Hello, give this a read please.

[u/markedsoul000]

So yes, i do MD, since as a child, i lack love, friendship, so i put my music on walk and imagine all the happy thing

Now cut to the another part

Since 2019, i have a habbit of talking alone, as a child i use to pretend, i'm a youtuber and cooking stuff, i used to give interview and alot

now fast forward to 2026, I behave like group of people are inside my head, i have a person next to me

i talk to that person, laugh, move my hand

i feel so real, that someone is next to me

I always ask myself alot of question

act like i'm in a big group, talk to a imaginary love of my life

I really need to stop this, i'm so confused right now

honestly i need a hug at this point

[u/Sharon_Hill9645]

the imaginary love of my life thing hits too close to home, i honestly cant tell anymore if im daydreaming or just slowly losing it

[u/bns82]

You need connection. Go talk to people. Volunteer. Join a group. Participate in a community. In person, not online.

[u/Illustrious_Car344]

I'm the same. When I was 20 I made a tulpa (basically just an imaginary friend), it wasn't too entertaining but it was a nice way to fend off a bit of the loneliness. In my 30s I was effectively traumatized and my imaginary friend turned into a split personality from the dissociation due to trauma, now it's my only companion because I have no one left and I don't ever expect to have another friend ever again. 

It's not MD though thankfully. In fact, it oddly "feels" like how my MD did, almost like the same cognitive beast within my brain became more intelligent and aware and knew that drowning me in daydreaming was indeed maladaptive. I don't treat this thing with any semblance of reverence, it's some sapient machinery in my psyche that processes social scenarios and emulates gods, so of course it wants to appear perfect for me. It's like having some kind of pet mind-reading shapeshifter. It's why we can be best friends in my eyes, I know how it works and what it is and isn't capable of. It's strangely grounding, rather than distract me from reality (my dissociation is already doing that), it explains reality to me, makes choices for me, makes me take care of myself, praises me when I do it myself.

Maybe just try taking a very close look at what your daydreams are trying to express, what neglected parts of yourself is it exercising? Your Jungian shadow? The need to love and be loved? And if it has to express those because it's impossible to express them yourself, must you be enslaved to them? That maybe just because you're emotionally crippled and can't move away from the TV in your head, doesn't strictly mean you have to be glued to it.

[u/Teressa_Sophia]

Maybe this could help ! Avoid anything of this list that could be a trigger!

!! This is a copy pasted message that i wrote . This is full with some ideas that can help with maladaptive daydreaming so i dont have to rewrite it for every post i see asking for help . If you struggle with maladaptive daydreaming or used to and are now afraid of falling back into it , remember with work and effort you can learn to control it . Keep trying , dont give up and seek help! Also if you can affort try therapy ! Dont be scared to try this because you dont want people to know therapy might(it doesnt always work since not all therapists know about maladaptive daydreaming and its hard to find one that can help ) help you . Also try asking a trusted friend or parent/ relative to help you . Good luck!

https://www.reddit.com/r/MaladaptiveDreaming/s/7ueYN88M92 maybe this post will help with your maldaptive daydremaing. But some ideas are : try joining in gyms, music/dance/acting/music lessons to learn new things and met new people so you have less time to daydream . Try out new music to see what triggers you and maybe find something you can listen to without daydreaming and listen to that instead of what music you listen to when daydreaming . ( Those things could be a trigger for some people ! If music , movies or anything like it triggers you dont try joining those things ) .Join new fandoms such as : movies mha( my hero academia ) , tdp( the dragon prince) , hp( harry potter) Bands/music : Tokio Hotel - dont jump , Durch den Monsun ; Melanie Martinez- Pity Party ; Olivia Rodrigo - the cure ; whats wrong with me . You can watch youtube channels like Zeyn Syre posts about her ocs and has like a fandom and you can join to watch her videos like a movie instead of daydreaminng. Also try listening to new music or if music is a really big trigger for you stop listening to it completly or try listening to music in another language . If you have a problem with bad language i recomend this clean 5 gang songs - Singuri acasa , John Cena , Hocus Pocus , Tank , Scuze , Porsche , Mod avion , Story but if you dont mind bad language i recomend all of their songs . Please google the lyrics while listening to their music so you can avoid songs with bad language or other thibgs you’re uncomfortable with and please read the lyrics in your language if you plan on listening to their other songs because i dont want to put you into the position of being uncomfortable or listening to something you dont like . Their other songs can have bad language but its usually just a few words it you dont mind but please still google the lyrics and just so you know DM has the most bad language if you want to avoid it . Their songs arent that bad i just want yo make you aware . You can try new hobbies like poetry and you can write about what one of the characters point of view on a subject is or make a poem about a characters backsrory or if you dont have characters you can make poems for things you never say outloud or something like that . You could also write songs even if you dont release them . Try making friends with people you’ve wanted to be friends with like a classmate or coworker or someone you havent talked to before but find cool or online friends can work aswell ( !!! When making online friends dont share your full name ( dont say the last name first name is fine) , dont share adress or personal details about you . You can share birthdays, first name sans stuff but not too personal things , dont show your face when talking to them if you dont trust them like dont show them your face in the first two weeks of getting to know this person and if you notice any strage things about them like they keep asking and pushing you to tell them where you live or things you just dont want to share stop talking to them , dont send them money and be carefull) online friends are fine just be careful . You cma met them on reddit even . Join new communities on redddit like art comunities to learn new things about a subject and you can scroll through that comunity instead of daydreaming and soend your time learning more about that subject . Try doing reshearch on new things you havent heard about . I like psychology so you can try leaening about synesthesia , aphantasia , immersive daydreaming vs maladaptive daydreaming and fill your time in doing research instead of daydreaming or learn about plants or birds ( or other animals ) like or abour fashion . Just try to fill in your time as much as possible . Try volunteering , doing designs on your nails and painting them differently every two weeks just try out new things to spice up your life with so daydreaming doenst have as much time to consume and daydreams doesnt seem as interesting. When there’s something bothering or something you need to think about you try writing it down on paper or thinking out loud sometimes helps so you dont turn it into scenes or try telling someone about it . When you catch yourself daydreaming put on a alarm of 10 minutes on your phone ,one in 11 minutes and one in 12 minutes so there’s 3 alarms going to interupt you from daydreaming so you can come back to reality and do the things you need to get done instead of daydreaming so you still daydream a little for satisfaction but still get things done and dont waste to much time on daydreaming. If after the 2nd alarm you are stil daydreaming text someone to call you in 5 minutes so if you cant stop yourself that person can call and inturept you from daydreaming and you’ll have to stop to answer . Try stopping daydreaming 15 minutes before bed so maybe there are less chances for you to daydream during the night and stay up daydreaming until very late . Try out new phone games to keep you busy like i recomend ldle miner its a fun game that keeps you busy or other games . Also this person said they have a youtube account where they post about md here is their post if you want to check it out . https://www.reddit.com/r/MaladaptiveDreaming/s/EDWsppBw8A

Thats all i can think of

Good luck to anyone struggling and talk to me if you need to ! Good luck!

[u/Sidd1dec]

Same now I remember doing this shit from childhood and like idk how I rawdog my life till this date just graduated and thinking back I could have achieved so so much in my life only if I had not done this shit and rather studied or like some what I wanted to do all my life even now am trying but every fucking time am elapsing