Daydreaming, Excessive and Obsessive

[Sparky110]

Hi!  I’ve suffered with OCD for years and years, but I also have another problem, and I’d like to know if there are any other people out there who suffer with this.  I daydream in an excessive, uncontrollable way.  I've done this since I was a very small child.  I create daydream "worlds" in my mind.  These "worlds" have changed and grown with me as I've gotten older.  Here is a website that calls this Maladaptive Daydreaming:

http://daydreamingdisorder.webs.com/

People who have it will also sometimes compare it to an addiction, and say that they can't stop. It is definitely like an addiction to me.  It really, really interfers with my life. Actually, it has done a lot to stop me from having a real life.  Anyone else out there have this problem?

[Vanenna]

I think before and after in day dreams,I space out after or before the whatever effects me afterwards then reacts by thinking bout what just happened or said of how I feel or what I can do either way of how to handle things but when its bad thoughts I don't act on it. I think of it as a gift in a way and helps with just another way we think regularly. if I can, I would prank someone if have opportunity but that's it, if I don't get along with someone,but harmless!!!! either way just negative or not it helps think first. im planning on therapy but not meds, I don't get depressive suicide thoughts,i play on my phone a lot,i have borderline personality disorder,i am probably not gonna be online much for this but think of things to do that you like,hiking,fishing,cooking out or camping whatever,not books!!!!

[Vanenna]

I think before and after in day dreams,I space out after or before the whatever effects me afterwards then reacts by thinking bout what just happened or said of how I feel or what I can do either way of how to handle things but when its bad thoughts I don't act on it. I think of it as a gift in a way and helps with just another way we think regularly. if I can, I would prank someone if have opportunity but that's it, if I don't get along with someone,but harmless!!!! either way just negative or not it helps think first. im planning on therapy but not meds, I don't get depressive suicide thoughts,i play on my phone a lot,i have borderline personality disorder,i am probably not gonna be online much for this but think of things to do that you like,hiking,fishing,cooking out or camping whatever,not books!!!!

[Vanenna]

I didn't mean to make two. I believe it all comes from history backrounds,addiction history or trauma I don't know which but ive experienced physical,emotional and mentally it became in teenage years, I am aware commenting on my own, but my theory.

[lillylace]

As a person, myself, who has spent almost 2 decades seeing counselors and receiving meds. I was never the person as it ironically sounds, not to take my meds. I have come to a point now, being 27 years old-- That one small mess as a kid, has lead me to a sleugh of diagnosis' and so many mg.s that I literally walked around high school as a Zombie. And, through lack of insurance and my own persistent need to want to connect with people, the little 45 mg. a day for the last 10 years, had become more of a negative in my life then a positive. Having completely cold turkeyed myself now for about 4-5 months, I have lingering daydreams. And that's really it. I, too, know that I have started this as a child-- and there must be something to be said for that as so many responses state the same--- However! I'm bound and determined to live my life as wonderfully happy and accomplishing as I possibly can! I might try this creative expression thing for about 3 months or so, or until the daydreams are so much negatively impacting I cannot stick it out any more. Umbrella meds have been suggested, but I'm still unsure. I'd like to give me the best possible endeavor in this I possibly can -- Lest I wonder what a med free life could actually be like til the day I die.-- BTW, this spiel spurned from me looking for alternatives, which I have found. Thank you. But has any of you considered looking at Pschizo-Affective disorder? Not that it would fit any one of you... but I am told that for me, this explains to a great extent why I spend every waking hour trapped in a daydream... this is not a hallucination, it is a daydream. And in these daydreams through the comfort and security of only telling myself, I can look at my dreams and goals. As well as, with the analytical mind I have known for being common with the disorder, that in the event I foresee troubles coming from a social thing, I do preplan and act out conversations with people! Mostly because I don't want to be completely bombarded and because of shock, sit there and stammer. Which has led to more in depth look at my disorders, and more meds. versus, preplaning incidents that "may" come down the pike, actually have helped me explain myself better in similar instances... thereby causing me less trouble... -- And no! This is not a perfect my lie time, this a true based fear that I will wind up in trouble because people are people and I truly would not intentionally even hurt a fly. Anyway, weighing out the pro's and con's again.... helping myself not to daydream in some way that either eliminates the element from my life, I'm really not opposed to this idea. Or at least reduces the negative affect to be significantly under the positive effect.-- I see even with my disorder, I can still wake up every day, and try my best to be better then I am!  (GROW) Or at least try to be better then what I am supposed to be. And in any event, the disclaimer is that this is how it works, and I am so high functioning, it's been asked if I have been misdiagnosed. Every thing is possible, it takes work and the genuine want for something the whole way through!

