Are You a Maladaptive Daydreamer? Test

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Maladaptive daydreaming (MADD), or excessive daydreaming, can result in distress, can replace human interaction and might interfere with normal functioning. The higher your score on this quiz, the more likely it is that you have MADD. (Note: MADD is not currently a diagnosable condition, so it's really up to you whether you believe you have it or not. I am NOT a professional.)

  • 1/10
    Do you daydream for at least four hours a day, whether idly or with full attention dedicated?
    Do you daydream for at least four hours a day, whether idly or with full attention dedicated?

Comments (50)

autorenew

622 days ago
I have found myself writing detailed scripts regarding my daydreams. For example, today i spent 1 1/2 hours writing a resume for one of the characters.
633 days ago
when i daydream usually music triggers me and i pace around my room and imagine myself doing stuff and scenarios i could never do in real life and with friends, i dont even have irl. i mean i do have friends but i dont really like them a lot. this started last year when i was very lonley but it wasn't excessive now i cant stop and i told my mom and she said its normal to day dream but she doesnt understand how it is. i feel so sad all the time i think the reason i started is because my mom was being too oppersive and controlling with religion, and i felt alone and lonley and i got into self harm and i told my cousin about it. then i heard her talking to her friend and she was like "my cousin is even more šŸ¦„ up then me she walks around her room and day dreams all day" at the time it didnt hurt but the more i thought about it the more i realize how alone. i am now im crying this is the first time im telling this to someone. i think im being sensitive. sorrhy for the vent lol. also my birthday was 4 days ago nerdsss ahahahha
648 days ago
For me it's not like normal daydreaming, when u look at the ceiling and "imagine myself away". No for me it's more like i see thee charatcters ive made in front of me and we talk, cuddle, and they're just there. I never dream about "scenes" in my head, i act it out, and actually talk to them and i guess im also the one who decideds their respons then... and it hurt so šŸ˜» bad when one of the chara ters iw as closest too died.. i dont think ive ever cried that much. And I even go home on my school breaks(i live 5 min away) to be able to go into my room and see them again since i cant do t in school because people are going to think im crazy... and i feel like if i stay in school or an enviroment where there's lots of people and/or where i cant talk to Matthew, his name is, my main character, I go nuts and get really stressed and need to get out of that enviroment and back home where i can be at peace.
658 days ago
As my first comment says sometimes I wake up early or middle of the night just to daydream or go to my bedroom and tell my mom that I'm going to sleep but in reality I'm just going to lay at my bed staring at my ceiling while daydreaming and it last for hours. It's like I don't want to stop it but I know it's not good, I have a whole new life in my daydreams.
658 days ago
I never really thought about it I mean my daydreaming, at first it started when my dad left us And I never really noticed that I daydream alot and as I grew older I realized something is wrong because everything triggers it even when I'm just eating, walking or even doing nothing and the worst part is its is repetitive the dreams are like a fictional character which is me like the better me like all of wat I want in real life I put it in my dreams. I often zone out like for example in the middle of talking to someone then the next minute I stare at nothing and my mind is playing scenarios after scenarios that sometimes it hard to snap out of it. It's like a stress reliever for me like if the situation that I'm in real life is stressing for me, my mind is automatically daydreaming about the same character of me and as you know while I'm writing this my mind is daydreaming whilst I'm writing this. Weird right? Haha for me it's normal.
658 days ago
wow. ive always thought i was alone when i did this. i was only aware since last year, ive been doing this for more than 3 years now. the questions shocked me so much because it always was triggered by music, but ive daydreamed so much to the point i can do it with no triggers. but growing up, (as i am still young) - ive been through so much stuff and i realized ive been using it to cope by making myself feel better in so many ways. also, i'm neurodivergent and my hyperfixations play SUCH a big role. also, this sounds insane but ig not anymore since there are people like me but;; ive been daydreaming about this SPECIFIC theme for about 3 years now. it brings me so much euphoria and i cant control it, but at the same time it feels nice. since even if it affects my daily life im aware and i do my best to keep everything balanced. also.. is it actually true you cant get diagnosed by this yet? it seems like theres barely any articles about this or even that google thing where it shows whats it about. ps. thanks to that random person that mentioned this on a post i saw, i had a weird feeling i had it. and look at me now LMFAO.
660 days ago
undefined hey I need to vent so here I am ; I donā€™t even know when I started daydreaming but as a child, I was kinda lonely (my mother was always busy and my brother was already a teenager) so I played by myself. I kept imagining people or fictional characters around me and talking to them but I am aware that theyā€™re not real. I stopped doing it when I grew up but now Iā€™m 16 and I started this again. Sometimes I feel really ashamed of it and I stop because itā€™s crazy and insane but I canā€™t help it, it just feels so good to not be alone and with ā€œpeopleā€ that actually understand me (as they come from me lmao)
661 days ago
also adding on to my comment, when watching a movie/show i often zone out and imagine myself in those situations. sometimes its not even movies, but songs. my daydreaming helps me make up story ideas which has gotten me into writing funny enough.
661 days ago
ive done this since i was around 6 or 7 just pretending i was a character in my favorite show etc when trying to fall asleep. then i got worse to the point where I'd be going to bed very early just to be able to day dream and then even laying in my bed for hours daydreaming before even getting out of bed in the day. it eventually started getting better and now it's starting to get bad again. i realized how much struggle and pain i put my daydream self into (projecting my issues on them) and how when i think of "myself" it's someone way better than i think of myself. it can be comforting at times, but it can be a struggle for my mental health and normal life. i don't want to cut it off completely, but i wish i could function normally without it. ive been told my many people that i should go get tested for adhd and possibly even derealization. this might e related to my need to daydream but im not sure.
662 days ago
MADD needs more awareness! Though it can be comforting at times, there are better coping mechanisms that donā€™t interfere with sleep and day-to-day life.
664 days ago
The results seem to be that I do indeed have MADD. It seems to come and go. When I'm happy with my life, I don't need it. When I'm in limbo or stuck between phases in my life, it becomes a self soothing thing that I do when I'm supposed to be sleeping or bathing, or when I'm sleeping in. It keeps me sane when things aren't working out how I had hoped, and helps me stay patient enough to ride out less ideal times.

