The Growth of Maladaptive Daydreaming in 2020

I have lived and worked in New York City for the past four years and as you imagine early 2020 has not exactly been what I bargained for.

However, nearly as soon as the shut downs began I thought to myself, “What will this do for maladaptive daydreaming?”

At once there will be millions without school or work obligations who are left to their own devices (always a scary thing for those prone to MD).

I feared that maladaptive daydreaming would continue its inevitable march forward; stealing more time and energy from people around the world.

Unfortunately, this has been realized. Below is a photo of Google trends, which shows the increased search volume seen for maladaptive daydreaming on Google.

Maladaptive Daydreaming Trend

Interestingly, the chart appears to have already peaked and now come back down. However, you’ll notice that the “new normal” of this chart is significantly above the “old normal”.

Here’s another chart, showing the exact number of people searching for maladaptive daydreaming help and support on Google:

Maladaptive Daydreaming Traffic

In just North America, nearly 100,000 people searched for help with their maladaptive daydreaming.

This rapid rise is disheartening. It illustrates to me that when so many are left with more time on their hands – and perhaps more external stressors – they turn to their imagination in a way that only exacerbates their ills.

However, there is good news. Namely that there has never been a better time to recognize your own maladaptive daydreams. They are now better understood than ever before and resources exist to help ease yourself out of them.

Just several years ago, when I was struggling to overcome my own maladaptive daydreams, there was an utter dearth of information. It was hard enough to find even a blog post on the subject. Times have changed and there has never been better detailed tactics and strategies than there are now.

Take care as always,

Alex

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