# Maladaptive daydreaming as a form of escapism



## 45130 (Aug 26, 2012)

QrivaN said:


> At what point does being maladaptive not count as a personality trait in itself?


at first i thought the topic was about somebody who just saw his daydreaming as pathological due to reading a psychiatric article

but hours a day is quite a lot, wow

i'd certainly recommend other methods of dealing with hardships in daily life but who's there to tell one as a child how to do that? woh.

i've put up quite some measures to keep myself from drowning in daydreams; i don't do roleplay or write fiction, i don't read fiction and try to keep myself occupied even when i'm not...


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## AdaptiveDaydreamer (Nov 10, 2013)

I wanted to add a more general point to this topic, which probably relates to mental and behavioural disorders in general but it's something I wanted to get off my chest. 

I do think being a productive person is important, but I think, so is being yourself - even more so. A lot of people (myself included) will get caught up in the fact they have these 'illnesses' and immediately feel deflated or are not what society wants them to be. We feel this pressure to adapt to the same sort of behaviour as everyone else who WE regard as normal but this kind of thinking is harmful and useless in the long run. Fuck what society thinks - you are not a machine whose usefulness is determined by how much output you deliver, you are not your wealth or your possessions, and you should never feel you need to be a certain way to be accepted (I will admit I feel like this a lot). There will always be people who will tell you, you need to be or act a certain way, so it makes their lives easier or because they think you are 'flawed' and need to be 'guided', but never do they acknowledge their own flaws. It may seem obvious, but trying to be someone you're not is impossible, you are you - embrace that and build on that. You will never actualise your potential trying to be someone else. 

The message is simple but always forgotten in our modern culture.


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## AlwaysQuestionLife (Apr 17, 2013)

I definitely have an extensive fantasy world, and I daydream almost every time I get the chance, but does it 'disrupt my ability to function in everyday life'? That depends.

I also developed daydreaming habits to cope with pain, but in a slightly different way. I held myself to such high expectations that I pretty much beat myself up constantly. It was worst at night, right before going to bed, or basically whenever nobody else was around. So I started to make up stories in my head (I was under the assumption it was not uncommon?). That way I wouldn't fixate on what a screw-up I had been. Each time, I would start up where I stopped last, and it just evolved into something I do when I am bored (I'm not that uptight anymore). It is just like reading a good book; the only problem being that fantasy is better than reality. It also doesn't help me get to sleep at night, but whatever. I can see you have a bit rougher time with it than I do.

My former counselor told me it was okay as long as it didn't change my perception of reality. I tend to fantasize exclusively about fictional things, so I assured him it wouldn't. Of course I also took a quite expensive test showing me as having Schizoid Personality Disorder. Maybe my unsocial tendencies got wrongly grouped in with my vivid imagination, though? Apparently psychologists are starting to debate whether SPD is even a thing, so I don't really know.

Anyways, I am much more content lying in bed all day than the next person because I can just imagine all day (well, that and I am pretty constantly tired). Am I more lazy because of that? Probably with the conventional definition of being productive, as I have a lot more 'down time' than usual people. But like I said, it is comparable to reading a good book to me. I even have to think harder than I would while reading a book.

But, seriously, I support that last message you gave 100%. I stopped going to my counselor because I realized, 'Hey, I am not harming anyone, and this guy is kind of trying to brainwash me to fit into society.' I mean, if I had it 100% together, there is no way I would even be human. Being normal is way too boring to even consider doing.


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