Thread: Does anybody here Maladaptive daydream?

sleep is to regain engergy... productive
using forums to trade infromation and gain knowledge of things... productive
thinking for myself... well im not even gonna bother explaining why thats worth doing

and like i said, the uselessness of daydreaming is just my opinion, i though i made that clear. Im not assuming my opinions are the end all be all of life facts. i thought forums were for discussion, not just ego reinforcing and mandatory agreements.

last post on this thread, no longer feel like defending something I said when I have already acknowledged that everything is opinion and subjective

Half of these threads aren't productive, they're just fun.

And I find being productive is impossible without daydreaming. Its only when I daydream of how awesome it would be to publish my book do I get off my butt and work on it. Daydreaming is important to find inspiration for creative works.

That's fine that you are qualifying your statement with clarification that it is merely your opinion. Of course everyone is allowed their opinion. This goes without saying. I would never expect everyone to agree, and this forum does not require mandatory agreements nor does it exist for the reinforcement of egos. What you have to realize, is that your original statement was somewhat incendiary. Coming into a thread full of daydreamers, stating that their actions are wasteful, and that they should be spending their time doing something more productive was not the most prudent way to make your opinion clear.

If you want to explain why daydreaming is wasteful or unproductive for you then that is fine. The problem is in the narrow minded assumption that it is also unproductive for the rest of us. Which is why tommo suggested you widen your gaze, and I completely agree with him.

@ Stryke

just curious, how do you find lucid dreaming, productive? your time doing reality checks and being aware can be changed into solving complex math equations to help cure cancer can it not?

Originally Posted by juroara

My daydreaming world started when I was about the age of seven... (long post)

I was about to post something, and you basically gave a perfect example of it.

Many daydreams are often expressions of parts of yourself that are not accessible to the conscious mind, usually revolving around various personal fears or issues that have not surfaced.

To use a metaphor, think of an issue in your subconscious as a seed beneath the earth. Your conscious mind is at the surface, above ground, and all it sees are the plants sprouting up from that seed. You can work at the level of these plants, cutting them back, but the seed will continue to sprout new ones. So whatever lays in your subconscious mind will automatically find ways to express itself through your conscious thoughts, in many ways taking over the function of your will. Hence these daydreams seem to play themselves out automatically almost without your input. Its as if a layer of your consciousness has gained an autonomy of its own and is "controlling" or at least influencing your mind because you are unaware of its existence.

This is basically what Jung calls a complex. It can come in the form of thought patterns, and often does, but daydreaming provides an excellent way of viewing these complexes in action. By paying attention to the themes and ideas that are being played out in your daydream, you can begin to understand the root cause which is spawning them.

For instance, a rather simple example is that I used to imagine myself in various social situations where I was gaining the approval of other people. Doing some amazing feat, making witty comments, etc. Obviously the root cause is an insecurity with myself, hence the need for other peoples acknowledgment. So by facing that root cause, bringing it to the attention of my consciousness, the daydreams largely stopped and I became more secure as a person. The seed has been destroyed simply by becoming aware of it. It can only continue to exist without the light of consciousness shining on it. One's shadow cannot exist in light.

Juroara, perhaps the reason your daydream characters vanish when you focus directly on them, or are lucid in a dream, is because for these complexes to operate they require a certain loosening of the will. Because they are in many ways autonomous, they will only be able to take over your thoughts, daydreams or dreams when your control, and your conscious awareness, fade slightly. Then they have a chance to come to the surface.

All that being said, I think there is still room for healthy creative visualization. The imagination likes to be stretched. However pay attention to what you are imagining, note any recurring themes, and then ask yourself "why does this keep coming up?"

Yes, I know exactly what your talking about. Virtually every class of my whole academic career might as well be called intense periods of daydreams lol even outside of school I have always daydreamed a lot. I wouldn't call it a bad thing though, I almost feel you can learn more from your imagination than anything else.

My daydreams are precious to me, I'd never want them to go away.

I spend quite a bit of time daydreaming - depending on how much work I have to do, that's as little as an hour or as much as several hours. I'm not sure whether or not it helps with lucid dreaming because I've been engaged in these daydreams for years now, but it seems likely. The characters I engage in my daydreams gradually take on recurring roles in dreams (and vice versa). This also helps with things like fiction writing and roleplaying, as one might expect. I don't let it get in the way of my life, so it's definitely not maladaptive. Having a vivid imagination and getting to know yourself this way is something to enjoy and be proud of.

I enjoy doing that - I have two different stories running as of now, both adapted from movies. I do it mostly for knowing exactly what I'm going to do in my next lucids. Although I probably spend at least two hours a day doing that, it doesn't get in the way of anything, and I only do it when I'm bored, or have nothing else to do.

I currently have two different stories (or worlds if you want) running as well.
One is a fantasy setting which I think I started at the age of 12, so it's been running for approximately 13 years now.
Over the years I jumped back and forth in time building the story of this fictional world and that of my main character.
I've "rewritten" parts of it over the years, as I got older and more mature and found some parts childish or inappropriate.
Some elements in this setting are based on childhood dreams.

The other one is a sci-fi setting a few years in the future, which I started about 5 years ago.
I actually develop the story for more than one character in this one, but it does have a main character based on myself.

I used to spend a lot of time daydreaming when I was younger, mostly during high-school classes, because I was bored and couldn't focus on the lecture.
Nowadays I don't have the time to daydream very much, but I still do it approximately 15 minutes every day plus some more whilst falling asleep.
Interestingly enough, I never dream about these worlds though, which I find rather odd. (I'm not actively trying though)

If I think back about all the huge stories and settings I've created, it's kind of a shame that I didn't write any of them down.
By now I must have forgotten nearly all of them.

I'm starting to take my daydreaming into account and actually do it intentionally, because it IS a fun thing to do, and I think it's not a waste of time when there's not really anything else I could be doing.

I used to as a kid but it kinda stopped without me noticing it. I'm focusing on making them seem more clear and real. More lucid, if you will. It's kinda like my meditation.

Originally Posted by NikJ92

I know exactly what you're talking about. I do it, too. With me, however, I'm usually doing it while I'm functioning during the day. From the time I wake up until I go to sleep again, half of my mind is in another world; it never goes away. Think of a marathon on TV, only it's perpetual, there's no commercial breaks and each episode is from a different show. I'm in different daydreams all the time, so there aren't really any that are recurring.

I agree with what AnimusMessor179 said; wean yourself off of it. If that fails, try to multitask like I do. I can't guarantee its safety in everyday life, however.

I'm 34 you just described me to a T, it is so natrual to me I thought everybody worked that way till recently. I just discovered MD and its a huge a relief. Your description in perticular was the first to match mine enough I had to join and reply.

ETA I enjoy mine, I really have no choice there not gonna stop for me at least.