masking addiction with addiction

[Kelsey]

So I have noticed a serious problem over the past two months with me, I am hopelessly addicted to the Internet. I have been spending entire days on my laptop amongst blog sites and social networking sites, and when I am not doing that I am usually daydreaming. So I decided I was going to spend 24 hours without Internet which, for that day actually wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. But what I did find, which was interesting, was that every time I wanted to do something productive that day I would experience some kind of trigger that got me daydreaming. For instance, I was editing and organizing old pictures onto my portable hard drive and even pictures were triggering me. I ended up wasting as much time that day daydreaming as I would have blogging or mindlessly clicking around Youtube.

It is almost as if my largest addiction has been daydreaming for so long and now that I tell myself I have supposedly controlled my dreams it is only because I have been masking them with yet.. another addiction, just a more "socially acceptable" one. -_- So now I just have both and the Internet addiction is growing stronger everyday.

I want to now stay off the Internet at all times unless I am writing about MD such as here or on my private journal. But what should I do about the daydreams? Should I try to quit those too?

[Emily]

This is too true to me! Halfway through the school year I'm practiacally failing math (I blame the school for messing up my clasees, but daydreaming was stopping me from doing my work and making up for lost time), and I get home from drivers ed and my computers gone. So my dad took it.

Until I got my grade up I wouldn't get it back. I mean, yeah I was addicted, but at least I'm not in my own little world. I blame my parents for it. Moving on, months later I get it back, still unhappy, still with bad grades. I didn't have my Sims for the longest time, I couldn't really interact on this site so well. I had felt so cut off from the people I cared about most. All I wanted to do was stay away from dd. Sure my homework was included but HELLLLLO, this was back when I found out I had MD. Of course I was looking for a way out. Of course I didn't give a flip about school, I was sort of confused and sad.

I don't know what you should do unfortunately. See, I'm gonna be rather screwed when school starts. I just don't know. The best I can do is simply wish you luck! Sorry, but it's all i got X/

[Laila]

I am also hopelessly addicted to the internet. All my friends are there, I run an anime blog, I read manga and watch anime, and I like to do research for my daydreams, so I use it for the most part of everyday. If I don't come on even for two days, my friends would be like..."dude...where were you?" Sometimes the overpowering need to DD takes over, and I'll leave the internet for a couple hours to do that. xD

Anyway, I agree with ambz91. There is a normal level of daydreaming where it doesn't interfere with your life so much, and that's what I'm striving for too. I want to live in the present and use DDs for more useful purposes, like planning my future and thinking of other people. If I can just reduce the fantasy aspect (unless I plan to be a fiction writer), then I think they will be far less addicting.

[Kelsey]

Thank you so much for your advice, ambz91! I agree that MD is a blessing and a curse I will just really have to work on actually controlling these dreams now rather than masking them with a distraction.