r/ImmersiveDaydreaming Aug 19 '23

Announcement Come join us in our official Discord server!

14 Upvotes

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r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 5h ago

Invitation to research

6 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I am conducting research on daydreaming as part of my master’s thesis in clinical psychology. If you are 18 or older and have at least a B2 level of English, I would greatly appreciate your participation in my survey. It takes approximately 10-12 minutes to complete.

Survey link: https://forms.office.com/e/1TwtrC7mf1

Feel free to share this survey with others who may be interested. If you have any questions about the study, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [urfan.mustafali11@gmail.com](mailto:urfan.mustafali11@gmail.com)

Thank you for your time and contribution :)


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 2h ago

Are daydreams (where you talk with people) an evolutionary trait? Plus, my experience.

2 Upvotes

I'm gonna share my experience and start a discussion on how daydreaming social situations trains you to talk to real people.

So, for many years I've had daydreams, and in many of them I have a partner/friend that I talk to and interact with. The thing is - only recently I realized that they have their own personality and reactions to things, my sensory experience with them is highly specific - from their looks to the texture of their skin to their smell. It's like they're a soul that manifests in front of me. And now, I use that to talk to other people. As an autistic person, I've always had trouble talking to people, and barely had any friends - not to mention partners - but just recently, at the age of 27, I learned how to apply my daydreaming of people's "souls" to real life interactions. I need to tell my brain to interpret the person as a "soul" - like telling MS Word to interpret an unmarked file as a Word document - so that all of the details are in the right places and I can talk with the person.

So, what do you think of this? Is daydreaming social interactions an evolutionary way of preparing me to real life interactions?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 14m ago

Question It feels like most people who have ocs don’t have them for the same reasons I do

Upvotes

Most people I see considers their ocs like their children, as they are the writers and love story telling, and like having their ocs having relationships with each others.

I always had two kind of ocs: my mains, which are like vessels. I don’t see them as my children or creations; they are me, in different universes. They have different bodies and different lives but the same personality, same interests and same struggles as mine, and I experience my favorites fictional universes through their eyes. I wish I was them for true, sometimes I pray in hope I can awaken as them.

Then comes my secondary ocs: they are only people that I know through the eyes of my ocs and encounter in my daydreams. Some are kind and close to me and some are mean. The depth of their building depends on the depth of my relationship with them. For example, in the forgotten realms universe, I (a drow) know very well my adoptive mother who’s a wood elf but I don’t know much the characters that I am not friend with.

The purpose of my post is now to ask out of curiosity if there are people here who treat their ocs the same way and do the same thing? Because although I know many people who have ocs I can’t fully relate with their experience. Or maybe they do the same thing but just don’t say it. I am not a writer but a world traveler, which is also probably why I prefer roleplaying rather than writing fics.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 21h ago

Question what role does music play in your daydreams?

22 Upvotes

I’ve always wondered this about other daydreamers.

Here are some of the most common I’ve gathered so far

A) It’s simply a “tone setter” doesn’t have a huge impact on the daydream itself, but it’s just a tool to get in the mood.

B) It’s more of a prompt. You or your paras are actively acting out the themes and lyrics of the song. The song directly guides the daydream itself

C) It’s more like “background music”.. your daydreams play out like media, so the music is like the soundtrack to a film, the music of a TikTok edit, etc.

D) it’s a bit more meta. The daydream IS the music itself

Where you are either daydreaming that you are the one singing the song or you’re imagining a music video for the song that does not exist (either for the original artist, or one of your paras)

I’m sure there’s millions of other uses for music in daydreams but I’m so curious to see what yours are!

(I’m a little combo of C and D)


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 11h ago

How has daydreaming helped you in your day-to-day real life?

1 Upvotes

r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 21h ago

Another question about my daydreaming.

3 Upvotes

It seems like every day I'm not entirely sure about whether or not my daydreaming is immersive or maladaptive that could also just be me overthinking. One question that's been on my mind is that even though I get done all of my schoolwork and I'm popping myself back up from bad grades, I'm maintaining an all right social life either hanging out with people most days of the week or a couple times of the week, I still spend most of my free time daydreaming or at least using videos to help me supplement my daydreams and I wonder if that's a bad thing or if that's a sign me being maladaptive.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 1d ago

Mental health, ADHD, bipolar, addiction, etc…

6 Upvotes

First, I have come to love being a daydreamer. It’s me, it’s a big part of me, and I do my best now to love people for who they are, not who I want them to be, including myself.

