Obsessive Imagination

Former Member

I have this thing where I’ll watch a tv program and I’ll feel attached to certain characters and I will daydream/make up storylines and scenarios in my head as if I was there. But I’ll obsess over it, become more invested in that version of myself rather than my real life. Sometimes it can happen for the whole day and I get so emotionally and mentally drained from this whole other life in my imagination. I like to daydream but this is too much and idk how to stop it. I’ll study to try or listen to music to distract myself but it’s constantly there waiting for the next part of the story. It’s silly, more recently I’ve noticed myself getting a little anxious because I know my life will never be the way it is in my imagination. Any advice?

Past User

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Maisy

Hi @mol

There's nothing wrong with being obsessed with characters or daydreaming- it shows that you are quite creative! Though I do understand that when something occurs frequently and distracts us from our life, it can become problematic. It sounds like watching tv programs can spark your daydreaming, which can interfere with the rest of your day. I'm wondering if there are particular times that you watch tv programs? It might help to make sure that you get any work or chores done first before you watch something if you know you will likely daydream afterwards. If you find yourself getting emotionally invested as well, it might help to try to set a limit with how long you daydream- there's nothing wrong with daydreaming and it can help us to be creative and develop empathy and role playing etc. so there's no need to stop daydreaming completely. You just need to find the right balance so that it doesn't take over your life. You might also want to consider other outlets for your creativity- such as writing, blogging etc. and again, you can set a time limit as to how long you can do this for. I've noticed that when I have a lot of ideas whirring around my mind, simply writing them down can help get them out and the urge to fixate on them passes once I've written them down. 

I do also agree with @errrin about finding things that can help ground you- such as talking to a friend, or doing something that requires focus. 

I'm curious as to why you feel your life will never be the way it is in your imagination? Obviously imagination is not reality and there are many things that would be difficult to replicate in real life but for me, when I've daydreamed the most, I tend to realise that I wasn't very happy with my life and wanted my daydreams to be real. Like you, this would be a double edge sword because I loved to daydream, and was happy in my daydreams, but saddened when I realised it wasn't real. But what has actually helped is to think about what my daydreams meant to me, whether there was something in my daydreams that I wasn't getting in my real life and then tried to figure out if there was something I could do to actually make my life a bit more like the one I had in my head. You might never be able to realistically achieve your imagined life but you can take some steps to move closer to it as well as finding the good in your life as it is now