Maladaptive Daydreaming

By Ateeqa

Maladaptive daydreaming is a disorder that affects ~2.5% of the population, approximately 200 million people, and yet remains untalked about; factors such as its causes, effects and remedies are lost to the statistics with the misinformation in some areas and the lack of it in others. This can make it extremely difficult for someone who is struggling to seek help or be diagnosed at all.

Maladaptive daydreaming is a mental health disorder in which people lose themselves in their daydreams, vivid depictions of another life or world as they sit for hours at a time, neglecting their sleep, focus and responsibilities that lie in the real world. Cases may vary between ages, though it is found that this disorder is more common in teens and children, with chances increasing for anyone with ADHD, OCD, Anxiety and/or trauma.

In my experience, my maladaptive daydreaming was caused by my anxiety and my negative attitude to the way my life was going at the time, meaning my hours of creating a better place for myself left me sitting in a dark room for hours at a time, completely forgetting myself, who I was, ignoring my real personality to the point I forgot I wasn’t the person I was imagining in my head, all to escape the dull ache of life. However, due to the constant blocking out of anything that brought me back to reality, I ended up developing memory issues, meaning I lost myself further and further in my daydreams since I had no other option, creating a downward spiral I never wanted to leave.

It wasn't easy breaking out of it, mainly because my life was far less appealing than the world I was lost in. What helped in the start was that I started small - I focused on what was actually happening in my daydreams, what they were trying to tell me about my wants and needs as I slowly started to incorporate them into my everyday life, narrating more and more parts of my current way of living into my daydreams to ease myself into returning. I then began thinking in third person, still not completely there, but enough for me to focus on the present. I created a life I wanted to live where possible.

Now, I still daydream occasionally, but they’re far less maladaptive and all-consuming than they were before. When this happens, I tend to incorporate it in my art - drawing, painting - any real action that can help ground me until I’m no longer daydreaming, but I’m painting, creating, finally living in my own skin.