Maladaptive daydreaming is where someone experiences very realistic daydreams for sometimes hours on end. These daydreams can be triggered by music, actions or words or happen spontaneously. Sometimes Maladaptive daydreaming is caused by an underlying condition like OCD or Depression. People who Maladaptive daydream sometimes struggle to tell it's a daydream, especially in longer episodes, and can get annoyed or have the desire to complete the daydream if they are interrupted. It can get in the way of their lives, jobs, families and friendships. Often, people will compulsively daydream and sometimes feel a dependency on it. Daydreams can be caused intentionally. Sometimes this causes guilt or shame, especially when activities are interrupted. Maladaptive daydreams are very complex and usually follow a 'plot' based on things around the daydreamer. ( For example, Chimericalkit could see himself becoming a leader or defeating a loner that recently invaded camp ) There is a 16 level scale of Maladaptive daydreaming, 1 is the mildest. These daydreams are usually quite short and the daydreamer can clearly tell these as fantasy. 16 is very severe, daydreams come in the way of everyday life and the daydreamer struggles to talk to real people. Chimericalkit falls at 9 on the scale. He will show irritance when his daydreams end ( and hold grudges with the cats who end them ) and certain things can cause daydreams. It can also be used as distractions from problems ( i.e scoldings ) It can be caused by trauma but this is not always the case.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23336-maladaptive-daydreaming#:~:text=Maladaptive%20daydreaming%20is%20a%20behavior,mental%20health%20conditions%20like%20anxiety. http://traumadissociation.com/mds https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/maladaptive-daydreaming#:~:text=Maladaptive%20daydreaming%20is%20when%20you%20spend%20a%20large,the%20way%20of%20your%20work%2C%20relationships%2C%20and%20hobbies. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/maladaptive-daydreaming#:~:text=Maladaptive%20daydreaming%20is%20when%20you%20spend%20a%20large,the%20way%20of%20your%20work%2C%20relationships%2C%20and%20hobbies.
