HI

[Sarah Araújo]

Hello everyone!

My name is Sarah, I´m from Brazil so sorry about my english. It´s my first time talking here.....and it feels....strange. Until last year i had no idea that my dreams had a name. I´m 20 years and live with MDD since 5... i guess. I really don´t remember, i think i just have memories with the drems already here. Well, I just wanna say hello and i´m really happy to find all you and this site. :)

[Jessica Ballantyne]

I heard they got rid of wild minds. But we can still be friends and chat. I've cleared my mind of MDD and realize it greatly effected aspects of my life. 

[Luiz]

I'm from Brazil too! Unfortunately there is not much on the topic here ... Daydreaming since I was 4 years old and I am currently 18 years old ... I don't even remember the time when I didn't daydream

[Jessica Ballantyne]

Brazil must be very nice. Um, yeah, I daydreamed regularly since I was a baby, and I'm now 34. My alternative worlds really started when I was 12. It's very regrettable, because it not only did a lot of damage, really. I didn't know any better when I was that young, because I had no life experiences.

[Ricky]

I’m just coming back on here after a couple years . I do some very elaborate daydreaming . I have all of my life . So vivid like I am there .

[Melanie]

Hi Sarah! 

So glad you're here! I'm 23 years old and I've also been a maladaptive daydreamer since I was very young. Please message me anytime you like. It would be great to support each other :)

[Melanie]

I know what you mean, Ricky. It's impossible to explain how vivid it all is. It definitely feels like I'm living two lives. 

Ricky said:

I’m just coming back on here after a couple years . I do some very elaborate daydreaming . I have all of my life . So vivid like I am there .

[Jessica Ballantyne]

Yeah, it makes me mad how vivid it looks, but it's not reality. I should've known so many years ago. It effected where my life is to day. I feel like such a fool. 

[Melanie]

I understand so deeply how you're feeling. After MDing for most of my life, I'm looking around at my peers, watching them get married, have children, begin their careers, and I'm realizing I have none of this because of how much time I've invested in maladaptive daydreaming. I'm really struggling to wrap my mind around the consequences of my actions. I am stunned that my own actions have landed me where I am. The regret is agony.

I, too, am an extremely quiet person who nobody can possibly be friends with. I literally don't talk. I've struggled with maintaining relationships my whole life, and I'm only now realizing that it's my fault, that my constant fantasizing made me this person. I also struggle to drive and, well, simply be in public. I don't feel like a person at all! I feel like a ghost, watching everybody else live life while I hang suspended in nothingness, unable to grow with them.

When I told my parents about my MD, they were also quick to focus on a quick fix to my problem. It seemed they didn't care at all about why I started daydreaming and why I still do. They just wanted me to be normal. It broke my heart.

Now that this site is up and running again, I'd love to talk with you more. Add me to your friends list if you like and I'll do the same!                            

Jessica Ballantyne said:

This morning I woke up in my room feeling uneasy in a rather unpleasant way. I realized I spent way more time in MD than focusing on more important things, such as taking my education more seriously and paying more attention to people. Not only this, but I've become an extremely quiet person who nobody can possibly be friends with. I pictured if I entered the crowd once again, they'd suddenly all be talking about me, because the first impression I give them is that "I don't talk." Living in my head did this to me overtime. At first, I believed the MD was promising a happier future, when really, it screwed me over. It lied to me the whole time and gave me a scare later on. I learned sadly that if I hadn't been sucked into my daydreams, my present would've looked so much better. I could've had a partner and a few friends—perhaps even a kid. 

Everybody was witnessing my MD too, and when my mom found it, she wanted to put me into psychiatry. They didn't seem to care that I did this because I wasn't satisfied in life and found it very hard to fit in or get something I need. They didn't even care about me at all. They just found me too weird for words. 

I did manage to attend art & design school, and when I earned my degree, I looked forward to a bright future. Instead, it was all vice versa. Mom was appalled I did do MD and told me I'll never keep a job. In a way, that came true. I had a number of contracts that didn't last for various factors, such as communication, work ethic, speed, professionalism and critical thinking. Of course I could've helped change all this, but it was still hard in the work force, and I didn't do well as I thought. 

I also wasn't much of a social butterfly. So I had very few friends. I didn't learn how to drive, because of my daydreaming. So I spent a majority of my leisure hours walking around the south west edge of my town, to the lake and back homeward. It has gotten monotonous at some point. All of my peers were already living significant adult lives, with cars, partners and houses. 

So, it's great your trying to get into medical school and don't give up. That sounds like a very exciting occupation. Don't let anybody talk against you. This is what you want to do. Good luck. 

[Jessica Ballantyne]

Can you add me as a friend? Send a request? I don't know how. 

[Melanie]

I'm not sure how either, but I'll mess around with it and see if I can figure it out!

Jessica Ballantyne said:

Can you add me as a friend? Send a request? I don't know how. 

[Melanie]

If you click a person's profile pic in this discussion, it'll bring you to their profile. On the left margin, there's an "Add As Friend" option, and it sends a request to that person.

[Jessica Ballantyne]

I saw your picture, you look so great. I can't believe you had trouble with relationships. 

It doesn't matter how you look, it's what DO that matters and how it shapes your life.