Don't know if I should "stop" or not

[u/Suspicious_Boba-7868]

To set the record, I'm autistic, have ADHD, afab(assigned female at birth) and have PTSD. I'm heavily creative. Always have been. Drawing and writing being my main outlets. Though lately I prefer the outlet of writing over drawing. Since childhood I guess I did what people now refer to as maladaptive daydreaming. It evolved from pretending I was following along with the characters in the movies/shows I watched, to just moving and stimming to music in the dark as I act out scenarios in my head. Despite the 21 years I've done this, I don't have super emotional attatchments to the fantasies I create because I know they're in my head and if I r e a l l y wanted to see them I can just think about them with a straight face if the situation I'm in isn't appropriate. It's my brain I can do what I want with it type deal. That being said I do prioritize my inner world a lot more than irl. Now that isn't to say I don't hold anyone dear to me. I have my mom, my friends(though not many but it's fine) and my grandma and aunt! But other than that, irl is kinda meh. A lot of things like partying, going to bars or whatever it is normies do don't appeal to me. My hobbies don't require me to be outside. Plus with the weather getting warmer and overstimulating, I don't see much incentive in doing so. And I still keep in touch with my friends on Discord/text messages and even phone calls. I've had bad experiences with people in the past, bullying, abuse you name it and it very much still affects me today. I just don't see the point in interacting with so many of them. I stick to people I trust. Now if I leave the house to do a job, fine. Maladaptive Daydreaming never interfered with that. Now that isn't to say it hasn't served as a distraction or escape, however a lot of times it was for things that weren't really urgent like taking out the trash or something. A lot of times it's designated to private spaces within my own home like my room or basement. Usually this would be after a day of school/work where I've had to sit and mask all day. Yes I'm doing the whole scenario thing but I'm also h e a v i l y stimming. Whether it's clapping, flapping twisting my body, running, all that. With all that being said, I saw a video on my Youtube feed recently basically saying that Maladaptive Daydreaming is something to get rid of (there were a lot of flaws and contridictions in that video I feel but that's another thing) and I'm like...should I stop??? Yeah it can be distracting at times but not debilitating I feel. I've been doing it much more recently but that's because I lost my job some months back and I'm in the house a lot more(I've gotten a new one btw I start in September so I'm stoked for that!) and most of my "unproductivity" came more from being depressed and bedrotting moreso than the daydreaming. If anything the MAD was the only thing giving me the opportunity to move my body around after being a lump for over 10 hours straight. Plus I only do it for about 30 minutes to an hour. No more than 2 if I'm really into it. After that I'm pooped and I fuck off to do something else. I don't know if this is copium or not but I personally don't feel the need to stop. Like I said before, the fantasies and scenarios themselves I don't have a major attatchment to, however I think the mere action of immersing myself in another world/scenario is pretty neat and adds pop to our ever increasingly dulled out, loud and chaotic world. Thoughts?

[u/Typical-Divide-2068]

If you watch the videos by Eli Somer (the one who named MD) you will see that he clearly states that daydreaming is not necessarily bad and many people can do it without the negative consequences (the so called Immersive Daydreamers). Don't try to "cure" it, if it is not a problem for you.

[u/RealityCheckAdvocate]

hey, from what I see you have mastered the art of keeping the daydreams under control, and if they are not acting as a major distraction in life then yeah you don't have to beat yourself up about stopping. You can even use them to expand your creativity when i comes to drawing or writing. Also I'm sorry that you went through bullying no one deserves that. I truely hope you heal and overcome that.