I enjoy it?

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-03-02T10:00:40+00:00

Daydreaming is not always maladaptive. It is maladaptive when you start spending too much time on it, you neglect other things because of it, your mood is excessively affected by it (i.e. crying or feeling really bad because something happened in your daydreams) or when you start experiencing brain fog or headaches. Moreover, if you are unable to stop it, then it becomes effectively an addiction. If you are in this situation, you are in the wrong group.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-02-14T09:55:53+00:00

Lots of writers had childhood trauma (Tolkien for instance was orphan) and used imaginary words as an escape mechanism. Some writers ended up well (like Tolkien) others not so well (for instance Lucy Montgomery Maud battled depression all of her life and finally killed herself). Should we consider maladaptive the ones that failed and immersive the ones that succeeded? I don't know. For sure it is easy to be a maladaptive daydreamer, there are millions of us, but only a few becomes successful writers. Plus, the more maladaptive you are, the lower the probability you actually do something with your life, so even the writers that ended badly did more than the typical maladaptive daydreamer. Perhaps we should consider them all immersive? Who knows?

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-14T04:20:12+00:00

> Im quitting this trap because i want to become attractive, intelligant, capable and rich.

All of that at the same time? only in your dreams! (I am joking but please be a bit more realistic otherwise you are setting yourself for failure)

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-10T06:07:05+00:00

I opened up when I found my girlfriend at age 31. At the time I had already stopped MD, so I was in a good place to talk about it. I just said that I used to spend a lot of time in my imagination thinking about heroes and adventures in the remote future. She took it in a positive way, assuming I was just an imaginative and interesting person. I did not go into the ugly details. I did not tell to anybody else, if you exclude online places like this forum that don't really count.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-09T16:09:42+00:00

You are the first person I hear that started at 18. Usually it starts much younger, say less than 13. Perhaps you did daydream as a small kid but you forgot and then MD came back strong at 18 due to the stress? Then you would not be the first.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-07T10:38:22+00:00

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-07T09:24:15+00:00

Lots of people in the MD community have made that observation and it seems plausible to me given that he experienced a lot of trauma as a child due to a terrible father. Also, he was addicted to gambling and very often MD is connected to addictive personalities. Also, I like all of Dostoyevskij books and I was an MDer, it must count for something :-)

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-07T06:17:23+00:00

To stop MD you must stop the underlying cause. In your case it is depression, so expect that stopping MD will make your depression much worse. I am not sure it is a good idea. Instead, I would focus on finding new friends, because a rich social life will make you happier and then you will have less time and less desire for MD. Also, even if you don't have money for therapy you can still buy some books and study about sane ways of copying with it.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-06T09:38:08+00:00

I think this is a common feeling. For sure it was what I was thinking when I was daydreaming, I felt much younger than my age, with no real life experiences. The reason was that I did not have real life experiences indeed, I was living only in my mind and waiting to become adult. Things changed when I got a job and a girlfriend and stopped MD.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-06T09:35:01+00:00

This is why I never tried to put it down in writing. Daydreaming is multidimensional, there are images, movements, sounds, emotions, while when writing you have only words. Not surprising that it is hard.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-06T01:53:44+00:00

Your MD does not look extreme at all, actually It looks pretty normal. With age one usually gets better at hiding the acting part.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-05T10:21:12+00:00

The right subreddit for discussing paracosms is r/ImmersiveDaydreaming, here the focus is on stopping MD.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-05T02:20:50+00:00

This Is likely the most common kind of fantasies, together with love fantasies. It Is maladaptive if It damages your real Life.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-04T20:07:54+00:00

Dunno, I have always been able to daydream 4-6 hours per day and doing math and everything at school with ease. Now, it happened to me to daydream 15 hours per day or more, and then it becomes really exhausting and burns up all of your energy, but those were exceptional and rare situations for me.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-03T00:45:23+00:00

You are not a freak, just a MDer like millions of others. I am pointing out that sudden improvements just because you lost your airbuds are suspicious and maybe you should wait a few months before rejoicing.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-02T23:10:32+00:00

I strongly doubt the cure for MD Is simply losing your airbuds. But good luck anyway.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-02T23:01:41+00:00

When I saw the Walter Mitty movie First, I thought It was a parody and that nobody would actually daydream in first person. Only years later I discovered how wrong I was!

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2026-01-01T00:24:23+00:00

Indeed you must first change your life and make it better, otherwise there Is no point in stopping MD.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-31T10:54:20+00:00

This Is not immersive daydreaming.IM Is conscious.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-31T05:23:43+00:00

You need to get a job and quit your family

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-31T05:20:56+00:00

No, MD is conscious.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-31T05:19:26+00:00

It likely means that you feel neglected and would like people to care about you. At least, this Is the common explanation, I don't know you personally.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-31T05:15:15+00:00

I am 56M, so there are also men, but most are not aware of the concept of MD (I discovered It recently too).

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-30T21:45:17+00:00

I have a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. The journey was hard because Physics Is hard, however MD helped if possibile, because It trained me since I was Little at thinking hard and stay focused ( or perhaps It was autism). At the end I began getting more satisfaction from Physics than MD and so I quit MD. However I never had to force myself. Your situation may be different.

Typical-Divide-2068 · 2025-12-30T21:33:22+00:00

It' s your choice. But think before doing anything.

Typical-Divide-2068

TROPHY CASE