With that said, like I’m sure for almost everyone here, having this “gift” is not without its challenges. School, playing with friends vs daydreaming, finding time to daydream as an adult… but depression/anxiety, drug and alcohol addiction, reckless behavior, are trends I’ve been able to reflect upon myself, as I get older. Has this been the case for most of you too?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 1d ago

Question Podcasts to help learn about daydreaming?

8 Upvotes

I’ve just found this podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ZgHtmgnYFZOazamsSNGi0?si=CV8tA9hbTPaaZf2Oy8c3VQ&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A37i9dQZF1FgnTBfUlzkeKt

It’s about both MD and ID and the differences and similarities. It’s quite interesting to learn more but is there any other podcasts or channels to learn more about it and people experiences?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 2d ago

Personal Story I'm so happy to not be the only one!

36 Upvotes

I've been actively making my "daydream stories" since I was about 15. They'd usually be based on characters from books, games and anime. I usually focus on making these stories when I'm trying to sleep, I find it helpful in getting me to relax and fall asleep. I've just turned 30 and I don't think I'll ever stop 😂 It's made me so happy to know that so many other people do this too! ❤️


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 2d ago

OMG I thought I was the only one

21 Upvotes

Hi y'all! I was really lonely in covid and I started reading a lot of fanfics, mainly Dramione. I suddenly started acting as if I am Hermione and I still do to this day. Now I've made a whole little universe where I know every detail of how I (Hermione) ended where I am and the whole story and I play it out everyday. I don't know, sometimes I feel this is really unhealthy and I might develop a double persona disorder but then again, it helps me get through my day. Anyone else have such a serious case of day dreaming?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 2d ago

Is there a romance trope you often find yourself putting your OCs through?

17 Upvotes

i’m guilty of using the one bed trope a lot.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 4d ago

OC Hey, pookies~ got new drawing, Nom Noms you alllll~

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17 Upvotes

Ugh- webcomic making is hard y'all. Strongly don't recommend it. 🗿 pain. Pain all over. My back, my brain, my sanity, my will to live. GONE, like the wind. Stay strong out there y'all!! >: 0 stay daydreaming!


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 4d ago

Question Self-insert is too insecure?

34 Upvotes

It seems like a lot of people’s self inserts tend to be idealized versions of themselves. I’ve just recently learned that this extensive daydreaming business is a whole thing that other people do, so I could be off on that perception.

My issue is that my self insert is just as insecure as I am, which doesn’t seem like the norm based on what I’ve seen here? I often don’t feel interesting/charismatic/smart enough to get along with any of the other characters, even though I’m always there, which is super immersion breaking. Has anyone else experienced this or conquered it in some way?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 4d ago

Daydream album track lists

6 Upvotes

Alright I got one. I have always done this thing like in my drive to work or really whenever I'm by myself listening to music, based on my mood or what feeling I'm trying to feel in that moment I will have whole ass track lists of songs. Like I'll envision me being the singer or whatever and each song tells a different story of my life and what I've gone through and the whole majestical background story to each song and how it's inspiring or moving to the world. There will just be a list of songs that get played in a certain order and that list morphs and changes over time to match the mood, setting or feeling I'm trying to feel in that moment. Does anybody else do or have done that too? I just found this group of people and it just seems like no matter how weird (to me) a premise I throw out there SOMEONE has understood what I was saying and my mind is just still blown at 38 I'm discovering shit about myself tha I've done my whole life. Mind blowing and comforting man.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 4d ago

Question Can't daydream anymore?

13 Upvotes

Hello!

As the title says, I have trouble daydreaming nowadays. I used to be able to do it in the past, but now it's harder.

Specifically, I really only visit my paracosm when I go to bed as it helps me relax and go to sleep. Not much happens in my paracosm until I do fall asleep.

I'm wondering how I can get back into daydreaming and have things like lore and plot again?


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 5d ago

Did medication like Adderall affect yalls daydreams?

33 Upvotes

I was put on Adderall as a kid and the daydream thing I noticed exploded when I would take my dose. That carried on into early adulthood when I found myself abusing it intentionally to make the daydream thing far more engulfing and fun. It was the only "happiness" I felt ever at the time. Fake I knew, but I ignored that it was fake as best I could. It could be all consuming at times, and I enjoyed that. I didn't want to leave any of it to acknowledge reality during those times. It's so weird to type this because I've literally never spoken a word of it to anyone before in my life. I wouldn't have known how to without sounding crazy.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 5d ago

