Daydreaming Is Ruining My Life
Hey, first post here! I’ve been wanting to get this off my chest for a while.
I’m 22 and struggle with long-term memory loss issues as well as maladaptive daydreaming. I had a traumatic experience as a young child and I believe that’s what set this off. I have been working to acknowledge my past trauma and move ahead from it, but the daydreaming has trapped me in a seemingly never ending loop.
It used to just be at night that I would daydream, but over the last couple of months it is nearly constantly. If I am not actively doing something, I catch myself deep in a made up situation. My daydreams are typically about romantic situations, which given my past relationships and childhood trauma, I am aware it is because I am craving a relationship. I want to date someone, but the daydreaming is self-sabotaging me with each opportunity I get.
If I meet someone I’m interested in, I make up a version of them in my head and end up absolutely crushed when the real thing doesn’t compare or follow my storyline. I’ve started to get a lot of anxiety about it in the last couple of weeks and realized that I NEED to stop. Today I have been making a verbal acknowledgment whenever I catch myself daydreaming and redirect into something mentally stimulating, but it is absolutely exhausting.
I guess I just want to hear anyone’s victory story and advice?