Addicted to Fantasy: Inside the Minds of Maladaptive Daydreamers Alisha Spears

Kennadie is a 19 year old woman from Frankfort, Illinois. She has been living with Maladaptive Daydreaming for the majority of her life. Every day for the past 10 years, Kennadie has maladaptivley daydreamed about the same book: an action she finds addictive and oftentimes destructive. Yet, within this disorder, Kennadie has learned to appreciate an unheard-of level of creativity and self-entertainment.

Yen is a 19 year old woman from the Philippines. She has utilized Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) to live out her innermost desires inside the comfort of her own head. Yen struggles with the destructive cycle of MD and acknowledges the strange theme of finding pleasure within distressing daydreams.

Nikita is a seventeen year old from a small town in Russia. He has been maladaptively daydreaming for as long as he can remember. He reflects on the consequences of a neglectful childhood in terms of Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD). Nikita exemplifies the necessity of a strong support system in having a good relationship with MD.

Kroe is a 13 year old from the Philippines. Shifting from place to place, home to home, family to family, Kroe has confronted instability, loneliness, and unimaginable stress as a child and young teen. She shares the feelings, rationales, and consequences that go into navigating the sometimes difficult and destructive relationships with those meant to care for us. In moments of silence, Kroe finds her mind replaying distressing events and changing the outcomes through Maladaptive Daydreaming: her mind's way of coping with recent trauma and a lack of structure in her childhood.

Wolfie is 29 and from Panama City, Panama. They share a nuanced perspective on the difficulties of growing up with both Autism and Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD). Beginning with descriptions of their "2D" cartoon daydreams, Wolfie provides insight into the manifestation of MD in the college and young adult experience coupled with the covid 19 lockdown.

Lucia is a 17 year old from the Philippines. Following a theme of a less than satisfactory childhood, Lucia provides a glimpse into an adolescence filled with repeated moves across continents. They introduce a theme of comorbidity in Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD), a fact that often leads family and physicians alike to disregard the symptoms of MD. In their daydreams of an idealized world, Lucia teaches us how MD leaves them feeling stuck in life, wishing only that "they could pay more attention to those they love."