Maladaptive Daydreaming vs Mind wandering – How To Tell the Difference

Oh wow I have this

I spend hours in my room, listening to music, and walk back and forth while maladabtive daydreaming, i started randomly maladptive daydreaming in grade 5, which was the most effective and strongest maladaptive daydreaming. i would get mad if someone called my name out while i was doing it so i was always seen in a bad mood,but the thing is i just wanna escape reality so bad and think of mystory lines in my head. sometimes it would get too exciting that i'd mouth the quotes out, or if i was alone i'd act the daydream out, but that was only when it was exciting for example a fight occured, or an idea just came into my mind, id jump around if i had a new idea.

I dont wanna self diagnose here but seeing the amount of symptoms that i relate with and the amount of people in the comment section share stories that i relate to, i feel a bit comforted about the fact that im not the only one.

i started daydreaming when i was about(probably) 8-10 yo's when i startd getting more and more intrested in certain fandoms and the creating of OC's. this got a lot more intensified when i turned 11 yo's it did'nt affect my school work much(that's what i thought) but with my grades dropping, the struggle of keeping up with school projects, actually getting work done and too may fantasy stories piling up. uhhh yk. these days are still the same but i manage to pull myself together using schedules and avoiding social media as much as possible(the reason why i even started this "addiction?") i have my life quite orgnized, i think idk lmao.

my dreams were'nt focued about myself, and the ones that were, was just me being self-confident and able to interact with people, offline.. im quite confident in my online life however.
i never used my daydreamng to escape from my real life suprisingly, but rather purely for character exploration and kewl ass animated scenes that i'll never accomplish myself lol. i quit enjoy doing this honestly cause it gets me hyped and releases majority of the extra dopamine i have, but it also makes me procastinate, a lot. i have so much unfinished art that i know i won't finish cause got to focused on it then completely threw it away the second i get a knew idea or find another thing to obsess over.

oh and also, sometimes i like to snap or flap my hands or spin in my chair or the most common out of all of them, which i running around my entire house. it makes me focus on my stories more and also with the amount of energy i gain from daydreaming and my urge to always move when something exciting happens, it's unavoidable.

and a simple yell or call for my name can get me to stop daydreaming immediately. i'm not sure about others though.
(i swear there was more info and stuff i was gonna talk about but i forgot what it was i'm so sorry)

In the movie the daydream comes whenever he feels like a situation could be handled better, it's like he knows he has low self esteem so imagines an adventurer coming in to save the day and kiss the girl

I started young. I have hyper ADHD. I would be triggered by music. I would go into a room for hours, spinning, with music banging loud in my ears. It was embarrassing.

I was daydreaming since I was a child, to cope with the horrible surroundings and life I had. I survived 5 years of war and wasn't going to school and having fun like other young people of my age. It kept me going in life, I was thinking about something, drawing things while listening to the classes, I am also very artistic so I had a need to keep drawing, like an ink printer I was.... and I got myself later in life where I wanted to be. But I'm so tired now, I need to take a step back, to start daydreaming again! When I have a day off, I usually spend it at home, and my inner self wants to take more of that time and space I got, working so hard to get there. I want to be that functional dreamer again!

Damm i got whatever this is

To keep from going crazy, I think I kinda went crazy 🤦🏽‍♂️

Let me explain…

I went to prison as a teenager with a 30 year sentence. (FYI: my conviction was nonviolent.)

I was so young in a maximum security prison that the warden wouldn’t let me on the compound until I turned 21, so they locked me in the hole (solitary confinement in a small concrete and steel room.) I couldn’t even have books. All I had were my thoughts and guys yelling at each other all day and night.

To keep from going crazy from my intrusive thoughts, I would daydream. I’m talking about daydreaming full TV series that I made up with full characters 😳

The problem is, when I got out of solitary confinement, I couldn’t turn this off. 🤦🏽‍♂️

I found ways to shut it off temporarily though, by focusing my mind on work, exercising, or prayer.

My mind has to stay active or I may curl into the fetal position for days under the cover and drift off into another world 🤦🏽‍♂️

(I’m just sharing my experience. Don’t trash me in the replies.)

