Do I have MD or is this another type of daydreaming?

[Becca]

Like all of you, I love daydreaming when I'm bored. The only time it distracts me is when I'm studying and I space out after reading 10 pages (I'm a slow reader too). Well, I'm 17 and since I was born I've always loved watching cartoons, listening to music, movies, ect. I'm an only child and for most of my childhood I watched probably about 6 if not more hours of cartoons a day. I love the colors, the stories, everything. Even to this day I love watching cartoons more than live action stuff. So anyway, whenever I daydream I always daydream about the exact thing that I watched. If I had 20 minutes to waist, I could probably re-enact an entire episode of a cartoon, play an entire song, play an entire commercial, and play a scene from a movie in my head. This makes up 99% of my daydreams. I just rehash what I remember seeing. I don't make up my own characters, deviate the characters in the show/movie, and I never put myself or any form of myself in to my daydreams. I'll spend hours looking up old commercials, watching old tv shows, and movies just so that I could play them again in my head when I'm bored. 

 

So anyway, is this MD? 

[Becca]

Once again, I can control it fairly well. Aside from when I exercise and am trying to go to sleep, I only daydream when I'm stuck somewhere with nothing to do (like when I'm in the waiting room at the doctors or am in the backseat during a long car ride). I do occasionally think about my DDs at other times, but it only lasts for about 5 minutes and I can snap out of it easily. I think that my love of cartoons comes from my dad. He watched just as many cartoons when he was a kid and would watch cartoons with me on Nickelodeon on Cartoon Network whenever he had the time. It's the one big thing that we have in common.

[Pascale]

I have been compulsive daydreamer all my life, getting maladadtive when thing become too dificult. Instead for coping with my problem I just disapear in an other word.

I think if you thing your daydreaming is a problem, then it's a problem. If you have not control about it it will take control about you.

But is daydreaming your main problem or the fact that you like something most people find childish? Peraps you should try to find other grown-up who like watching cartoons so you feel more normal.  It is just OK to like cartoons.

[marla]

hi, just wondering, cordellia describe the differences between maladaptive and compulsive daydreaming?

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

You can enjoy both.  You don't have to suppress them completely.  Imagination is a beautiful thing.  This just goes to show that anything, even something as good as thinking, can become addictive and can be bad in excess.  Just try to make sure you keep balance in your life.

[Becca]

Once again, thank you :)

 

I'll try my best to suppress my daydreams and concentrate on having fun in the real world.

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

It sounds like perhaps your daydreaming is more compulsive than maladaptive.  That doesn't mean you're not similar to us.  I think many people are compulsive daydreamers before it becomes maladaptive.  If it's not disruptive to your life at all, then great.  However it's REALLY important to know that this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to control it.  If you wait until it's out of control to try and manage it, you'll regret it.  Don't wait until you're out of control like many of us did.  The consequences of doing that can be drastic.  If you try to manage it, then perhaps you can live the best of both worlds.  Just be informed and keep control of it.  Be aware of what it can turn into if you're not careful.

[Becca]

It's not disruptive to my life at all. When I'm not doing anything, I daydream. If I need to concentrate on something else then I don't daydream. I can control it easily, and when I start to daydream I can stop in a few seconds. I only do it when I want to. The only problem I guess is that I'm so bored that I need daydreams to entertain myself.