And it is definitely maladaptive. It's rather be in that world than fall asleep when I really need to sleep. I have the type of job where I really can't afford to be mentally tired... So I have to find some other escapist outlet.
669 days ago
I started doing it around the time I got together and broke up with my first bf. I imagined myself with him and i didnā€™t think music of it. During March of 2020 When lockdown in the uk began I got worse very bad. Iā€™ve struggled with anxiety, depression, insomnia and other mental illnesses I saw a clip of keeping up with the kardashians and now I spend hours a day thinking about being one of the siblings with a perfect life and money. Iā€™ve stated procrastinating from school work as Iā€™m in secondary school. I canā€™t stop I take it seriously. I even have a not on my phone with name for babies which I have in my imagination. I think itā€™s MADD
And donā€™t know how to stop. Thank you for reading this.
670 days ago
I started daydreaming when my parent(s) started to get more aggressive towards me, I felt alone and I wanted to escape the reality I was in. If I see random strangers on the street I go home and pretend I've known them for years and I have a relationship with them. (I know it sounds weird and creepy) With the shows I watch I pretend t know every character and act like I'm a part of the cast or even in the show in my room alone. It gets in the way of my family time school friends, etc. I could be hugging my mom and I would pretend she was someone else that I fantasize/daydream about. I want to help myself.
672 days ago
I started daydreaming when I came abroad since Iā€™m always alone at home my parents would go to work and Iā€™ll go to school after school Iā€™m all alone in the house I donā€™t have anybody to talk to. I sometimes watch dramas listen to music etc and then one night I think thatā€™s where all it started, I started to daydream since I canā€™t sleep and Iā€™ve remember the drama that Iā€™ve watched and thought of what ifā€™s and then it continued before it was only at night that sometimes I want to go to bed early so I could daydream early (?) and then I also started to daydream even in the morning sometimes even when Iā€™m bored at class I also do! And then I think it got worsens cause I also started to talk to myself things like that, that my parents keep saying I should stop talking to myself and right until now I still do daydreaming I also want to write stories since Iā€™ve thought a lot of prompts or scenarios but when I start to write it I just couldnā€™t find the right words how to express it rightly but if I imagine it it looks so perfect thatā€™s makes me frustrated too. Well I donā€™t really know if I have this maladaptive daydreaming or I have another
677 days ago
undefinedThere's actually a name for this! Who knew? I thought it was just a symptom of one of the mental illnesses I've been diagnosed with. I've been using my daydreams as catalysts for writing stories since I was abt 9 yrs. old. I do think it shows a lot of imagination - we daydreamers should understand that it's a coping mechanism & be proud of our survival skills. Find a way to use our daydreams to our benefit. Don't ever be ashamed of your coping mechanisms, they may have kept you sane & even alive. Control your daydreams & learn to like them!šŸŒ¼
680 days ago
What's infuriating with my supposed MADD (if I do have it) is that I have created multiple stories and characters and setting that do not have a correlation with one another. Like for example, there is this only one trope where my daydreaming involves me. The rest of my daydreams are characters that I created, or stories of how I want a fictional character from a book/movie to be, like super strong or empowered and the like. And what's more infuriating is that there is like 4-5 story tropes that I have been experiencing and daydreaming about for like 5 years already. And then I would transition from one story