Is it disassociating to invent new worlds?

I have always been told I'm creative and people asked about my drawings and the world's I created and I always thought that was normal but apparently it's not? I can spend hours or days imagining them and vividly coming up with every detail. I've written histories for imaginary worlds because reality is so frustrated and painful and I'm so useless in it. I can't do any real skills so I retreat into my own worlds. I can create anything, a horror Silent Hill based psycho horror or a high fantasy setting with a completely hierarchy of nobles and classes or cyberpunk worlds and sci-fi I feel like I belong there more than I'm reality where people make no sense and everything hurts. Is that disassociating or is that just being creative? I still do things I can drive and shop and cook even work some days if it's slow enough but I feel like I'm just puppeting my body not in it if that makes sense? Isn't that normal?

HollowLavender said:

Is that disassociating or is that just being creative?

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Sounds like it’s both.

Daydreaming is a form of dissociation. One that most humans do pretty regularly. It can become problematic - but whether or not it’s a problem is really a question for you. (See, for example, maladaptive daydreaming)

Does it cause you distress, or interfere with your ability to function or work towards your goals? If not? It’s not problematic, it’s just daydreaming.

If it is interfering, then it’s maybe time to start addressing it, maybe by putting some healthy boundaries around it. With PTSD on board, avoidance is potentially something to be particularly wary of - we are prone to avoiding reality, to an extent that is genuinely problematic (often that begins as a coping strategy).

i hold that my alternate universes can be dissociation done well. my propensity in this regard came in downright handy during the psychotherapy of creating a "safe place" to retreat to while suffering panic attacks/hypervigilance. my most developed "safe place" is a cave lit by phosphorescent tree roots. the mud baths are divine.

don't cure it. train it.

I think we're similar, Ive always been heavily into my imaginary worlds, stories, etc. I cant imagine not being creative to the extent that I am and Ive found it hard to understand how people can not have characters/worlds, etc. my close friends have paracosms or close to as well.

for your qustion, I dont think they can really be distinguished. this kind of creativity is always in some way dissociative (daydreaming is natural dissociation) but that dosnt necessarily mean it's negative. depends how it's used I think.

I'm a system; I have a disociative disorder, my alters are irreversibly imbued into my worlds and stories because creativity has always been how I've coped. I think Ill always have a chickenVSegg debate for some of my worlds/alters. without this outlet I wouldnt have unknowingly created spaces for some of them to form connections to and support/help one another. Ive processed and explored a lot of things through my creativity and its helped me confront a lot of difficult ideas, which prepared me some for therapy. and it's also been such a intense source of harm because I am a self punishing person, and to reinforce the views that I had to keep me safe but were hurting me and keeping me stuck.

I guess like all stuff its about measure. I know someone who gets a lot of joy and passion from her worlds but when she's in a bad place has to be careful to not go and live in them like she did when she was younger.

I think youre a lot more escapist than me, if youre finding that difficult / making real life harder to deal with maybe that's something to look at. I dont think it's bad at all to have comforting/better places creatively and in your mind, it is a good coping mechanism, and creativity can be very motivating in my experience, but if theyre reinforcing your experience/views of the outside world, maybe that is regressive in some way? which isnt to say it has to be got rid of but maybe adapted and adjusted?
I dont really know how to explain/express this idea because it's not a skill Ive consciously built so I dont have the words for it, but are you using this to abandon reality as hopeless, or to compliment and cope with/remedy it?