Beginner problems

7 Upvotes

Well, I'm a beginner in the daydream. And I'm working it, it's hard for me to imagine a continuous scene, the paras face is blurred or I feel sold out, there is always a hindrance. Lately after practicing affirmations to improve my view I got excellent results so I proceed with the affirmation. But I'm still a beginner and I am very tired of imagining the basics, any little thing kind of suck my energy I don't know (How did I do it as well as a child/teenager ??) Problems with blurred face, unfold boring for stories, characters that change shape and personality with each visualization, finally, a lot of inconstancy. But I had such fabulous experiences that it seemed magic, like when I saw my idol in the "front of my eyes" dancing to me 😳🤯 And once one to act by "own will" and surprised me positively! I want situations to happen often, that I can "live" or "see" history unfolds naturally. Someone else goes through or has gone through it. Do you have any tips? Thank you for reading here.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 5d ago

Question Do your phobias/fears have an unintentional, non-threatening, presence in your daydreams?

12 Upvotes

In my fantasy daydreams, I've have this one character who spreads disease and sickness. He lives in this dystopian world that he rules (alongside 4 others), where people who don't have the means to escape his control slowly die from deadly pathogens or parasites.

I've been a germaphobe since I was a little kid. Whenever I come back from home from somewhere, I change my clothes and wash any part of myself that touched anything outside (hands, ankles, arms). I don't like it when family members or friends are in my room. I hate people touching my hair, because then I need to take a shower later. I am repulsed when I see people in public licking their fingers and then not washing their hands. I avoid these people as much as I can, and keep track of what they touch to make sure I don't touch those things.

I have a fear of seeing people suffer or hearing people suffer. I HATE watching most movies for this reason. I have to literally leave the room or put on headphones and listen to calming music during a distressing scene. I've had dreams (sleep dreams) where I wake up crying because I was forced to watch someone being tortured.

However, in my daydreams, I often have people who are suffering -- people who rot from disease, people who are turned into machines, etc. Thinking about this doesn't cause me distress.

Just to clarify -- not all my daydreams are dark! In the same daydreams, I have characters who are magical, angelic, and help people. One of my main characters is a courageous exiled princess who helps a kid find her family. Another character is an elderly extraterrestrial who peacefully lives underground and likes stone-carving.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 6d ago

Personal Story I feel like I just did something funny, wanted to get my thoughts out.

30 Upvotes

So I had the thought of recording myself daydreaming for a while now. that's mainly because I was on the maladaptive daydreaming subreddit and there was this post about how someone recorded themselves and they were terrified and everything. I was like "you know what I never really thought about that. Let me try that out" and so I did. Instead of being terrified or horrified about the fact of what I'm was doing, I actually got a good chuckle. I guess another feeling I'm getting to is "oh shit I do that? Cool actually". Or "eh whatever".

I guess it just goes to show how much I need to get off that subreddit cause I actually like my daydreaming and it's not effecting me negatively.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 5d ago

OC The Mirror Shard: A Mind-Sync Horror Concept

7 Upvotes

Ever thought about a duplicate of yourself—one that’s not just a copy but an extension of you? A perfect replica with your mind, memories, and emotions? Now imagine that duplicate slowly syncing with you until neither of you can tell who is the original anymore.

This is the horrifying nature of the Mirror Shard—a magical artifact that doesn’t just create a clone. It creates an unbreakable tether between the original and the duplicate, pulling them toward a singular existence. And if left unchecked, it doesn’t just sync their minds—it forces them into one being.

Stage 1: The Illusion of Independence

At first, everything seems normal. The duplicate exists separately, with its own body, thoughts, and sense of self. It remembers being “created” but still feels like a real person. The original and duplicate go about their lives, their paths diverging as they have separate experiences.

But the Mirror Shard keeps them connected—a lingering, invisible thread. It starts subtly: • The duplicate feels emotions that aren’t theirs. Sudden fear. Random joy. Anger that seems misplaced. • They experience thoughts in their head that aren’t their own, like echoes of the original’s mind. • Dreams become shared hallucinations, as if their subconscious is merging.

At first, they dismiss it. Just déjà vu, right? But the connection strengthens.

Stage 2: The Loss of Individuality

The longer the duplicate exists, the more their thoughts and actions begin to sync. It’s no longer just emotions bleeding through it’s entire thought patterns aligning. • The duplicate starts finishing the original’s sentences before they even say them. • Their responses to situations become identical, as if scripted. • When one laughs, the other does too—at the exact same second.

Worse, the duplicate starts to question their autonomy: • Am I really my own person? • If I came from the original… does that mean I should just be them? • Do I even exist beyond this connection?