[littlemissdaydreamer]

I am so glad i  found this site after reading all these posts i have realised I am not the only person in the world to think this way. I am 33 and for aslong as i can remember i have spent my life daydreaming uncontrollably, I dont let myself admit that its obsessive but it is and it scares me. I would love to be able to stop but i dont know how! It has robbed me of a life that i daydream i will one day have but i spend so much time daydreaming that i dont do anything to make the dreams a reality. Its so backward. I dont sleep at night because of it and find it hard to get up in the morning and get motivated to do anything. I have never spoken to anyone about this,  friends know that i suffer depression and agoraphobia but i can hide it all very well and fool people into thinking im ok. Its like having an inner and outer world functioning at the same time. sorry this is so long im just releived to be able to offload this atlast.

[rachelreid59]

hi i am rachel and I have done exactly what you are talking about since I was a kid and I want to shut it off ... but it my safe zone

rachel

rachel.reid.1959@gmail

[rachelreid59]

hi,

I also come from an abusive family and it has taken over my life to the point I am having panic attacks.  I thought for years it was normal but I know better now.  I trying to find a way to shut it down or moderate it .

rachel

[slub89]

i also have this problem to the point that feels like an addictioin. but when i try to stop it it feel i dont have over my mind. it would appreiciate daydreaming so much if i could do it at appropriate time when i have nothing better to do. not when i need to be focused or work work. it may help if you try to find that root of why you feel the need to dd. are you escaping someting or are you unhappy with who are or your reality?

[JGF25]

The first thing you need to do is get a formal diagnosis if you have not already.  From there you can try therapy with both a psychologist and a psychiatrist.  The psychologist helps you learn cognitive behavioral therapy and provides talk therapy which is very cathartic.  The psychiatrist can handle the medication part if that is what you and the psychologist decide is the way to go.  There are many, many medications that are effective for OCD.  They may be anti-depressants but they do work.  There are both SSRIs and SNRIs.  I happen to take the SNRI Wellbutrin and it works well for me.  You are young, this is not going to go away on its own.  You absolutely need to seek outside help or risk losing years of your life to what is actually a treatable disorder.  Also, if you do choose to take medication look at the side effects.  Wellbutrin is the only one I found that does not affect a person's sex life.  And since you are 18 this may be of some importrance to you.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.  

[zeekthaman]

I have the same problem as a lot of you. I am a senior in high school and i daydream all the time in class. I believe it goes hand in hand with ocd because i get obsessive thoughts and stories in my head and repeat them over and over. When i try to get pass these thoughts or stories sometimes i start to feel anxiety. Also i play basketball and it effects my play because basketball is such a fast moving sport and if u get caught daydreaming it makes a huge difference. I have noticed when im not daydreaming or obsessively compulsing I play a lot better. Will someone please tell me any meditations , practices, or even medications that can help control this?

[kostea90]

I had joined this web site only to post this comment.(excuse my poor english -i am from Russia)
My problem is the same , i cant stop daydreaming.
But i think there is a way through wich you can take ..control,, over this mind process.
The key word is ,,control,, .This hapens becouse we are not aware of what actually is hapening inside our minds. In Budhist meditations terminology exists a word wich determines our awareness level , its called ,,mindfulness,, .This is the main idea of all meditations, being aware of your thoughts and being able to concentrate on a certain ,,thing,, as (breathing). Through this meditation practices you get the ability to control your thoughts and many other benefits.
I am absolutely against any medicamentation healing becouse i am sure i does not help actually is makes things even worse (been there , done that)!
I am practicing meditation almost one year and i can say that it realy works. here are some recommended books if you are tired of complaining and have the motivation to start living.
,,Wherever you go there you are,,-Jon Kabat Zinn ,,Mindfulness in plain english,,-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.

