Let’s talk maladaptive daydreaming 💭 Daydreaming is completely normal, and something almost every single person does. It gives us a break from our current life, it helps us think about goals and the future and it can be exciting and pleasant. But, it does not last for extreme periods of time and we often feel content returning to our present reality. Daydreaming becomes maladaptive when it is intense, distracting and impacts a persons daily function. Maladaptive daydreaming is often an escape for an individual from their current life or pain & trauma from the past. I want to address that maladaptive daydreaming is not widely recognized and is not in the DSM. There is not a lot of evidenced based research on it. But, it can become extremely distressing for an individual and impact areas of their life such as work, school, social life & much more. Dissociating is a response that could have kept us safe when we felt as if we were in danger. We may have developed this as a way fo escape our reality and put our bodies & minds in a place that was safer than our current situation. Dissociating & daydreaming is not something you should shame yourself for. If you experience maladaptive daydreaming or you feel as if daydreaming & dissociating as a coping strategy is impacting your health, here are some tips: - Become aware of what you are experiencing & name it - Recognize the patterns & triggers that cause you to do it - Ground yourself in the present moment if possible or safe. (Using 5 senses, grounding tools, breathing etc) - Find coping strategies that are safe and work for you. This may take trial and error - Give yourself a set time to daydream and stay within that tome - Be kind to yourself- you’re doing the best you can with what you know! Give yourself time, don’t try to stop all at once and judge yourself if it doesn’t work - Set goals and small steps to achieve them Ib @jessie ˚ ༘🧁⋆｡˚ ꕥ . . . . . #mentalhealth #anxiety #trauma #unhealedtrauma #depression #stress #ptsd #complextrauma #cptsd #motivation #procrastination #wellness #therapy #therapist #mentalhealthmatters #socialanxiety #bpd #bipolar #dsm