If you know you suffer from maladaptive daydreaming disorder the thought of whether you should tell your doctor or not, would have already occurred to you. whether you talk to your doctor or therapist about it is another matter.

After 3 or 4 days of constantly maladaptive daydreaming, I decided to Google what it meant, as constantly daydreaming was a very new and very strange thing for me. It did not start in childhood like lots of other people say it did, it just started a few months before I turned 38 years old. So that’s how I first realised that there was a name for what basically a daydreaming addict was. A maladaptive daydreamer.

What exactly is CBT?

CBT stands for Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which is a talking therapy mostly used to help people dealing with depression and anxiety. It supposedly helps manage your issues by changing the way you think and behave. CBT helps us to replace thoughts and behaviours that aren’t working for us (I don’t know about you but the maladaptive daydreaming really isn’t working for me anymore) with new ones that work better for us.

I have a gaol. My goal is to cure myself of Maladative daydreams forever. Whilst the highs are brilliant I wish I had never experienced MD. So I have decided that I am going to painstakingly document what every Maladaptive daydreamer has said helps to control or get rid of this affliction and then test it out on myself to see what works the best. On this post I’m just going to do my best and list them and then I’ll do in depth posts to let you see how it goes.  Again, please if you have something that works for you please please do get in touch or use the comment section below so I can include it.

1. Write down and keep track of your thoughts. Then analyse what you think they mean. For example, what feeling / emotion are you getting from that particular daydream?
2. Meditation
3. Talking out loud. So when you’re home alone, instead of going through your daydreams in your mind, say the words out loud.
4. When you daydream do it in fast forward
5. CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
6. Tell somebody that your a maladaptive daydreamer (yikes)
7. Change the ending of your daydream. For example, if you have a love interest in your daydream make them a friend instead. (I can imagine this will make your daydream a whole lot less enjoyable and so maybe you will daydream a lot less?)
8. If you start daydreaming look at an object around you such a table or chair and focus on it for a few seconds to remind yourself to be present and live in the moment.
9. Drugs
10. Mindfulness
11. Talking to a trained therapist
12. Avoiding triggers. (Not looking forward to avoiding music and coffee. Am wondering how to avoid feeling bored as boredom is a massive trigger for me)