# Constant Daydreaming



## EmptyRoom (Jul 28, 2010)

I'm a pretty big dreamer, I sometimes daydream and don't even realize it. It's as if I'm living inside my own head most of the time instead of actually living in the real world.
It has it's pros and cons of course, such as a being a big time waster and not being able to concentrate, to being highly imaginative and time filling.
Does anyone else here daydream to the point where it distracts you from your duties and even conversations?
It's as if you can't even concentrate on a task without adding something to it in your head. I have feelings like that sometimes, I'm just wondering if anybody feels the same.


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## Lonely Hobbit (Aug 31, 2009)

I've been daydreaming since I was a kid. It definitely affects my concentration.


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## shale (Jul 24, 2010)

Same here.


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## macaw (Sep 6, 2010)

I do that a lot. I'll start thinking up elaborate plans for the day, then walk through them in my mind. Everything is easy in that world; no shaking, no blushing. Never tired or sick. Just being out and about having fun.

In reality I'm lying in bed, meant to be up and about 10 minutes ago but enjoying the fantasy too much.

It's a form of escape for me, the same way video games are.


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## jlotz123 (Dec 11, 2009)

It used to be a lot worse when I was younger, I a much more vivid imagination of fun things. Now I day dream of what's currently going on, what's going to happen, how it's going to happen.

But if i'm alone with no distractions, that's when my day dreaming can be at it's absolute best. It's like walking around in my own dreams.


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## Guppy (Apr 18, 2010)

I daydream a lot,sometimes its even when I walk around in
public places.only to be awaken back to the real world,
to find out that I was in someones way.hehehe


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## daytimedreamer (Jun 16, 2010)

I do the same thing. I think I spend more time daydreaming than I do in the real world.


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## 1L45TTRI (Feb 10, 2010)

Yeh me to... my therapist calls it "fantasizing" and is a coping mechanism apparently? I hate it


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## rawrguy (Mar 29, 2008)

i feel like 90% of my life is a daydream...man i need to see a psychologist soon...


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## EmptyRoom (Jul 28, 2010)

macaw said:


> I do that a lot. I'll start thinking up elaborate plans for the day, then walk through them in my mind. Everything is easy in that world; no shaking, no blushing. Never tired or sick. Just being out and about having fun.
> 
> In reality I'm lying in bed, meant to be up and about 10 minutes ago but enjoying the fantasy too much.
> 
> It's a form of escape for me, the same way video games are.


Same, I fantasize about scenarios all the time in my head of actually being normal, no anxiety at all.
That I'd be happy and free, to be myself with no fear. But in actuality I've probably just spent a few hours staring out the window thinking about it rather than actually doing it. I'm just dreaming my life away basically.
And when I'm brought back to reality by being around people or doing a task, it's so dreadful and hard to concentrate, it's as if I turned into a zombie, moving with no emotion.


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## coldsorehighlighter (Jun 2, 2010)

I try to daydream so much that it becomes my reality instead. Reality is the real daydream. Day nightmare, actually.


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## Felren (May 9, 2010)

I guess its a coping mechanism, but ya, I daydream an unhealthy amount.

I daydream during class, walking around, while trying to sleep, etc. If it doesn't require me to pay attention I find myself daydreaming pretty often.

I find myself daydreaming about real life situations, and made up ones as well. 

I like how creative I can daydream, but what I really don't like is how much I lose my grip on reality sometimes.


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## lyricalillusions (Nov 29, 2008)

I spend nearly my entire life daydreaming. I live in an almost constant dream world & pretty much always have. But I wouldn't be able to survive my life if I didn't.


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## Manic Monkey (Sep 6, 2010)

I am like this, also.


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## Twice on Time (Dec 31, 2009)

yep. look into Maladaptive Daydreaming.


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## iuseings (Nov 11, 2009)

I use't to daydream all day long. I pretty much was in a fantasy world. 
Now, I've somehow stopped myself from daydreaming to the point where if I even start to get lost in some sort of fantasy (which rarely happens anymore) I foot-stomp all over myself for doing it. I get guilty and put myself down over doing something that just goes to show "how pathetic I am". I think I get this harsh with myself because I remember back to the times when I lived in my own world and how lonely and how cut off from reality I was. I constantly keep myself in check from falling back into that world.
I probably should ease up on myself a tad... though. It somehow gets tied into my SA now and I will get embaressed if I do it. 
If you want to overcome it, it might help for you to notice how much you avoid and miss out on by living excessively in your head. I know how good it feels to make up a world in your mind but when you remind yourself of how false the "good feelings" are.. it makes it alot less fantastical.


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## Maddy (Apr 25, 2010)

Same here :teeth...I literally fought 1 year to stop this addiction...Now I Daydream but it is not a compulsion...also I Make facial expression, Laugh loudly .That is when i get caught by my parents doing it. It is weird. Music is a Big trigger.:b

I was very ashamed of myself because I do this.It is a great relief to know that there is a term for this condition "Maladaptive Daydreaming" and there is also separate yahoo group. 

