunatic watching the whole thing for who knows how long. I try to hide it as best as I can to the point of locking my door to do it. It just makes me happy from my misery and the workplace bullying I endure. I’ve been bullied my whole life. It’s a wonderful escape. Some people meditate or hang out with friends. I do this and enjoy it.
I put headphones on and turn some music on and lay down to daydream
That’s regular daydreaming and maladaptive daydreaming is the need to be moving and becoming an addiction overtime
@@rennegenbl4793 yes but I move my legs a lot and I can’t keep my body still. I’ve been doing MD for like 12 years.
Yeah, I normally lay on my bed, when I’m in front of my family I try not to. I have no door to my room and my brothers room is next to mine (he keeps his door open slightly) but when he’s out of his room I move sometimes. On my bed, I continuously get up and down and look like I’m thrashing- and move a lot.
Although I still daydream in public but I force myself to not move or talk (which is really difficult, especially when listening to music which is a big trigger for me.)
@@shemsoahmed3956 oh so it’s addictive, yes the addiction is so hard to overcome, sorry for making assumptions
I sometimes end up making such a frickin sad scene that I start crying. Or its a really intense scene and I feel like my hearts gonna explode.
oh right!! when i was 8 i used to do it all the time and my mum once found me crying and it was hard to explain to her. i told her that i made a sad story up in my head and she got very confused. i've thought it was only me who did it and i felt very alone and sad but i just found out about maladaptive daydreaming so thats good :)
This is perfect. The emotional tromping moments are the best. One of my characters gets a bullet to the head by the protagonist after another main character tried desperately to save him from that facility. Freda (the villain and the leader of the main 5) literally chased them down and cornered Rainet and Claude, and Rainet starts begging Freda to put down the gun and Freda kills Claude. Rainet is the janitor and in the forensic disposal department of the bunker so she’s forced to clean his body off the pavement. It’s one of the only traumatic scene in the “series” world domination. The show will never exist.
AHAHHAAAAAAA
right? i may start to write stories out my scenarios cuz damn 🤠
Exactly
Car journeys, walks, tidying my room, and laying in bed are where my daydreams "flourish". Theyre so addictive 😭 thank you for helping raise awareness for this and for when it gets to unhealthy amounts ❤
She's brave enough to record herself in order to inform others. It's crazy how long it took me to realize that this thing is common and an official psychological disorder. I spent many months thinking that there is something fundamentally flawed in my brain because I kept on doing exactly what she was doing in the her recording! In my case, it sometimes got to the point of talking out loud and laughing alone, then I would snap out of it and wonder why I was doing that. I have never told anyone about it until now. STAY INFORMED!
It’s very common and I believe everyone does it to varying degrees but I would say it is for sure very common. Maybe not so much a psychological disorder which can have negative implications but When I think of the word disorder it simply means out of order. that’s not to say that we’re not working properly but that we’re sorting things out. And when we sort things out that can often show up in ways where we talk to ourselves and even day dream, which isn’t a bad things. A majority of the most brilliant minds In history were known to of talked out loud to themselves which makes me wonder if it really should be classified as a psychological disorder attached with negative implications. Just a thought. 🤔
We’re all a work in progress and most of the time talking out loud and even imagining is an effort to sort things out in an attempt to move forward in the process of growing. Life is hard and by no means easy. The mind can only handle so much and everyone is in different stages of growth and their minds can become overwhelmed with the burdens of this world. daydreaming and talking out loud I would say is very common. Most people do this, they’re just worried of what others would think. :) we need to be more gentle and kind to ourselves. We’re all weird anyways if we can be honest with ourselves :)
I hope I was in no way disrespectful to your comment. But talking out loud is good for you, even those crazy hypothetical arguments we have with someone who isn’t there lol. We all do it in our heads or out loud.
@@gottagogottago21 Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this! You're right, many brilliant thinkers have had MADD but you have to also acknowledge that it can sometimes get out of hand, like daydreaming while driving!😱
@@nahommerk9493 of course lol. Like anything, there needs to be checks and balances. Finding a good middle ground is always the key.
Props to her for putting this on the internet because I'm scared what people think of me during my daydream
Yes, it's a brave thing to post a video like this. In my experience people do think I'm weird for doing this but they're not upset by it.
Lmao she didnt look that weird doing it. When im maladaptive dreaminh i look like im having a goddamn seizure
@@desuhiko true same
@@desuhiko true same
I agree
for me, the worst thing is when i realize what I'm doing, it's literally depressing because I know i have this and that i start doing it unconsciously and i only waste my time not truly living. damn.
yeah, and it's really difficult to concentrate on what you're doing in reality
what the fuck? no dude, intense dreaming is litteraly fucking awesome, i feel like i grow more creatively and my imagination gets bigger and like litteraly my acting too.
@@imovedtoanotherplaceuwu9355that's really good for you but when your mind only makes situations that are unlikely to happen, sometimes repeats them to make them fit perfectly and you get triggered by movies and songs or any aspect of life I wouldn't call it good. my imagination is crazy and it has helped me with some stuff but it has only wasted my life. your brain doesn't distinguish between reality and imagination so sometimes knowing that makes me feel worst. but it's really good you have it as something that really helps you and you like bc in my case i hate not being able to do things because more dopamine comes from imagining things and not actually doing them. thank you for coming to my ted talk, i think i got lost in what i wrote lmao.
