New and Yet Not New

[JenBren]

I am so thankful that I stumbled upon and joined this network today. I have only recently (about 2 months ago) discovered the term Maladaptive Daydreaming but feel so much better having done so. Finally, I have an answer for what I have been doing for as far back in my childhood as I can remember and know now that I am not alone in doing this.

Now in my 40's, I still daydream daily and am now convinced my 10 year old daughter is daydreaming as well. She has a character that she has developed that she has had and developed for 2 years now and she admits she drifts off at school thinking of her pretend character. That's how I discovered this network...trying to do some reading to find out if maladaptive daydreaming is hereditary. I am looking forward to reading what everyone has shared and I am thankful for all of you who are willing to share your stories and your feelings.

So I am new to this network, but not new to daydreaming. 

[JenBren]

It's all very interesting and I wish we had more concrete answers. My only comfort in all of this is knowing that, if my daughter does have MD, I'll be able to help her early, explain it all to her, and give her some answers. 

[Jennifer]

You know, this is very interesting, Ms. Jennifer, because I had a grandmother who has sever Schizophrenia. And MD is often mistaken for Schizophrenia, and is often compared to it, so, do you think my mild form of MD came from her? Maybe the Schizophrenia gene was passed from my grandmother to my mother, but, by the time it got to my mother it wasn't strong enough to give me Schizophrenia? Just something along the lines of it? (MD?) I don't know, is that even possible? I am not exactly sure how genetics work. I understand the basics of it, but I am not sure if something that complicated is even a possibility. I also want to add that I am the first-born of 2 children. My younger sister does not show any symptoms of MD. Just me. In fact, her and my mother make fun of me for it, telling me it's not real. So, she sure as hell doesn't understand what MD is at all if she's taking it as a joke. I guess I was just the lucky one to get what was left of my grandmother's Schizophrenia gene, right? :P

I would absolutely love to have this question answered someday. I assume that MD can be passed through genetics, because other psychological disorders definitely can be. And, there is so much about MD that we don't know about yet, so hopefully someone looks into this and helps us MDers get an answer. :-)

Welcome to Wild Minds, Ms. Jennifer! I'm sure you will find support from online friends. This site is amazing, thanks to Ms. Cordellia!

[David W]

Hi Jennifer! I too am new and not yet new, in fact I could just copy and paste the first section of your post to mine lol. I'm in my early 30's now with kids. I have a four year old son who does things with his hands and hyperfocusing and I am immediately reminded of things I did as kid when it was all new and overwhelming to me, some I forgot about. But my older son never showed any signs. I see my nephews act like I did too, but sometimes I think maybe it's just a boy thing.  My 4 year old is nonverbal and most likely autistic but undiagnosed, so I unfortunately don't have any access to his thoughts to know more about what he's doing. I do have a theory on where I think it could stem from but I won't go into it now.

Again I'm grateful to know I'm not alone and reading here has made the biggest difference in my life. The greatest part is I know the feeling is mutual.  The feeling of being so different got worse from 20 to 30 still not knowing about MD, especially through all the changes I went through in life to get where I am now. Seeing other parents succeed for their children in ways I feel I cannot. Not being able to be alone to dd is hard to accept with kids too. But you find ways around it. I just wish that I had found out I wasnt alone in my 20's, I really could have used it then!

[Stormy]

Welcome! And this really makes me wonder at the possibility of a genetic link for this disorder. I have often wondered if anyone in my family also does this. I cannot even imagine my sisters or my parents having done this but then again - maybe no one else could imagine I do it.