Maddy


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## amene (Mar 28, 2010)

I do most of the time. It seems to be a better place than reality and I get the things I want, the things I'll never have and the events I wish I could change..


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## Jayne311 (Aug 20, 2009)

I fantasize about myself being older and in different life circumstances, using elements from my favorite TV shows and movies. I do not fantasize about my own life. Nearly every element in my fantasy is in no way related to me. It's like I got put into someone else's body. It's me but isn't me at the same time. I have a different name and everything. My fantasies about this could fill up books. 

However, I recognize it as a special way of seeing, and I don't plan on stopping. I do need to cut back and let myself live more though. What I do is think of something fun or that I want, and let this other woman in my head live it out, probably because I don't want to put forth the effort to do it myself or because I don't think I can do things. 

But what this has taught me is that I can visualize this woman who is barely me to help myself to become like her. She's like my drawing board. Only I need to learn how to move past the drawing board and actually make things real for me. I need to use it as a tool to make my life better, and not as a way of half-living.


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## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

Yes. I'm so happy I read these forums. 'Maladaptive daydreaming' alright! My next extremely time-consuming self-help journey awaits!


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## applescruff91 (Oct 5, 2010)

Yes. I thought I was the only one. 90% of the time I'm daydreaming. I daydream about myself with friends, not being so shy and doing things. I get depressed when I snap back into reality and things aren't like that.


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## lolzer (Jan 30, 2011)

i have to start my GCSE coursework soon and i really want to do well. But im daydreaming constantly, i can never pay attention in class or in the morning i spend to long just laying there dreaming so im always late for school. im wondering if therapy or something would help me focus on reality.


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## jimbo1 (Dec 26, 2010)

im always in my own world all the time. Since i lack a real social life all i do is daydream.


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## pehrj (Feb 12, 2009)

Just saw this thread and read the Wikipedia entry. This completely describes what I'm going through and talked about in my thread below. Unbelievable.


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## lionlioncatcat (Dec 29, 2010)

I do this a lot, and like a lot of people here, its becoming a real problem as I often get lost in these day dreams in everday life. If say im doing something repetative and boring like copying.I can continue doing that and still day dream. Weirdly though, once im out of the day dream, I have very little memory of what I was doing, I can mainly only remember my day dream. And sometimes it takes something pretty attention grabbing to snapme out of it, people have talked to me before and I have been completely unresponsive, like they werent there. 

I also would have to agree that it is a coping mechanism, when Im put into a socially awkward situatuion, I often enter this state involunteraly. And its hard to fight off. An example was a few days ago, I wont explain the situation. But I was in the house of some friends of my parents. Id never been there before and I was sitting next to an extremely old lady and on the otherside a baby who I had to entertain for a while. I was incredibly uncomfrotable and slipped into the dreamy state without realizing it. I have no recolection of why, but the baby started crying and that woke me up, as it were.

I also suffer from some pshychosis. Which means that often, the line between imagination and reality gets very fuzzy. I get a lot of false memories from imagining things in teh dream state.But most worryingly of all, i start talking to myself,without realizing it. Ill be sitting ther imaging things, and suddenly I start talking, to the people in my dream. But in real life to. This has only happened a few times but its pretty hard to explain away. So a lot of friends, and so friendly anymore. Some due to the sa, and some due to them thinking im crazy.

To be honest, what I get isnt that uncommon, but I feel crazy sometimes. Sometimes I love this ability, And sometimes id give anything to make it go away.


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## rosettas stoned (Jan 16, 2011)

I love daydreaming. I think I'd go crazy if I didn't daydream. It's a good way to escape and just be in your own little world for a while. I think it's quite therapeutic. And I like to think that it means I'm imaginative


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## Omnium11 (Feb 11, 2009)

I've been daydreaming my life away for the past 3 years. I create personalities based on who I wish I was in real life that I live out in daydreams. One of them I continuously built for multiple hours every day that lasted for over a year. I had huge elaborate storylines and loads of characters as well as a family and a girlfriend. I would work on it constantly. After a while the people in my daydream had so much personality and so much emotional depth to them that they almost felt like real people who I really cared about deeply. The one that lasted over a year I really miss. After a while too many of my issues and problems got wrapped into the storyline that each time I would go back to that daydream I would get really depressed and frustrated so I had to stop it. I miss the people though very much, its pretty pathetic but I had much more of an emotional connection to my characters than I do with anyone in real life. Makes me sad just thinking about them. Its interesting how you can create such an emotionally fulfilling world all in your mind. I have a new daydream that I have been working on for the past 3 months or so. This one is much more narcissistic though. Very shallow and very little emotion compared to the last one.