I have ADHD predominantly inattentive and since I was a kid I used to daydream a lot and imagine things when I was bored. There was a period of time where I actually convinced myself that I am being filmed and behaved as if I was actually filmed for a movie on a daily basis. I used to also imagine I have supernatural animals that come with me to school. I don’t know why I had this need to add these imaginary scripture to my life as a kid, maybe it was out of boredom, maybe it made me feel like my life is interesting and colourful when I imagine, maybe it made me feel like my life has a purpose. The thing that really bugged me is how it actually made me behave like an actress. I also used to copy behaviour of characters from TV shows. It made me feel ok with being aggressive because I imagined that it’s not me who’s acting that way, but that TV character. And if the TV character is allowed to act aggressive then maybe it’s ok if I behave that way too. Kind of like TV characters gave me permission to act in certain ways.. also I don’t know why but I always have these “pauses” where I just stare during the day. (I think these are more of a dissociation rather than daydreaming because I am not even thinking about something, I just pause and disconnect from the situation or from when I am expected to do) It usually comes when I need to do something that I have no interest in doing or when I am just tired or bored. And whenever someone tells me to focus or wave their hands in front of me to “get me out of it” I get mad because I enjoy this disconnection, I just want to stay in that state. And I don’t know if that’s a regular daydreaming or a coping mechanism that comes from me having ADHD and a way to get away with tasks I need to do and feel 0 motivation to.. anyone can relate to something?

I find that the older i get the more i isolate myself and constantly maladaptive daydream. So much so i tend to not care to have conversations with people/my friends, however, find myself sad that I'm pushing people away and i dont know how to not do it anymore at this point.

I have started daydreaming around 10/11 years old. It's a scene in a movie that had triggered the first daydreaming. I juste stopped 1 minute to make again the scene. Some days after I was remembering the movie and felt like I needed to re-live the scene. It wasn't often at that time. then around 12yo it was more often. I don't know if It's related but at the same time I started having difficulty making real friends at school and I started having difficulty with my father. It has worsen till age 15/16. I was daydreaming for hours at that time. And completly aware of what I was doing. But I thought it was just me. No one around me told me they were doing this. I thought I was just strange. It has consequences because other teenagers loved going out watching movies, watch concert, talk about shopping, talk about boys and girls. Not me. And a cultural and social difference began to stand out. I wasn't interested in what other people were interested in. I started to get lost in conversations. This lasted until the age of 19/ 20. I didn't know at that time but I was depressed till my 14yo. And at 20 I started to come out of depression. I started to have studies, a job and friends that mattered. Now I'm 26, I daydream only when I'm really stressed on Week end when I'm alone. I still have triggers but when I start doing something else I can stop the trigger. And it doesn't come back all day long till night where I daydream to fall asleep. I can't find sleep without that. 😊

I know she’s named every psychological reason behind it, but my personal issue was music and fantasizing. I stopped maladaptive daydreaming when I cut my earphone wires and I forced myself to live without them (and music). I would only listen to music in the car during that time, and my life genuinely drastically improved after some weeks had passed. I fell back into the habit of listening to music and pacing back and forth recently, but living without it was a much better experience: you will miss your fantasies at first, but that is only until you adapt and it will become normal very fast. I started appreciating music and life so much more when I did not have ear- or headphones; I even “healed” from my depression after months had passed, because I started living more being myself! I wasn’t living in my head and fantasies any longer, and I became so productive doing that, because pacing back and forth in my home and fantasizing didn’t take up half of my day anymore. I know cutting up the wires feels very extreme, but trust me when I say that only then you will notice how addicted you were: I literally had to go through withdrawals, but when I noticed how my depression had faded and that I suddenly had new hope for my life and its experiences, it changed me a lot.

I also started playing music on my record player during that time, and I just enjoyed it so much more. So, even if you adore music and / or singing like I do, know that having an unhealthy relationship with music and fantasizing isn’t exactly what “loving music” or “being creative” translates to.

Lastly, you are not harming yourself. However, you could be wasting your time and your potential if you become addicated: I realized that when I quit, and healing from this has pretty much caused me to become the person I always fantasized about being, charming and confident. Because, instead of dreaming about it all day long: I became that person through actually doing.

So interesting! I have definitely done this in the past, especially when I was younger & my depression was untreated. Never knew it had a name. It's very reassuring to see so many comments from others.

This is such a delicate topic for me, one I couldnt even explain to my psychologists back when I was doing it. I tried explaining once, when I was 12 or sth, and I remember her asking me "so do you see those entities in the room with us right now?" and I was like "damn, she thought I'm schizophrenic." and I stopped trying to explain for good.

