- Username
- bunniesncheesecake
- Date posted
- 36w ago
How can I manage maladaptive daydreaming without losing my creativity?
Maladaptive Daydreaming and OCD
I struggle so, so much with maladaptive daydreaming, have since I was little, and it's taken over my life. I want it to stop, but it's so hard when my thoughts keep REPEATING. I've heard from others that I'll need to break my own heart, tell myself that nothing I'm thinking is real, and to face up to reality. I know daydreaming is a distracting and reality-voiding coping mechanism, and it's not healthy or helpful when overindulged. And I identify thoughts in which I imagine certain scenarios going perfectly. But it's really difficult because a lot of my daydreaming thoughts are about creative stuff. And not made up characters that I spend time with myself, but characters who I draw and write about just like any illustrator. I've talked to a therapist about the difference between nurturing my creativity and daydreaming in a harmful way, and her advice was useful: "It's wonderful to use your imagination and be creative. Stop when your thoughts start to involve real-life people." I'm still having difficulty understanding how harmful my fictional stories/daydreams are, since I still use them to distract myself. Does anyone else struggle with maladaptive daydreaming?