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## softshock11 (Jan 9, 2011)

yeah you're not alone 
i spend most of my time daydreaming
not fair for my real life - i get all jealous of the life i have in my dreams.

since we cant switch dream and real life dimensions - switch the person you are in your dreams to your reality...:idea

if that's possible... just try it, be brave.

your expectations can be like this








and Reality can be like:









either way it takes balls to try it lol


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## Nameless Someone (Oct 21, 2010)

I'm a constant daydreamer too.... I dream about being this super awesome, super smart, super pretty girl with a fabulous personality whom everyone loves and admires.... Oh how I wish things were like that.


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## Sindelle (Oct 22, 2010)

I have whole fantasy epics going on in my mind at all times. It makes it very hard to concentrate sometimes because I'd rather be lost in a dream world than the sucky real one. 

I've heard that this is called Maladaptive Daydreaming. And from what I've read on it it is pretyt much what I do all the time. I think "maladaptive" is a bit harsh though, I think if you control it it can become a catalyst for great creativity.

The only thing is that I have a lot of missing time due to the amount spent in these daydreams. It can make it hard to do all the things I need and want to do.


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## Green Eyes (Sep 6, 2009)

I do a lot of daydreaming. I do it the whole day. When I'm watching tv, wehen I'm on my computer, when I'm listening to music, when I'm eating, when I'm in the bus, when I'm at school. All the time. I used to do it sinsce I was a child, but I think since my sa got worse the daydreaming became a lot more. It's not good anymore for me. Not that much. I can't concentrate on school. Things that have to be done take a long time to be done. And I'm also escaping feeling I don't want to feel.

I just read someting about Maladaptive Daydreaming. I was curious about was it it. It does discribe me very well. But I think that when my sa will become less, the daydreaming will become less. If my life would me better, I wouldn't have to daydream all the time about a better life.


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## Arisa1536 (Dec 8, 2009)

Yeah i do that all the time and was constantly called a space cadet or day dreamer at school. I am now finally being tested by my psychiatrist for inattentive ADHD as it is one of the main symptoms to be an excessive day dreamer with inattentive attention defect disorder. Also lethargy, avoidance behavior and even anxiety and social anxiety can stem from this disorder being untreated or undiagnosed as a kid so i would urge anyone who has similar symptoms To see a GP or Pdoc


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## That guy over there (Jan 18, 2011)

I daydream a range of different things for example I have childish daydreams of flying or being a super hero (normal clothed of course) or they could have a storyline to them.

Other daydreams could be of this imaginary "Me" that I would love to be, free of SA and in a punk rock band performing to millions(lol).
Or they could be as simple as a imaginary conversation in my head with a random person and the conversation always usually ends with then thinking im normal if that makes sense.

This video best describes my childish daydreams lol


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## Nameless Someone (Oct 21, 2010)

I decided that I'm gonna try not to daydream for a whole day. So far it's been pretty tough....


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## Tess4u (Feb 6, 2011)

I notice I daydream alot in the shower, when I'm bored, pretty much all the time. I see it as really entertaining I get so caught up in my fantasizes I sometimes just start talking to myself outloud (usually happens when I'm alone though) but I would find it funny if I caught myself randomly talking to myself on the street.


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## Karsten (Apr 3, 2007)

I do it at work all the time.


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## Jessie203 (Feb 20, 2008)

lyricalillusions said:


> I spend nearly my entire life daydreaming. I live in an almost constant dream world & pretty much always have. But I wouldn't be able to survive my life if I didn't.


I feel the same.


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## Dan iel (Feb 13, 2011)

I have done this ever since I was young. My mother thought I had a problem because of it.

Some sort of Narc-epilepsy.

I just get bored easily and find it better to listen to my own thoughts sometimes. :b


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## kiirby (Oct 8, 2010)

It's the only time I'm truly happy. 

Always gets worse when there's something more important to be doing, too. Psychological procrastination.


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## Karsten (Apr 3, 2007)

AwkwardGal said:


> Same. It's so much better/easier than talking to my co-workers.


Yes, but of course they have to ask you something and ruin it.


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## kiirby (Oct 8, 2010)

The nice thing about daydreaming is that you can start back where you left off, though. Takes a while to get back into it, but ah well.


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## Karsten (Apr 3, 2007)

It's never the same the second go around, though. :cry


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## van0014 (Oct 28, 2010)

Does anyone daydream... while driving?? I do!! Somehow, during boring drives, i drift off in my head and when i stop and realise im still driving i feel relieved. Its like my subconcious is watching the road, but im watching the pictures in my head. And i havnt crashed yet. My sister also does this, we have a bit in common.


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## angus (Dec 18, 2010)

^I did this once and I actually got lost.


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## macey (Jun 30, 2012)

I googled this condition and found this site and this thread. I have had a problem with this for over 40 yrs. I always thought I was the only one in the world that did it. I have done this since I was a small child. I recently lost my husband and it has gotten much worse but I have no real desire to stop. Like Maddy, music is a big trigger too.


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