I only recently found out this had a name, long after I stopped doing it. I kinda gaslit myself to quit, and it was pretty bad at first cause I missed my dreams so much, that I kinda "mourned" for a while. But I knew I had to, cause I was so happy when I was daydreaming that I stopped taking pleasure from my own life, everything was better there. So for anyone out there who's doing this, know that its not just time consuming, its also affecting your real life pleasures so badly. I had some good friends before I started daydreaming, but daydreaming got so intense that I convinced myself the ones I dreamt about would understand and love me more. Brain is tricky, the longer you repeat something, the easier it is to believe in. So I knew I had to stop, cause I needed a life and it became dangerous. I would have a boyfriend and compare it with my "dream guy", as if you get to do that. I would like someone but then I would love my "dream guy" more. I would feel so guilty, and feel like I was cheating. I created so many traumas for myself, cause like, I actually havent cheated on anyone? It was unhealthy, and I would obsess over fantasies I would never be able to experience in real life, then get sad and cry over that fact. So in the end I was like "WHY are you still torturing yourself with dreams and lives that'll never be yours? It's you who's causing all this pain, out of nowhere, in your room, no one's doing anything to you, you couldve been out there living your OWN life, but you decided youre gonna dream of other lives and pity yourself that youre not them" I gaslit the hell out of myself, I didnt know any better.

But it worked, and I stopped. Not all of a sudden, and not with hanging out with friends or with the help of my family. I just kept myself busy, played games and didnt go to bed until it was impossible to stay awake. And Ive seen someone else in the comments say this too, my life has improved drastically. I made a promise to myself that instead of obsessing over the events in my dreams, I would become the person that deserves to experience those events. Like, how could i imagine my character traits being different but do nothing to achieve that irl? Made no sense after a point.

I started this when I was around 11, now I'm 27 and married to the love of my life, a happy marriage that I couldnt even given a chance to if I kept daydreaming, being that shitty self of me. I have a wonderful life now, a loving husband who I love more than anything in this world, a cheap rented house with a gorgeous view and lots of hobbies to keep me entertained. My life has never been better, even in my dreams.

Also dont get me wrong, i know this daydreaming doesnt feel like a disease and i think its not honestly, and i still have the urge to do it from time to time. The difference now is that Im aware I had an addiction, and i dont pursue. I know my life is better off without that, because when you're feeling down, you might want to isolate yourself and dream about a better life, but at the end, you still have to get back to that room and after that beautiful dream, the reality slaps even harder. At the end, it is you who has to get up and change something.

I always do that for hours because its a good substitute for reality!

What helped me manage it is the space time bridging meditation taught by Dr. Huberman in his podcast about meditation (podcast #96)

but a real time intervention is dont breath when day dreaming.

It's like a combination of OCD and excessive daydreaming?

I want to stop daydreaming

I haven’t had anything tramautic happen in my life ( nothing I remember anyway ) and I do this all the time. Also is it bad to do it. It’s really fun for me

i was very traumatized growing up so it has something to do with it i have anxiety and ocd and identity disturbance

So my dirty little secret has a name.

What’s wrong with escaping to dream a bit? Why does everything gotta be a problem? I think it’s healthy to daydream. As with anything excess can be crippling but I think listening to some tunes and dreaming about stuff can be fun, creative, healthy, exhilarating, and relaxing.

Dr. Marks can you please please do a video on sleep paralysis please I suffer so bad. I am under alot of stress and it happens. Please help me

Im cooked

I’m pretty sure mine started when I was 5 and needed several ear surgeries. I’d pretend to be a power ranger going into it to stay brave. Now as an adult, it’s only frustrating when I get the urge to maladaptive daydream when I’m in the middle of something else or with a crowd and have to find a way to isolate.

So what about waking dreams? 🤔

Bugün cok fena yagmur yagiyodu semsiyeyle giderken bile islaniyodum geri dondum anneme soyledim annem direkt babami aradi sikayet etti babamda madem okula gitmiyo telefonu falan herseyi al elinden sonsuza kadar yasak dedi her bir seyde ceza olarak telefon yasaklamakla tehdit ediyolar bide ansizin isten gelirim eğer elinde telefon gorursem o zaman görürsun dedi...

Scary this poped up and i do this alot especially with weed.

I don't know why, but hearing the explanation I have such a hard time putting into words makes me emotional. This has taken up so much of my life and never knew how to describe it to anyone.

When I was a kid, I was constantly lost in my imagination and my fantasy world. I miss that time of my life. I felt so much and was so creative. I felt daydreaming was my superpower.

Now that I'm an adult and want to be a writer, I don't have that in me anymore at the time I want it the most. It's making me depressed. I wish I had it back.

With time, prayer, patience I have overcome maladaptive daydreaming, but now I dissociate with social media or TV, I am still a work in progress. Trauma is like an onion just peel off one layer after another.

Oh I'm not special then

That thing about Walter Mitty's involuntary daydreaming episodes being unrealistic doesn't ring true. I suspect this may differ depending on your neurotype? It's very much involuntary for me. Something I slip into without relising it until I'm interrupted, not something I seek out or need to isolate myself for. It would be very manageable if the constraints were that narrow and strict.