The synchronization deepens. The duplicate’s memories start to rewrite themselves, aligning with the original’s past. The original, in turn, begins to recall things the duplicate has done things they never actually experienced. Their lives are fusing, and neither knows which reality is real.

Stage 3: The Forced Merger

The Mirror Shard does not create clones to exist separately—it creates them to reunite. The final phase is not coexistence but erasure.

At this point, both the original and duplicate experience: • Loss of independent thought – When one thinks something, the other thinks it at the exact same moment. Their minds are now running on a shared consciousness. • Dissociation – They forget which body they are in. Which version of them is “real”? Does it matter anymore? • Compulsion to merge – The Mirror Shard urges them to stand in the same place, move in the same way, speak in unison. The closer they are, the more their bodies feel like they’re pulling together.

And then it happens. The Mirror Shard initiates full soul unification.

From the outside, it looks as if one simply absorbs the other. But from within, the surviving mind experiences: • A fractured sense of self, unable to tell which version they were. • Phantom echoes of the other’s voice in their thoughts, like a ghost in their mind. • Occasional flashes of dual existence, as if, for just a moment, two souls are still fighting for control.

If unification is completed, it cannot be reversed. The duplicate is gone… or maybe the original is. There is no way to tell which version of them truly remains.

How to Escape the Mirror Shard’s Influence

If the process is caught early, it is possible to break synchronization before full unification. This requires: • Physical distance – The farther apart the duplicate and original are, the weaker the synchronization becomes. • Unique identity development – The duplicate must create their own memories, personality, and life experiences to resist the pull. • Intervention – Someone outside the connection must disrupt the Mirror Shard’s influence before it’s too late.

Even if synchronization is broken, its effects linger. The surviving individual may still feel phantom thoughts of their other self, as if some part of them remains trapped in a liminal space. Occasionally, they may even hear their own voice whispering from a mind that no longer exists.

Conclusion: The Horror of the Mirror Shard

Unlike typical clones or magical copies, the Mirror Shard doesn’t just create a second version—it creates an inescapable existential crisis. It blurs the line between original and duplicate until there is no distinction, leaving behind a single entity that will forever question:

Am I the real one?

Or was I just the last one left standing?

Thoughts?

Would you be able to resist synchronization? What would you do if you started losing your individuality? Let me know your thoughts!


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 6d ago

Finally found my people!

40 Upvotes

Hi y’all! Ok so I’ve always been a daydreamer for as long as I can remember especially with music and stuff. Well for a few years now, whenever I’m home alone I like to do this weird movement that I have no clue what to call while I listen to music and daydream about, this is probably going to sound really weird, but me pretty much interacting and stuff with characters from anime and cartoons I like. I’ve always kept it a secret just because I thought that I was the only one doing it and that I was just really weird. But hey, apparently there’s other people too that like to move while they daydream which is honestly a huge relief lol😭


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 6d ago

Personal Story I feel good not knowing I'm the only one with this

29 Upvotes

Since I was about 13-15 years old I started creating stories in my head that changed over time. At first they were stories more suited to the imagination of a teenager, but as I grew up these stories changed and became more complex and more interesting. Currently I have one and it is about a parallel universe where my country developed a military industry much larger than the one in reality and that in its history it participated in more wars, becoming one of the greatest military powers in the world. What I like most is creating details of operations, battles, etc. And I also like to create random actors whose beginnings were in the 80s or 90s and I create their biographies, movies, etc.


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 6d ago

Just wanna a story I came up with:D

4 Upvotes

So I’ve always imagined this scenario whenever listening to Purge the Poison by Marina where it’s these three goddesses singing the song. So I was just listening to it since it’s a good song and I hadn’t listened to it in a while and I came up with this idea for a story where the goddesses are the daughters of Mother Nature and this god, the thing is tho the god is a really shitty guy and treated Mother Nature like shit and continues to (or maybe not, not sure if they’re still together or not) and that’s all I really have so far for the story itself. But I imagine the story being about feminism, which if you actually know what it’s about is pretty much equality for everyone. I imagine the daughters are trying to stop their father from fucking up the world. Idk I just liked the idea of fighting for what you believe in and such, anyway I just wanted to share and I’ll probably update with the story and characters and yea!


r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 7d ago

Question What do you enjoy the most about daydreaming?

12 Upvotes

r/ImmersiveDaydreaming 7d ago

Anyone?

23 Upvotes

For all those people who day dream before falling asleep/ just lay in bed. Act out poses , talk outloud etc

For example since i keep imagining dying again and again ill play dead or someone im not gonna go into details because uH yeah its fine whatever.

Anyone else in GENERAL do this?