How I Dealt With Maladaptive Daydreaming : Riya

About Riya:

My name is Riya, working as a Freelance writer. I have had Madalaptive Daydreaming since i was a young child. Intially, I wasn’t able to recognize my addiction. 

After years I finally found the techniques to reduce my daydreaming which helped me to live a conscious life. I am writing articles to raise awareness about this behaviour and helping others in dealing with excessive daydreaming.

The Story:

The life of a Maladaptive Daydreamer… Most people aren’t aware they are suffering from maladaptive Daydreaming, just like me. Years and years of suffering and another few years to discover what is wrong with me, why am I unable to focus, do my daily tasks, always distracted and many other issues.

After a long period of struggling with maladaptive daydreaming, I researched about the problems and I found out on the internet that it is called Maladaptive Daydreaming where a person is indulging in excessive daydreaming which impacts his/her daily life. I have been struggling with Maladaptive Daydreaming since I was in class 8th, at least that’s what I can recall.

Childhood trauma has brought me to this. I can finally say that my recovery took time (almost 10-12 years) but I am almost there. There are still parts of it that need to be recovered but I am glad that I am on the path that once was hard to find. I searched on the internet for the community, the people who are going through the same to learn from their experiences and I was surprised to know there are a lot more than I can imagine.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT REALLY HELPED?

While there are less resources or help with this, I am writing down a few things which helped in my journey to recover and get the control of my life and live in the present moment.

But, before starting with the journey please remember there will always be a relapse, you cannot quit it completely, it has become a part of you, your personality. Be kind to yourself, be grateful that you are on the journey to recovery.

1. The root cause:

recovery isn’t a 2-day process, this takes a good amount of time and by time, I mean years. But first you need to find the reason why you are doing it? How is this helping you? write down the things which trigger you to do it, what are you trying to escape?

There are a lot of questions that you need to answer yourself which will help a lot in your journey to recovery. Questions like: What are you daydreaming about? What are you trying to achieve through daydreams?

Think about the things that you are missing in real life? Is this impacting your daily life? How is helping you to be the person you want to become? These questions will help you to find out about yourself, why are you stuck in this and will help you to recover.

2. Find your second love:

this is something you will read everywhere but when i say second love that means to find something you love to do as much as love daydreaming. As a daydreamer, I know the hardest part is to give up and start something else.

It will take some time for you to research and find the substitutes, but try to watch videos or art therapy to discover the things you like which makes you, you. Recovering from MDD is like overcoming a drug addiction. Always remember ‘Nothing worthwhile ever happens quickly’.

3. Avoid your triggers:

You must be very well aware of the triggers, once you figure them out try to avoid them. It’s not easy but it is one of the most important things to avoid or replace that time with something more important. Like, if listening to music triggers you limit your time or watch the video so instead of daydreaming your mind is occupied watching the video.

4. Don’t blame yourself:

We keep on criticizing ourselves because we are unable to achieve what we want to and this is one of the major triggers for our daydreaming. Try to do things you love, be thankful that you have realized and are on the journey to free yourself from the daydreaming prison. As everything takes time, especially recovering from the addict

Maladaptive daydreaming isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it can cause interference in your real life and blur the lines between reality and your daydreams. Recovery might take some time and patience but it is not impossible. One day, you’ll be able to heal from MDD and live a peaceful life cemented in reality.

If you have similar stories to share wxith us, write to us at info@calmsage.com. You can also share your personal and inspiring stories by following us on social media.