The very definition of a mental illness is, and I quote, "any of a broad range of medical conditions[...]that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause marked distress or disability and that are typically associated with a disruption in normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning."

Maladaptive Daydreaming is a condition in which the sufferer quite literally cannot stop daydreaming. I've read many an article stating that it's practically harmless, when in reality, it affects thousands of people negatively.

Imagine this-You are a student, failing your classes because instead of doing your homework, you need to go to the park. Not for any shady reasons, not to hang out with friends; simply to daydream on the swing, hour after hour, day after day, until you become emotionally separated from your friends and family, you begin failing all your classes, and you care more for made-up characters in your head than actual people. You get scars on your legs from the heat of the swing in the sun, calluses form on your hands. You blank out for hours, sometimes days at a time, unaware of anything around you. You are literally trapped inside your own mind... And you can't get help.

Why not? Because it's not an official disorder, you can't go to an official for help. You can try to reach out, but nearly everyone will laugh and say "That's not a disorder, you don't need help!"

The aim of this petition is to change that. People with maladaptive daydreaming should be able to get help and treatment because it impacts everyday people. If it gets recognized officially, people like me will be able to get help and, perhaps one day, lead normal lives unaffected by constant daydreaming.