I hate getting too personal on here but totally used to do it too ( I did it in a different way than my son and I hid it better than he but it was essentially the same thing). So I think it may have a genetic component. My father used to pace constantly and be in his own world while pacing around repetitively. I remember doing it as far back as I can remember, but it only got "bad" when I was anxious and stressed. In my teen years, I had so much trauma and crazy bad home stuff happening I couldn't do anything but "maladapaptive daydreaming." It was actually very debilitating. But I got out of the situation eventually (over 4 years) and recovered.... Obviously I am fine now and don't do it at all now. So I guess one can also grow out of it to a certain extent?
