Hi All,
I wanted to throw this out there to ask for other people’s experiences with daydreaming. I’m not sure if there is an official term for it but ever since I was a little kid I’ve maintained a set of characters in my head with really in depth backgrounds and an on going day-to-day (and long term) storyline, almost like characters in a movie. They have been a great coping mechanism for me and, along with my faith, have been one of the only tools I’ve had to help me through very troubling bouts of depression. It’s something I’ve not shared with anyone until this year because I thought it was an idiosyncrasy of my own, but when I mentioned it in my psych assessment the psychiatrist helped me see that it’s great and actually something many people with autistic traits experience. This was a wonderful relief for me and, when I saw some comments about it on an autism Instagram page, I was so over the moon to discover other people had their own characters too. 
Does anyone else experience this? And if so, how does this help you? Do they only “appear” during difficult times, or to share the good times too?
Recently I’ve had trouble in that usually when I’m in burnout mode my characters are massively healing and helpful for me (almost like an internal pep talk) but lately I’ve reached a major depression and this time I seem to have lost some of my imagination and also my interest in research (I can usually, and want to, do both for hours as a way of coping and staying happy). These two things are crucial for me and I’m so sad. Usually the worse I’m feeling the more present they are as they are my way of coping. I’m wondering if it’s something to do with the medication I’m taking. I’d read a comment by someone on social media that taking Sertraline had affected their ability to daydream so intensely. Wondering if anyone else has experienced the same?
