Hello Marissa,

My name is Ravi. I too came across this term MD only yesterday. I was truly surprised to know that there are others with the same condition like me. As far as i can remember i have had this condition since my childhood. I realized that this was a problem as it interfered with my studies. But do what i may i could not get a handle on it, This led to chronic procrastination and general attention deficit. I'm glad that i have joined this group and hopefully we can explore how best we can cope with this going forward. Best. Ravi

Yeah, Alot of people, I try to explain it to them, and they tell me to just control it. Like If I could I would! Its not that simple. Like they think Im choosing to be like this, and When I try to push myself not to think about it, it just makes me more tired. I use to be able to stay up til like 2:30am no problem, now im tired by like 4:30 pm in the afternoon. Ill go out with friends and its still there, so I dont go have fun anymore knowing that the fun emotion is going to be fake, and its not worth it. All my emotions went with all this daydreaming. Music is a major trigger even tho I LOVE music. It’s causing me to push friends away, family away. I thought I only had myself to run to in this, and was happy when I finally got lucky and found it. Hoping to find something that will work for me and get my life back. I feel like im prematured 10 years, although im 21 I feel like an 11 year old cuz that is when it started. Like im smart but im not adult smart. I cant have conversations that my friends have at all, cuz Im clueless on what they are talking about. I havent been able to learn anything and get on their lvl, because of this. It sucks. If pills dont work for me, then im gonna have to wait until they find an affected treatment and that could take forever, and I want my life back now, I feel like im losing everything from this..

I'm glad that we are able to talk about this. I can totally understand your feelings. I have been thru this myself. In my case it has lead to attention deficit and chronic procrastination. It has had a major impact on my life. Bad academic records, inability to progress in job, broken relationships. It could have been so much better if i was able to control this. I spoke to psychologists regarding this, but none of them really understood it. They all felt it was some sort of depression or attention deficit syndrome. For me there is no particular trigger. I get it when i'm happy, bored or sad. My mood does not really matter. So i also am not sure how to stop this or at least cope with this so that it does not affect my day to day activity. You probably have heard about Eli Somer, he is the psychologist who first studied MD in detail. If you have not hear about Somer, google him. He is hoping to launch an online portal to help people with MD. Let us hope that he does it soon and we can benefit from it. Take care.

Hi, my name is Julianne.

I just found out about maladaptive daydreaming last night, and I'm trying to figure out ways that can help me control it. I've always been a daydreamer, but I've never thought about myself as different before 1,5 years ago. Before that, I was more social and I was also keeping myself busy with after school activities. So I guess it didn't bother me that much back then.

I've had low self-esteem since 8th grade, because I didn't have any classes with my friends after going into lower secondary school, and I was already shy. I also kept finding insecurities about myself. All throughout lower secondary school, I had after school activities though, and I also hung out with friends a lot. Therefore I didn't think too much of my daydreaming, and I still managed to do well in school. Ever since I started upper secondary, however, it has been very hard. My friends all ended up going to different schools than me, so I started feeling lonely, and I was really insecure about myself so I didn't make any new ones. Schoolwork also got harder, and this was when my daydreaming was really starting to be a problem. I'm doing my last year in upper secondary now, and I'm not even sure if I'll pass all of my classes.

I feel isolated, and it's like I'm not a part of the world that everyone else is living in, I live in my own little bubble. I also recognize what Marina was saying about feeling younger than she really is. I've spent so much time daydreaming, that I haven't had the time to figure out who I am, and I haven't been able to learn as much. I feel really lonely now, because I don't feel like I can talk to anyone about this without being judged. I've had a few conversations with the nurse at our school about loneliness, depression and problems with sleeping, but I don't feel like I can talk to her about this.

Music is the biggest trigger for me, I remember it being books and movies as a child, but I don't really set aside time for reading or watching movies anymore. I usually spend my days being tired, depressed, daydreaming and being stressed because I can't concentrate on schoolwork.

Sorry for almost writing my whole lifestory, but I just had a lot on my mind.

I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in southern California. Though I've been in private practice for 25 years, I have JUST started seeing someone who completely fits the maladaptive daydreaming description. In my attempts to comb the internet to find out more, I came across this group and am hoping you will all be able to maybe help me help my client. For starters, are there any books or resources out there that you have found helpful?

Thanks so much,
Teri