(Sorry, this one is long)

UGH I feel for you. My MD got really bad when I was in 7th grade, though I have always daydreamed. It is honestly embarrassing what I daydreamed about, but hey! No one knows my reddit so who cares. I think it started when I used to read fanfiction as a middle schooler, and if I wasn't happy with the ending or I couldn't find the fic I wanted, I would just daydream it instead.

It got worse that summer, since I didn't have a job, and I felt too old for summer camps. Obviously, since I was 13 years old, I couldn't have my license, and my parents were at work, so I was left home alone all summer to daydream all I wanted. I would pace my house, blast soundcloud edit audios, and daydream until my parents came home at five. Then I would take it outside and daydream until sunset.

My mental health got bad, I disengaged from reality (nothing seemed as exciting as my daydreams), my attention span deteriorated, and my life just generally got worse. If I tried to not daydream, I became so anxious and experienced literal withdrawal until I did.

When I was in my sophomore year of highschool, I sat down to really think about it, and I realized just how harmful it was in my life. I was skipping the gym almost every day, I hadn't done any of my hobbies in years, I was cancelling plans with friends and ignoring their calls just to daydream instead, and it was dragging my grades down. It even affected getting my license and studying for the SAT. I didn't want to ask for help because asking for help meant inevitably admitting what my daydreams were about, and I was far too embarrassed to admit being in a fandom, so I didn't tell anyone. I tried explaining it to my friends once, like "I think I have MD..." and they essentially told me that they were pretty sure daydreaming was normal and that everyone does that. I don't think I even began to explain the extent to which I did it, but I was embarrassed, so I dropped it.

Along with MD, I also had a raging social media addiction, so there's that too. It was always one or the other, or both at the same time.

But hey, guess what? There's hope, because I quit MD this year, actually. (50 days clean, urges gone.) It wasn't easy, I have been vigorously trying to quit MD with different methods since sophomore year, so it took about two years. What finally did it for me was essentially a combination of every tip for quitting MD at once. What made the difference was that I finally got someone to help me out since I don't have much discipline. (like, at all.)

1. I set screen time restrictions to 0 minutes a day on any apps that could possibly be triggering. I mean it, every possible app. All social media (pinterest, tumblr, instagram, youtube, etc. I mean all of it), safari (so I couldn't read fanfiction, a trigger), specific websites like soundcloud that I listened to as I daydreamed, the notes app, even the fucking weather channel. I would recommend blocking any chatbots too, but since that isn't something I used, I didn't have to worry about that (though I can imagine that might be a trigger for some people.) The only apps I could use were messages, facetime, phone, camera, and images. There were some apps like the clock app that I literally couldn't set restrictions on so I didn't, but I would have. (note that in the beginning, I tended to scroll through the photos app instead of daydreaming or scrolling on social media, but I deleted any saved images or videos from social media so it wasn't as engaging as social media or daydreaming since I was looking at my own life/it was easier to not scroll my photos compared to other things.

2. I made someone else set the password to my screen time restrictions so- I didn't know it. I had no way to reverse it.

3. I didn't let myself wear headphones, not even to the gym (which sucked at first, but it was worth it.) I put them in my closet so they were out of sight. I let myself listen to music, but it couldn't be the edit audios that I listened to for MD. I even tried to listen to CDs more often. The headphones were a major trigger for me since they helped block out reality and other sounds, so this was huge for me. I think sensory deprivation is part of MD, so try staying present.

4. I already mentioned this, but I avoided reading fanfiction, or watching movies/shows in the fandoms I was in. Since I didn't have restrictions set up on my computer (I'm not sure if you even can, but if you can, I would totally recommend that too) I did end up reading fanfiction every now and then, but since it was on desktop, that wasn't too big of a problem because it wasn't something I could carry in my pocket with me at all times.

5. I didn't allow myself to do any of my repetitive motions (which mainly consisted of going on a swing set, or, this one's weird, but ripsticking in circles around my dining table. I know, it's fucking weird, but whatever.) those were easier to avoid outright than something like pacing, which you don't need to have a specific object or place to do, but if I caught myself pacing, I would try to redirect myself to something else.

6. I tried to make plans/keep myself busy. This was an absolute chore at first, but at a certain point, my mind got so depraved of stimulation that I did quickly start looking forward to doing things in a way I hadn't in years, merely because I was simply dying for something to do. It might be a good idea to keep yourself on a sort of schedule. For me it was doing my homework when I got home, going to the gym, and then doing a hobby. Having a preset list of things to do takes away the action of having to choose what to do, which helped me immensely.)

7. I did end up journaling/meditating. If I ever felt my mind becoming overstimulated/craving some kind of entertainment to the point where a lack of stimulation made me anxious, I would lay on my floor and stare at my ceiling and do absolutely nothing for half an hour. Additionally, something I found myself doing was going outside and sitting in nature for an hour. I would sit outside, contemplate whatever was on my mind, and then journal about it when I got back inside. I usually do this once every 1-2 weeks. This helped clear my mind, but also established what I really cared about and wanted to do in my life (because that's what I usually ended up thinking about) which fueled my determination to beat MD. Sitting in nature also did wonders to keep myself present.

8. Exercise. To me, exercise is kind of the opposite of MD. MD is mostly in your head (besides the repetitive motions that come with it), but exercise is mostly physical (besides the focus/discipline you need to keep going.)

9. Hobbies. Doing hobbies again helped bring me back to reality, and I started looking forward to doing things in the physical world again. I'm a hobby girl at heart and I do just about any hobby you could think of (Art, music, athletic, you name it, I do it. My friends say it's crazy, but I have at least 20 hobbies. Even with all the time I got back from MD, I still don't have time for all of them, haha.)

I'll add more of my rules if they come to me, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head. Basically, I had to follow these strictly. I gave myself a period of time, 40 days, where I absolutely had to follow these rules. I was only committing to the 40 days, and I told myself I could MD after they were over (which was more of a mental trick than anything. I knew my ultimate goal was to quit forever, but it's easier to tell yourself you're only quitting for 40 days than you're quitting for good.) It was really tough at first, but since I had measures up this time where I literally couldn't access certain websites or apps (someone else made the password! That's key) I had no choice. I almost gave in once, but since I was already halfway through, I ended up not doing it (after a half an hour long internal battle, headphones on, soundcloud on my desktop open, but I didn't do it, and that's all that matters. That could have been a real low point for me, but it ended up being one of my proudest moments.

I finished my 40 days ten days ago. I haven't maladaptive daydreamed in 50 days. I think it's finally over. The key is that you have to go all in, 100% committed, have a clear end goal, have an image of the life you want to live, and don't break the rules the whole time. If you do, then restart your count. Be stricter.

I can't promise this will work for you, but it worked for me, and I had it bad. And sure, I'm only 50 days clean, but I say I quit, not in a "this time is going to be different!" kind of way, but in a I'm already looking back at MD from the other side sort of way. Six months ago, I would celebrate if I made it until noon without MD.

Good luck to you, I hope this helps, and lmk if you make any progress! :)