Am am so glad to discover this, i mean i knew something is wrong with me but now i know what it is at least
@@imovedtoanotherplaceuwu9355 yeah, i mean is fun and all but i waste so much time in vain , and i have a hard time trying to fall asleep at night because of the intense thinking. I found this as a copeing mechanism and when i feel socially stressed i tend to start it and loose myself when i should be in the present (at a party for example) , i realise that when i am happy with my life it starts to fade away and i forget about it and when things are not so ok i do it more often
I came here for comfort. I was literally daydreaming rn, talking to myself and my dad walked in on me. I didn't even realise until I heard the door close (he came and went away). When I went in his room to ask if he actually came outside, he agreed. I was freaking out so bad cuz ik how I must be looking, like a mentally ill person. Oh god, I just hope he does'nt say this to my mom 😭😭
So I have Maladaptive daydreaming, and going outside on my scooter listening to music has become so much of an obsession I cant stop doing it. I dont pay attention to my surroundings and I basically turn off whats actually going around me so I can day dream my own world. I have my own friends- ok yeah im too old for imaginary friends and I dont know how to stop them from keeping me busy but I can sometimes walk around my room for hours on end just imagining random scenes or scenarios over and over.
Most of you would probably not care and think Maladaptive daydreaming isnt really a problem but I have been doing it for 2 years straight and its honestly pretty much torture being stuck in your own world.
anyway- thanks for reading I guess
For a while i thought i was the only one that did this. I spend most of the day in my room with my headphones in creating scenarios in my head, when i learned that a lot of people do this i feel a lot more normal about it. Every time someone walks in and catches me doing it i feel really awkward and like they are judging me, but it is just something i do without even thinking about it now, it is just a second nature now
This ALL of this. It's gotten worse for me during lockdown
FR?? i was genuinely concerned that something was wrong with me
SAME
@@m1m207 you should be concerned tho. it's all fun and games until you lose your social interaction abilities.
Same, I have my headphones with me then search for certain songs and start creating a scenario for myself. I even talk to myself 😅 and just keep walking for an hour, I would be even caught by my family 😬
I am literally so happy, I cried reading the comments. It's so good to know I'm not alone. I literally feel so good right now, I feel like I could do anything. Thank you so much, you guys are my angels.
Yes same, I was so glad when i found this video 😭
Sameee
Hell, i thought i was crazy before finding out this was a thing-
Sameee😭😭
Ooohh i feel like a proud mom when i see at your comment idk why
I daydreamed alot before 8 years in hell.
Maladiptive daydreaming can ruin your life please try to stop it i know is hard
It’s easy to say lol. When you have no friends to talk to or just too shy to open up about your feelings during particularly horrible times (like me) some people use it as their coping mechanism. This is especially true for me, In a few weeks I will be going to a high school that I don’t want to go to and I am probably going to stay there for a minimum of 4 months. The worst part is the only person I cared about from middle school is going to another high school which I could have gone to if I did two more questions right on a stupid exam (I got 470 out of 500). And those questions I could have totally done if I had just studied the whole time instead of in the last 2 months. I feel like an absolute fool and an idiot. My father is in another country and I am alone with my mother who is also very stressed. I was supposed to start high school there but because of problems with the visa we have to wait like 5-4 months before we can go. So long story short I am going to be stuck in an high school that I don’t want to be in for an entire term and worst part is I am going to be stuck there with no friends. These days the only way I can cope is by putting on some songs and start roaming around my room daydreaming like this girl here.
I put music on, pace around and act out scenarios over and over again. It wasn’t until recently that I found out that not everyone does this. It’s hard to be trapped in my mind 🥺
I do that though. Tromping will be normalized (if I’m ever famous like I sometimes pretend I am lol)
I do this all the time lol. Never knew that people DON'T do this all the time.
I'm shocked. I didn't know that something so specific and personal that I do is a thing, I never talked abt it to anyone. I'm a bit overwhelmed and wanna cry a little lol
THEY DONT?!??! Wow other peoples minds sound so BORING I be making up and living in whole entire movies in my head when I listen to music
@@gabs801 it's not a bad thing! honestly it sounds way more fun than just listening to music....and that's it 💛😂💛
My mumbling slowly starts to get louder if I don't pay attention to it. One time I was in 7th grade and one of the other kids noticed I was talking to myself. And she had the most shocked expressions on her face and she thought I was crazy. I felt like I was crazy for the longest time. When I first found out about Maladaptive Daydreaming, I actually cried because for the longest time I thought I was alone.
Same here. I have had maladaptive daydreaming for like 3-4 years and I always thought that I was alone until I found out about it during the pandemic.
sometimes I look in a random direction and daydream and classmates think I'm weird
Dude saaaame! I’ve had it for 7 years and I swear I was fcking crazy for the longest or it was some new weird development that formed from my social anxiety.
I was making up a scenario totally forgetting I was on facetime with my cousin. Worst feeling ever.
Me too. I also cried when I found out this was a thing.
my daydreaming has a rooted reason for sure..for me it started in lockdown and its almost 3 years now. i used to be a top student and now im losing it all. in my daydream im a person who's life is being recorded always and im the most kindest but evil ,healing but wounded etc etc person there
I have been maladaptive daydreaming for as long as I remember and sometimes when I snap back to reality and really process the fact that I had just been daydreaming for hours; I just get depressed. Also, not to be dramatic or anything but I feel as though it is ruining my life like I'll eat really badly and not look after myself but not care bcos my character in my head is perfect
Does anyone else love getting alone time just to do this...
Armyyy...me💜
Me :)
Me tho
armyyy sameee
YEEEEAH