[sunsetcharli]

I'm 22 years old and I've been a daydream addict for as long as I could remember. Like you, I act out my daydreams (I always have) when I'm alone, but not in public. I used to act them out in public when I was younger but I would always get caught, laughed at, and get weird looks from other people. I was a weird kid always playing with pens, pencils, utensils (along with dolls and toys, of course). I would never pay attention in class when I was younger. My daydreaming obsession hasn't changed a bit as I got older. Everything around me triggers a daydream. Everything! Even when I try to stop, my mind still drifts off. Not to say that I don't like dealing with this, but I wish I can just turn it off when I'm in class or something, or taking a test.

I recently started to do something productive with my dayream and fantasies: writing. I write down my daydreams in a journal and try to weave them into stories. So daydreaming can be very useful.

Here's a URL for my blog post sharing my whole story on my daydream addiction just in case anyone wanted to see it: http://sunsetcharli.blogspot.com/2011/10/confessions-of-daydream-addict.html
Just wanted to share.
:]

[free2dream]

Yesterday, I randomly decided to google daydreaming just to see what would come up, and came across sites that mentioned maladaptive daydreaming. I'm so surprised that I'm not the only person in the world who does this. I'm 28 and I've been compulsively daydreaming since I was a young child. When I was in the 6th grade, the daydreams were about people I'd like or what I'd want to be. After a short while, they just became completely made up. I've created lives for the "people in my mind", feelings, and the story has been going on forever. I am a fully functioning adult but the world I've created has a life of its own. I'll stop to do the things I have to but the moment I have free time, I am right back in my mind where the story left off. I am intrigued by my world. It is indeed like an addiction. Sometimes when I'm watching TV or when I'm driving I'm basically there in that other place though still functioning in reality. After daydreaming for hours when I get the chance, I'll get bored with it and stop for a short time. At first I was only able to do it with music but a few years ago when I wasn't around a radio for a couple days, I taught myself to do it without it. I thought I was some kind of weird person...the only person. I still think it's weird and I'll never tell anyone I know.  

[sunflower01]

Wow I have done this for years too and its amazing that so many people around the world do this too. I have led a reasonably successful life, have a young family and friends, travelled all over the world but the life in my head is just soooo damn intoxicating compared to the daily grudge of life. I love the daydreaming but I hate it too because its so unproductive- nowt good can come of it and I feel like the best part of my life is flying by whilst I dreaming about all the things I could be if I was motivated and committed. I feel like the daydreaming is taking over and now as soon as I have a spare moment I disappear into my thoughts at the expense of doing anything else. Has anyone had any success at controlling it?

[BF1964]

I'm so thankful to have found so many websites and posts from people who suffer from this.  For years I just thought I was crazy or weird.  I thought if I had enough willpower I could overcome this.  Now I realize that it's a condition, and I can no more overcome it with willpower than I could overcome cancer or arthritis.  My challenge is in not feeding into it.  I have been hooked on a certain TV show for years and years, and the majority of my fantasies revolve around that show.  Before that, I would daydream about whatever TV show I was watching - I could become the characters and escape my loneliness.  It's a two-edged sword though - I escaped the loneliness, but never addressed the loneliness, and now I find myself in my 40's with no friends or romances.  So that in itself feeds the MD.  It's a vicious cycle.  I wonder if anyone has had some relief using certain drugs?  I take Prozac for depression, but I can't say it's ever helped with the daydreaming.  

