A Thing Called Maladaptive Daydreaming!

Okay, I'm going to be completely honest but... I can't be the only one that daydreams their fics. Seriously, I LOVE getting every chance I have to daydream, and then it got me thinking. Am I suffering from some kind of psychological disorder? I mean, I did study mental health and personality disorders but then it's just me being paranoid. And then I found something that changed— well, everything.

There is something called 'Maladaptive Daydreaming', and I'm sure most of you won't know but here's the WHOLE definition. And then I'll give you a short version. 🤪

[Maladaptive Daydreaming is a recently coined psychological disorder whereby the subject suffers from excessive daydreaming or fantasizing, usually to escape prior trauma and abuse, characterized by attendant stress and functional impairment, accompanied by social anxiety and depression alongside symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD or OCD. It's so distracting, in fact, that the person may stop engaging with the task or people in front of them. These daydreams may be triggered by real-life events or stimuli, such as noise, smell, conversation topic, or movie. Although entirely conscious that they are fantasizing, have novel or movie-type fantasies, creating their own imaginary world with settings, intricate plots, and characters they may even get emotionally attached to.]

Okay I know you'll probably be thinking— What the hell did I just read?! Well basically MD is a form of dissociating oneself from the real world and getting absorbed into fantasies and mental imagery comprising vivid alternative universes, usually involving elaborate scenarios — that the individual prefers over reality. And like, who doesn't do that? And if you say you don't then you're a liar! And no, it's not shifting because you are fully awake and aware of everything around you. I'm basically Neo from the Matrix lol.

Before I forget, I want to clarify something, I may not have been abuse during my childhood, but I've suffered some terrifying and traumatic moments in my life. 😣

ANYWAY, this happened to me not too long ago. I was driving with my dad on the freeway and then I was listening to 'Take Flight' by Lindsey Stirling. Totally recommend it if you want to understand what I'm about to say. I just stared out the window and suddenly something sparked within my mind. When the song started, it begins with a young woman exploring to find the lost city of Atlantis or just discovered something extraordinary when around 27 seconds later she wakes up from her current world. She's confused about how she had a dream so vivid but believes it was just her imagination. Then she sees something that catches her attention, looking at the mirror that seems different. She extends her hand and suddenly in 41 seconds to the song, she returns to the other reality. Like if nothing ever happened, finally finding the thing she desperately wanted. The beat is increasing because there's tension between her two worlds and then at 1:09 seconds it flickers to her running away in her real-world from someone.

And how insane is that??? There's more but that's just a rip of the iceberg of how my mind works. And it's seriously fun and does that for all my fics! So basically I have a psychological disorder. Yeah, not a surprise there since I always felt something was like wrong with me. And here's some symptoms for MD are:

— Content and quality (detail) of dreams
— Individual's ability to control their dreams and/or the compulsion to dream
— Amount of distress caused by daydreaming
— Individual's perceived benefits of daydreaming;
— Extent of interference of daydreaming with the individual's ability to carry out their daily activities.

And all of those apply to me... 😅 welp, guess that explains a lot. In short sorry, I wasted your time with my boring life and shit. To make up here are some memes that I found so hilarious and relates to me too much. Yes, I exposed myself but whatever.

In conclusion, please tell me I'm not alone! Please I'm already strange as it is! But then again, it's fun being different. ❤️