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Post by Emmariolly on May 30, 2020 8:27:59 GMT
Hi everybody! I am a new user here and I think I might have maladaptive daydreaming. However because I only discovered this condition 3 days ago I am not completely sure yet. My home life during my childhood was very stressful and sometimes it could be abusive. I remember daydreaming about different worlds and being stuck in my own little fantisies for a long time even when I was very young. Nowadays I daydream a lot ( at least more than 3 times a day) and if no one interruptes me I can for a long time like this. It has affected my relationship with my family because I would rather stay locked in my room, with music on, daydreaming for hours than spending time with them. In school my friends always tell me that I seem to "turn off" of conversations and that sometimes they can hear my mumbling music or sounds. In classes teachers alredy called me out multiple times for "being distracted". When I get home after a stressful day I lock myself in my room, turn the music to the loudest and daydream about a different world. It helps relax a lot. I am kinda afraid of finding out more about this disorder because I honestly don't want to find treatment. I have become so attached to my caracters that I can't imagine having to let them go. For the same reason (afraid of looking for help) I have not talked to anybody about this either (this thread is my first time opening up to this). The reason why I'm still if I have maladaptive daydreaming or if I might just have some sort of attention disorder is because I heard people claim that they can't create or alter their fantasies which is not the case for me. I alter and create new fantasies all the time. Another reason is because people say that they can be stuck in daydreaming for hours or days and it is difficult to snap out of it. However I never daydreamed for that long. I thinkthe longest i have been stuck in my own fantisies for was 3 and a half hours and it is not hard for me to snap out of it. ( all it takes is somebody calling out my name) After snapping out I always feel anxious because I want to go back to daydreaming as quickily about it. So what do you think? I know that none of you are doctors but since you guys suffer from this I would like to get your opinion. Do you think this might be maladaptive daydreaming ( maybe on a lighter scale) or I am mistaking it with something else? Do you think I should be open and just tell my therapist about it? Do you think I am just overreacting? Also thank you so much for reading all off this, I know that it is a long thread (I am also sorry for any gramatical mistakes english is not my first language).
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Post by katie on May 30, 2020 9:47:37 GMT
Hi Emmariolly there re two types of daydreaming the way we do immersive and maladaptive I know maladaptive is the name for this but it goes by the scale of how much the daydreaming is the one in control over our life and gets in the way of reality I say you are in between. I say this as at times you can go days without daydream and yet when you need it and you come out when you are not ready you can get anxiety around wanting to continue. There is a chance I might be wrong about this so if I am not sure it would be best for you to go to the official research website and there is a scale there for us to look at. The International Consortium for Maladaptive Daydreaming Research. P.s Welcome to daydream in blue.
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Post by Sam on May 30, 2020 22:25:51 GMT
Welcome to the forum!
I think I would consider what you're experiencing to be maladaptive. It interferes with your life, which is one of the things that differentiates it from regular daydreaming.
As for treatment, there isn't much in the way or treatments out there because of how newly recognized this disorder is. There are some things like meditation, exercise, and journaling, that can help you decrease your urges to daydream.
I understand not wanting to let go of your characters, and your hesitation to learn more about MD because of that. However, I don't think that completely getting rid of your characters is necessary for recovery. Non-MDers have a healthy balance between daydreams and real life, MDers do not. So the goal of treatment should be to regain a healthy balance, not to cut it out completely. What that balance looks like is different for everyone, and it will vary depending on your life circumstances.
Treatment of MD should include teaching yourself to resist the urge to daydream and to use healthier coping skills to deal with your triggers. As long as you feel that you're in control of your daydreams (as opposed to when you feel powerless to resist your daydreams and that they control you), there's no reason why you can't continue to daydream about the characters you've created.
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