As an overthinker, I used to spend hours daydreaming often. Sometimes imagine myself as a highly successful and rich author or celebrity, creating fake scenarios where I am either venting out on social problems or travelling to aesthetic places, re-imagining past blunders and fixing the mistakes I made. In my mind, I became a real yet fictional person, until I developed a daydreaming addiction.
Excessive daydreaming can be compared to drug addiction when it starts hampering your routine, it alienates you from people, and your unrealistic thoughts control your life. My daydreaming habit made my mind an overcrowded restless messy place. It also negatively impacted my productivity and made me asocial. I was not hallucinating or living in my imagination. I have always been aware of the difference between my imagination and reality, all I needed to know was how to control it.
After reading a lot of articles and going through social media discussions of the other people facing the same issue, my problem got a name – maladaptive daydreaming. Overtime, I learnt how to control it and minimise its negative impact. It is a habit you can’t get completely rid of but can control.
What is maladaptive daydreaming?
Making up scenarios in your mind is not a big deal until you start to lose contact with your loved ones, put off work, and find it hard to concentrate on anything. Maladaptive daydreaming is more common among those struggling with health issues like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and OCD. It’s a coping mechanism that helps one escape triggering thoughts. The following are some typical indicators of maladaptive daydreaming:
- Inactiveness and no will to do anything, whether work or fun activity
- Visualising fake scenarios with extensive detailing
- Avoiding social interactions and talking with family members
- The compulsion to daydream and inability to stop it despite awareness
- Difficulty in sleeping because your mind is restless
If you are struggling with the listed symptoms, a change in routine is required. Here are some tips that can help you stop excessive daydreaming:
Get your day started with a healthy routine
Meditation and exercise in the morning can have a profoundly positive impact on your mental well-being. Initially, I had a hard time doing meditation and I know a lot of people face the same. I started meditating on a flute meditation music on Spotify. It helped me concentrate, and then after a month, I started following a different meditation process.
I close my eyes, breathe in and out 4–5 times, focus on outside noises and then focus on my breath. This trick helps me concentrate well. After meditation, do some breathing exercises and warm-up yoga, followed by some extensive exercises and jogging.
Positive self-talk
Self-talk helps you understand your issues, reflect on your setbacks, vent out the negative thoughts, and be your own guide. By being aware of what’s troubling you and your needs, you can control yourself better and lessen the daydreaming episodes.
You can have positive self-talk during a solo morning walk. You can plan your schedule and encourage yourself with optimistic thoughts when having a mindful conversation with yourself.
Keep yourself busy
As rightfully said by a wise person, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” Maladaptive daydreaming troubles you more when you are too free. When I was a recent graduate with no job, I used to either scroll on social media or walk alone for four hours while daydreaming. Realising this, I started journaling and writing about the things in my head. It not only helped me throw negative or unrealistic thoughts out of my head but also kept me busy. Writing poetry helped me a lot during those stressful days.
As a job seeker, you can spend some time utilising free online resources for professional skill enhancement. Additionally, building creative hobbies like gardening, cooking, knitting, journalling, and painting helps one kill time instead of being lost in troubling thoughts. Plan your schedule, and set reminders to follow it well.
Talk with your loved ones
After dinner, have conversations with your sibling, parents, or friends about how your day went. Discuss your problems, and share good and bad memories and experiences every day with the people you are comfortable around. Deep conversations have a magical impact on mental health. In addition, building a healthy sleep cycle, comprising at least 7 hours of good sleep is good for mental well-being.
Analyse yourself, accept the reality, and observe little things around, everything like people walking, birds, trees, and flowers. Try to be present and whenever you realise you are daydreaming, stop yourself. We daydream to alter our reality and only acceptance can help us break free from excessive daydreaming. If you feel your thoughts and imaginations are beyond your control and are causing emotional distress or triggering your anxiety, do not suffer in silence. Seek medical assistance and book an appointment with a therapist.
Final thoughts
Learning to manage maladaptive daydreaming is not about eliminating your imagination but about regaining control over it. Daydreaming, when balanced, can be a creative escape, but when it takes over your life, it becomes a barrier to meaningful connection and progress.
Through small steps – whether it’s establishing a routine, practising mindfulness, or simply talking to someone – you can reclaim your focus and re-engage with the present. It takes patience, but with time, awareness, and effort, it is possible to live more fully in the real world without losing the rich inner world that makes you who you are.
Rita Rana is a freelance writer. She has contributed verses to three anthologies: Together Behind Four Walls, Once Upon a Time, and Stardust. You can read her poems at Delhi Poetry Slam, Fuzia World, and Notion Press.
