I have this (or something like it). You basically can retreat into a fantasy world that plays out like a movie with yourself as the main character. You can run through any number of imagined Walter Mitty scenarios and feel at least some echo of the emotions - enough to make it quite addictive. It's your standard power fantasy stuff really - imagine the gamut of those Reddit anecdotes that end with "and everyone burst into applause" the whole way up into being world king (why not, it's your daydream!)

So playing out scenarios in your head, essentially. Might sound harmless - there is no question of confusing these daydreams with reality - but you can find yourself retreating into the same ones again and again in a loop, especially when triggered by alcohol or music. I could put on my favourite songs and fantasize literally for hours, replaying the emotions. Endlessly scratching an endless itch. Obviously this might not be conducive with a productive life! I guess it would serve one well in solitary confinement.

I used to think everyone was like this, but it seems quite rare. I don't seem to have a bad case of it, I certainly wouldn't dream of trying to medicate it. But it does make me feel bad about myself sometimes when I overdo it.

Here's an article on it that may clarify more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/aug/28/i-just-go-in...

Okay that's way more extreme than what I thought. Maybe I don't fall into this category.

Most of my daydreams involve staring out the office window thinking of hiking a trail in a distant locations.

Sometimes I will listen to music and imagine how I might incorporate such a feeling into a movie if I was a director... but I am never a character in the movie, like in your daydreams. I just think about what a great story would be like for viewers to watch.

Mine are complete fantasy and take place in other worlds + don't involve me at all. A lot of my daydreams are worldbuilding or exploring 'interesting' scenarios/situations that characters would end up in. Not really a good way to turn those into real life goals.

I have a really shitty internal sense of self, though.

You could become an author, and at least get paid to dwell in those worlds

Or not. Tension is a key ingredient of fiction that people pays for. If you're imagining a world to flee from reality it could be very bland and unrealistic.

There is LitRPG genre in which tension is not as key an ingredient. Also, there can be consumers of the writeup who don't particularly "buy" a book - so the writeup doesn't have to follow a typical book structure.

I've actually gotten paid for fiction writing before! I'm a good writer, but I despise marketing/branding and also really dislike doing creative work on a deadline/for a living. (It's the same reason I'm not a SWE actually because programming is a creative task for me.)

If they don't involve you at all, perhaps you can convert it into a LitRPG novel - something like CivCEO [1]

[1] https://www.amazon.com/CivCEO-Lit-Accidental-Champion-Book-e...

I’ve had this all my life; and I didn’t know what it was until I came across a magazine article mentioning Eli Somer’s research on the topic. And I was amazed it discover that there were many people experiencing this around the world.

Most of my daydreams are world-building too, over time I’ve “built” cities, countries, continents, governments in my dream ecosystem. Like playing SimCity with daydreams.

Right? I spent decades thinking I was the only one.

> Most of my daydreams are world-building too, over time I’ve “built” cities, countries, continents, governments in my dream ecosystem. Like playing SimCity with daydreams.

Yeeeaaah, there's a lot of geology and fictional politics in my maladaptive daydreaming.