hey, thanks for reaching out. sad to say, I don’t really have anything of great value to add to what google already says. It’s not recognized as a legit mental illness of any sort and I think it’s been named very recently. Basically, what it means is that I make elaborate stories inside my head as if I were constantly watching a TV show. Sometimes the setting is some version of the real world, sometimes it can be fictional worlds, some characters are people I know, others are fictional, sometimes I am in the story, others I am not (although I usually have a character I identify as in the context of the story).
This is a defense mechanism that I developed as a kid (around when I was 10, I think) because I was very sad and very lonely and when I got lost in my vivid imaginations I had a lot of fun and didn’t feel quite so sad and lonely. But now that I’m grown it’s actually a bit of a problem because I go through periods of intense daydreaming during which I become very dysfunctional. I communicate with people less, I neglect my work, I don’t get out of the house etc. Because I am too busy with what’s going on in my head, it’s like I’m bingewatching my own fantasies.
I’m not sure if I actually suffer from a dissociative disorder (because maladaptive daydreaming is not classified as one). It does involve sort of removing yourself from reality in order to avoid the unpleasantness of life (I know I do it mostly during stressful periods), but there is a certain level of control over it. And I do attend therapy and talk about it but so far I have not been diagnosed with anything.
So, if the descriptions of maladaptive daydreaming sounded familiar, I would say you shouldn’t worry about it. But you should probably get therapy, either way. I mean, everyone should get therapy, but if you recognize such behavioral patterns in yourself and you are unhappy, all the googling in the world won’t help, but therapy will help.
Hope this helped a bit. Good luck with everything xx