[JNicole92]

I have the same issues. I am 18 now but this is something I have done since I was very small, I compulsively daydream dayly, even hourly. This causes me to lack in relationships because I love the man in my mind. Im trapped in my head its my secret life, its so bad that when I u interact in my fake world like talk,words come out so it has led me to talk to myself and laugh with myself when to me this life is so real. Im scared that one day I will become confused, its like I become excited to do it and I stay home all day for it, its more to explain....but does anyone have a word of addvice, what does this mean? Or called

[lulu8819]

Exact same way. Its like a book for me, like I stop "reading" when I'm bussy and then go right back to the same "page"

[Chety]

I have an OCD since 8 years and its all about cleanliness , obsessive imagination , lot of dreaming. I am completely lost.

[aimz723]

I have OCD and I also do this. I am not sure if they go hand in hand or not. I would and still day dream to the point where I would practice conversations that I would have if these dreams were to come true. Sometimes I feel like if someone ever saw me doing it they would think I was absolutely crazy. I agree with day_dreamer though sometimes they can be dark and that scares me.

[day_dreamer]

It seems to me not many people on here understand what you are experiencing but I do its not constructive or creative in a positive way it doesn't give you hope to accomplish you dreams its dark and disturbing fears manifesting their own reality in your head and although you can tell the difference between daydream and reality the daydream can become so elaborate that it effects you reality. This causes a lot of problems in life especially in the areas of work and relationships. I just found out about this last night and I feel great knowing I'm not alone and its not just that my brain doesn't work right. While there is no real treatment I feel confident that after recognizing and vocalizing my exact problem that I have a better hold on my life and hope that while I know I will never stop day dreaming I will be able to dismiss some of my thoughts that cause me si much stress and greif before they alter my reality any further

[JazzKnife]

I excessively daydream too.
It's mainly triggered by music though. My parents are going through a messy divorce and I think thats why Ive started. I really think I could get myself to stop if I was just able to talk to someone else with it and support him/her.

If anyone's willing to chat iGirl_***@****

Maybe someone could meet me up idk but this is my gcse year and im terrified of ******* up : (

[plainjane84]

I used to do the exact same thing, I still excessively daydream and up until about a month ago I thought everyone did. I never knew what I did might not be normal...I get really excited about things but then when they don't work out I rarely ever get upset about it since I am already onto the next daydream.  I probably spend 75%  of my freetime daydreaming.  I'm married and my husband has NO idea.  In Highschool and college I was OBSESSED with becoming an actress... I don't fantasize about that particualr thing much anymore but I used to literally do it 24/7.  Anyway I am trying to figure out how to get help...have you found anyone or thing that works for you?

[hmf099]

i don't know if maladaptive daydreaming is what I have as I am still learning about it, but maybe those of you with expirience with it can help me out. Since I was a child I've wanted to be a famous actress. So in school I'l have trouble concentrating because I was fantasizing that I was super popular because outside of school I was on tv or in movies. This never went away as I got older. I'll fantasize about being a character on my favorite tv shows or rich and famous with the paparazzi following me.This is purely imagination, I know none of it is real, but I do it everywhere I go. I thought it might be some kind of symptom of my ocd, or like a side effect of my childhood as I was an only child in an abusive household so I constantly imagined a better life. Does this sound at all familar to you folks? I'd love to be a case study for this if it's really what I have!

[Klonopin]

I am also a daydreamer in excess, but for some reason i have never seen it as something uncomfortable. You say it has interfered with your life, well, so far when a condition begins to cause you some problems with your daily life it could be seen as a disorder. On the other hand, as i said, i am a daydreamer myself, and if it were not because of it, i would not be able to create those nice slide shows that i post on youtube, and i would not be able to establish a sequence on anything that is related to visual things, like for example, electric motor video instruction which is another area i have made some clips. They all come from day dreaming. I also have the negative part of daydreaming which are the obsessional ideas that produce me fear and dont allow me to go outside or make me to have very uncomfortable episodes. I have read that many daydreamers and OCD people are very creative, it is just a thught and belief some people have, but some think it might explain some of the 'excessive creative thought-obsession' thing. I agree with the idea that we need to get the positive things from the daydreaming ideas.

art

[Omusicgame]

wow, i have that too.  But instead of looking at it as bad, you should use for good.  I use mine dreams and fantasies for creating stoires and writing songs.  That could be very useful.  Try to write something or draw something.  This is how most artists get started.