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Post by facundo on Aug 19, 2022 11:40:30 GMT
Hi, I'm new. I read that music triggers MD and that is correct in my case. So I have stopped listening to music completely. Reading is good for me. What do you think about sports? What activities do you think I should avoid? Thanks!
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Post by Sam on Aug 21, 2022 15:45:49 GMT
Triggers tend to be fairly personal, but there are many that a lot of us share. Music is a main one, as is media like TV or movies. Being in a certain place, feeling certain (or any) emotions, and mindless tasks can also all trigger daydreams.
In the short term, trying to avoid these triggers may be beneficial, but it’s worth it to consider whether it’s a viable option in the long term. Emotions are especially important here, as they can be a strong trigger and you can’t really avoid them. If you want to address the root cause, rather than the symptoms, it’s probably best to do a form of exposure and response prevention (ERP). It’s a common treatment for OCD and involves exposing yourself to something triggering (starting very small and then working to more triggering things) and purposefully avoiding engaging in your usual response (in the case of OCD, that would be whatever compulsions you usually do, with MD that would be daydreaming) by sitting with the uncomfortable feelings caused by the trigger and allowing them to subside on their own. MD is a compulsive behavior, which is one of the reasons why so many people with MD also have OCD or body focused repetitive behaviors. In my experience, compulsive conditions tend to come together.
A big caveat to my ERP recommendation: I generally would not recommend that you do ERP without the supervision of a psychologist or mental health professional. Especially for OCD. While ERP is evidence based and does help, it can also be extremely stressful and distressing in the short term and could easily push you into crisis if you aren’t careful. You would probably be okay doing it for MD (or at least trying something very low-level, like listening to 30 seconds of a song and then not daydreaming) by yourself, but I would still suggest that if you aren’t doing it under supervision, you at least have a crisis plan in place (safe person you can talk to, comforting things you can do, etc).
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Post by facundo on Aug 21, 2022 18:22:11 GMT
Hi,Sam! Thanks a lot for your words. I have tried doing ERP, but it didn't work so far. What helped me the most was the medication, buy it had so many side effects. Is there any natural medication recommended for MD?
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Post by Sam on Aug 26, 2022 16:17:44 GMT
Hi,Sam! Thanks a lot for your words. I have tried doing ERP, but it didn't work so far. What helped me the most was the medication, buy it had so many side effects. Is there any natural medication recommended for MD? Definitely not anything that’s been actually like, officially recommended. There’s so little research on MD that drug interventions, especially homeopathic drugs, haven’t been widely tested by professionals yet. I vaguely remember a thread on here a few years back that talked about natural remedies, but I can’t remember specifics. If you want something that has a bit more research (or at least years of anecdotes), I would recommend looking at what natural remedies supposedly help with OCD. The mechanism for MD is so similar to that of OCD, I assume that medication treatment would be similar. Again, just be careful if you do anything without the supervision of a doctor, medicating on your own can be pretty risky.
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