Is MD genetic or social disorder?

[Bill Knarell]

I am a "MD" newbie. Probably annoying to you all on this site.

One week ago I didn't know what "Maladaptive Daydreaming" (MD) was. Now that I have Goggled it, read a bunch of stuff about it and understand the basics, I am certain that I have been living with it my whole life. But I'm a skeptic.

Is MD hereditary?

Or is having MD the likely cause of being socially awkward or is being socially awkward the likely cause of having MD?

I wonder if my brother and my mother have it? My brother committed suicide in 2012 after years of fighting to fit in with society, and he just wouldn't or couldn't make it or talk to me or anyone else about it, and my mom lives in a nursing home and must be coaxed into going down stairs to dine or socialize. I believed my brother and mom were just socially awkward or repressed but now that I know a little bit about MD, I wonder if they have MD too?

I can't talk to my brother, clearly, and my mom doesn't communicate well in her advanced age, but I may try to talk to her about it.

I realize I am early in my journey in understanding this, managing it, and  learning more, and doing more.

So, once someone gets over the surprise (or shock) of learning about MD for the first time and seeing how absolutely MD fits into what one has been living...where does one go from there?

[Valeria Franco]

What a sad story, I'm so sorry.

I don't know if they had MD; often, MD is a silent disorder and a way of coping with a reality we don't like.

The capacity of diving into an inner world and visualize very vividly what happens there, is a trait of our personality, something we are born with. So it could be genetic.

But the addiction to it, that comes later. That's the "maladaptive" part. So on one side, there is the trait, on the other the addiction.

[Cain]

Hello Bill,

I'm glad you're here. We all here are trying to understand and overcome what we're going through so don't be worried about being new here and not knowing stuff. I'm really glad you're trying to understand it.

Where does one go after understanding MD and being over the shock?

I've been trying to stop MD and channel all my emotions to reality. 
Personally this blog helped me get a very clear idea (along with some other personal experiences). I hope it will help you too. Here's the link:  https://maladaptivedaydreamingguide.wordpress.com/guide/

[Jen42]

Hi Bill,

 so sorry to hear about your story, I am glad however you made it here and can channel and inform yourself as it helped me loads over the past months just seeing I am not the same and trying strategies to come out of it (not succeeded yet but will keep trying ;-))

Interesting to read about the hereditary aspect, I didnt think of this but I suppose as it is an addiction, some form of addictive behaviour will be more common in some than in others past down in generation, teh same with depression. And again, to escape the reality, whether you are gambling, dreaming your life away or using drugs  :( My father was an alcoholic and I also strongly suspect he was depressed but back in those days ( we are talking the 70s/early 80s) it was not really spoken about or addressed.

I hope you ll find some more answers!

[Valeria Franco]

It is always difficult to understand if something is only genetics or also behaviours.

In fact, a family shares not only the genes but also behaviours, beliefs, problems, and also practical stuff like being grown more or less in the same place and in the same kind of society (with the same amount of money and education, moral values, etc...); that's how most partners meet and then they have children.

Generations pass down more than genes.