Please, daybreaming is how I get trough the day on my boring job. It's not maladaptive, it's adaptive. Most of the time I don't need to focus and I can shift back and forth from daydreaming to a task that requires more attention.

I have two main ways to do intense daydreams : When I find a picture that I love (usually a fanart I've made, or a drawing from someone else), I just put it on my computer screen, search for matching musics, and just stare at the illustration with music in the background for hours, imagining the character's backstories, scenarios etc. Or I just go to bed and start my imaginary netflix, inventing seasons, episodes or fanfictions. Sometimes I feel the need to act out my dreams and to manifest them in a tangible way. One time I've spent the entire day working out like I was the character from one of my scenarios, or even went out to shop or eat like them. Basically crossing daydreaming with impersonating.

I do this and I don't feel like it affects any part of my life negatively. I have adhd and anxiety and I do this for 2 reasons: 1 coping when I'm upset ( I daydream about positive things and imagine nice scenarios) and 2 for entertainment when I'm excited (like watching a fun movie in my own brain for example I live abroad so my family and my friends rarely meet so I imagine the hanging out or when I look forward to things). I usually listen to music, I sometimes say the words and I have to walk. I don't think trigger is the right word at least for me. What makes me do this are bad or very good experiences. Like say I went to a cool concert, I will replay it in my head. I only do this in my free time. I've allocated a specific time slot for it since I was a kid. Funny enough my mom who is also a doctor that worked with adhd kids her whole life prompted me to do this when I felt anxious and overwhelmed. I usually take a little walk once a day or when I walk back home etc and that's when I do it. This quite literally helped mee through grief. It never interfered with my daily activities or caused any harm. I've been in therapy for other things and if this is one of the issues that my adhd came with... It's one I want to keep. It's not that different from writing a story or a diary to me

I’m experiencing it as a response to music. I’am a hobby-piano player and I get so inspired by jazz that I’am dancing in the bathroom while I’am imagine me playing the music I’am currently creating in my head. It could be a not accomplished goal which I’am able to feel in this moment.

Hey, i do this but not for hours, is just like minutes, and i get lost in my thoughts, this is how i started writing LMAO i don't think to me is a bad think, I've been worried but nevermind, some comments made me realize I'm just being dramatic over my situation. Also, i suffer from anxiety.

I think I might have it. I also daydream a lot. I dont do it for hours but do it many times a day. I might be a addiction. I love stories of every kind and watched a lot of movies, tv shows, anime, read books, stories, played games. So i often create stories inside my head with storilines and characters . So why not capatalize. So i write them irl. When I ding a repatative task like walking to school my brain goes on auto pilot and I daydream. I often say characters dialogue out loud. I don't wanna cure it. It does effect me irl but not to the extent that it is annoying and dangerous. So i am fine. Also profit from those stories.😅

Ive had this and it got so bad i had to quit my job and move in with my parents. Then i was diagnosed with schizophrenia, it was the wrong diagnosis, i tried telling the doctors but they wouldn't listen. Anyway i took the medicine. Nithing happend. Then i went to a retreat where they keep you in a special environment. And i only stayed there for 2 weeks, basically ran away from the facility. When i came back my daydreaming was completely gone. I dont know what did it for me. But if you suffer from this you need to get yourself help immediately. It ruined my 20s, and no one was there to help me. I wish you all the best

Anybody please help mw

It is addicting to the point that I want to live in my fantasy rather than continue to live in my reality.

After watching this, I'm back again with my fantasy. I couldn't control to daydream.

Some daydreamers should become writers. Notice how I said “some”.

I do this alot with music, when im stressed/worried, i fantisize about situations that make no sense or sense sometimes with emotional attachment , ive caught myself talking to myself and people looking at me.

after spending about a hour looking into this (the reddit was surprisingly helpful!) i am almost completely certain that i do not have maladaptive daydreaming thank you for making this great video (and your other great videos on the topic) that helped me learn what it was and if i had it or not

It's also free.

its like a drug

My job is very isolated, routine, and mind numbing. During my work I do this for hours on end. I am an author and write books about my daydreams and though I don't loose touch with reality, I often end up ignoring it completely while doing my tasks unconsciously. Usually what breaks me out of it is if something in my environment changes from the routine norm, which is rare, or I'll catch myself talking too loud when voicing what a character is saying. I'll see that an hour has went by and I can't remember anything that happened in that hour except the events playing out in my head. It's actually awesome and a great escape

Why are mine always bad and make me angry tho ):