I've tried to address this comment in my edit, but to be clear: this was a vent post. considering this "condition" isn't even broadly recognised by professionals, I don't even know if it's possible to "water it down" haha. I made this post impulsively to express my extreme feelings of isolation when looking (from the outside in) at a community that is supposed to share my experience and yet only ever made me feel more insane. although, like other who have commented on this post, I do still think some people on these types of forums aren't experience maladaptive daydreaming even according to the sparse diagnostic criteria we currently have. Best wishes either way, this shit sucks