Daydreaming as a distraction

[anxious_hb]

I’ve been ‘daydreaming’ for longer than I can remember. I know it was something I did long before I realised I suffered from anxiety (I can remember doing it as a teenager).

By ‘daydreaming’ I’m talking about imagining myself in another life or world. I imagine a version on me living a different life, in a different location, with a different job. I sometimes base it on a tv show I’m watching where I’m a character in the story (and I’m dating my celebrity crush 😂).

I often do this before bed or on my commute to calm my mind. And it’s not like I always imagine a perfect life, sometimes the character I’m portraying faces struggles, but I just find I enjoy escaping even just for 15 minutes.

I find myself doing it more and more at the moment and I worry I’ll get to wrapped up in my ‘daydream’ life and neglect or detach from my real one. I just wondered if this is something that anyone else does and if they use it as an effective method of distraction without it taking over their real lives too much?

Thanks

HB

[Hidden]

Hello

I cannot relax enough to daydream but wished I could !

Personally I cannot see any harm in it , a distraction is good and if it helps you then even better

Typical of anxiety though when we find something that works to help us it is there trying to get in and take over giving us a negative " What if " ignore it

Take Care x

[Lindsey14]

I get how that goes, dreaming of a better reality :/

[kenster1]

I think most of us have moments like a day dream state I could tell you what I do as a distraction but you would laugh but it helps me.

[LiveandLetLive42 in reply to kenster1]

What is this distraction lovebug? LOL

[kenster1 in reply to LiveandLetLive42]

I talk out in other accents to myself its like it deflects from me into someone else for a minute or two.

[LiveandLetLive42 in reply to kenster1]

Ok that is probably the coolest thing you’ve ever told me

[Hidden in reply to kenster1]

I'd say that about what I daydream so I don't tell people what I daydream about. LOL.

[Hidden]

I do that. I had always wondered if anyone else had done it too

[Hidden]

Yes! I am exactly like this. I do think it can be harmful as it sometimes interferes with my every day life. Ive had it since I was a little kid.

[Hidden]

Yeah I do it too. I've done it since I was in the 3rd grade. It's like living in your head and yeah it can be distracting from real life. I do it too much too. I agree wit you I wonder about the positives vs the negatives. I honestly can't say. I suppose it's a lot like too much of a good thing is bad for you. It can be addictive. A form of escapism. Everything in moderation. I see the benefits though it inspires my imagination and settle my heart and mind. I just try to balance sorta like when I used to play video games too much as a kid though I didn't out grow this.

On a side note, it also depends where the daydreaming takes you. Cause mine has taken me to dark places I know I shouldn't go. I have severe depression and I can wonder into a scenarios that would no doubt be destructive. The real world is the place we really live in and the daydreaming should be kept in check.

Just my thoughts.

[anxious_hb in reply to Hidden]

Nice to know I’m not the only one and I think you are right about everything in moderation. I agree we definitely need to make sure we are grounded in the real world.

HB

[Hidden in reply to anxious_hb]

I only said that cause I speak from experience that it does take me anyway to some dark scenarios that would tear me a part if I'm not mindful. What a complex thing the mind is.

[Mealsmann]

Wow, yes! I daydream about winning the lottery and who I will give money to and how much they'll like me for it. Also about writing a book and getting interviewed and being told how amazing it is. On a loop for 20+ years

Had a difficult 18 months and eventually at 40 have started dealing with my anxiety and depression. Don't think it's been helping that I day dream (fantasise?!?!?!) about things that are never going to happen. It definitely has distracted me from being better at introspection (I think) and have it be positive and not just worry, anxiety then panic. Like I literally get through tough times by imagining something amazing is going to happen

[anxious_hb in reply to Mealsmann]

I see how it could become a distraction from addressing your fears or problems. I think the key for me will be to make sure I use it as a short term distraction and not something that takes over my life so much it distracts me from looking at an accepting my real life.

I also try not to make my daydream about a slightly better version of myself or too close to my real life. I make myself a ‘character’ so unlike me and in a world I would never be in that it just becomes a fictional story like watching a play or tv show in mind. That way I never let myself believe the daydream could become a reality. I guess it’s just a bit of indulgence and short term escapism from my mind which I really need some days.

HB

[Hope177TT]

I do this as well. I have an alter ego called Fenella Bridge who is confident talented and famous. I run through her life in my head daydreaming away. I dont think its harmful to me.

[Poodie]

Hi hb and everyone.

I can remember as a young child daydreaming and pretending that I did not live with my family. Instead I would make myself into a child of one or another of my friends’s families. I would play out everyday life within this more normal group. I think it was my way of escaping the reality I was in. It kept alive for me the idea that more normal families did exist.

I do not think this was harmful at all because it was a needed escape. Plus there was not much a young child could do to change their situation in life except in their imagination. I did this into early primary school. One day my mother observed me doing this so she promptly called our family doctor to report my “crazy” behavior. He apparently told her not to worry about it. Besides being mean, she had no imagination !

For an adult, I doubt if it is harmful unless it keeps you from taking part in your life. I would try to think about how this daydreaming relates to what you want out of life.

[Mealsmann]

It's nice to know other people do this also

I'm at the beginning of this journey and I worry this is a way for me not to do things. But in general I worry!

[Boober180]

Maladaptive Daydreamer. I only know because I have done it since I was really young. I also spoke with my doctor about it( hence how I know the name). It is okay in moderation. Over the years they get so vivid I can actually feel the emotion/sensation from my daydream. I had to learn to take a break from it because it can consume you.