to another when I get bored, or when I impulsive remeber that I havent "perfected" the stpry I daydreamed about last time. It is so spontaneous that I sometime lose my mind lmao. I dont know. Maybe this is my coping mechanism for the loneliness i have been experiencing since i was a teenager that went with me and could not go away. I wasnt even aware that there were disorders invovling excessive daydreaming, until I saw a TikTok video explaining what maladaptive daydreaming was about. And then everything clicked into place and I defenitely assume that I hve too, since most of the symptoms point to me, and i (shamefully) scored high on this test. It does not necessarily hinder my (very low) social life but it is so excessive especially when I am alone, where I whisper to myself or I pace and walk daydreaming all the time. And sometimes i play BeyoncƩ's super bowl or coachella performance to pretend I am her loollllll
687 days ago
ps. for my previous comment you can see that there are some weird emojis and that's because this site does not allow any curse words.
687 days ago
I really think I have maladaptive daydreaming, when I first came upon the term it's like the heavens opened up(lol) like I literally screamed it made so much sense! usually, for me it's like if the character in my head is doing something like walking or running I can not sit still ill either be running around or jumping while my mom snaps at me to just stay still also what @misa said is really true with me too where I correct scenes in my daydream add dialogues and all until it's perfect and I'm satisfied with it. for me, almost everything I daydream about is the books I read (and it's mostly fantasy and fiction) and maybe some movies. It's mostly about the characters in that particular book, from other books, new characters, sometimes the settings are a mix of like different books or like its completely new settings and usually, I pace around a lot and get really angry when someone interrupts my dreams lol. and also music! music plays a big role I almost always have music going on in the background. it also really affects my mood like if something bad happens in my dream id be quite angry for the rest of the day and also if something bad happens in real life then my dreams are gonna be šŸ’—, sad and angry. And yeah I'm just really glad I came upon this cause up until now I thought I was weird and wondered what's wrong with me so it's a huge relief to know there are people out there who go through the same šŸ’— as I do.
689 days ago
I think I do have maladaptive daydreaming and it's interrupting my daily life and responsibilities. I always procrastinate my homework because I'd daydream instead.
I tend to act out what I'm doing in my daydream. I once ran from my room to the kitchen and my mom was surprised and she asked if I'm okay, lmao. I need to have some sort of repetitive movement like shaking my legs or walking in circles to keep the daydream going.

I even 'corrects' scenes in my daydream if the characters said something I'm not satisfied with or when someone/something interrupts me. I would repeat the same scene over and over until I got it perfect so I can move on to the next scene.

And my main trigger is anime. I like to imagine myself as one of the main characters in the anime, lol that sounds so stupid.

I like daydreaming and I don't want to stop from doing it at all. I probably need to control it a little but I'll be very upset with myself if I didn't daydream enough that day.
690 days ago
I learned that i had Maladative daydreaming from a tik tok i watched explaining it. What triggers it the most is a few games and music(I love music a lot so i do maladative daydreaming a lot too)
Sometimes i pace around my room and actually do the movements while i daydream. I started last year because i was having trouble sleeping so i started to try and make lil scenaoris in my head but now it feels like a have a full on world in my head