Hi, I was wondering if anyone else on here is dealing with Maladaptive Daydreaming? Does anyone know what could cause it? I have CPTSD, Chronic Anxiety/Depression, and several other things. Could any of those cause it? I'm also stuck in a very abusive household and with people who constantly put me down, so I've always assumed it was an escape, but someone just recently told me that it's typically a symptom of something bigger. So I'm worried. I'm constantly letting my mind wonder to a world I've made up, with characters and amazing things I've put my heart into making perfect. I put my characters in situations I've been though (and even worse situations) and make them overcome it and come out on top, and it gives me such hope in life. I even write everything down. I have been doing this for years, so I have Hundreds of Thousands of words written on so so sooo many pages... But I'm scared that I'm hurting myself with this now. I used to only let myself daydream myself into that world whenever I was alone just spending time by myself in a peaceful environment, or at nighttime when I'd go into my little world and let myself fall asleep surrounded by my characters that make me feel safe and in an environment I felt safe in, versus the actual environment I was in. Occasionally I'd daydream away right after an argument and let the characters comfort me and help me feel better, often letting those figments of my imagination talk me off ledges. Now it's different. I'm so depressed and I ONLY feel safe/comfortable in that made up world. I understand my home situation has gotten much worse, so I felt like that was the reason that I feel even safer in my made up world, where I'm not treated wrongly, but I don't know anymore. Now I daydream so often, that I get confused with real life things, I occasionally don't hear things people are saying to me because I'm off in my own world, I "zone out" a lot, I commonly forget things (such as what I was doing, what I had to do, or events that happened), I'm more interested in just staying in my safe world than going out with friends/family, I'm more interested in that world than watching movies/TV with family, and it's just generally affecting my real life
Does anyone else experience this or happen to have ANY advice???