I thought maybe if I talk about what stops me from visiting a counsellor or revealing my mental health status (also emotional health) to my family, it could contribute to any research or survey related to maladaptive daydreaming. So here's what I have to say.
1) In India people see stress, anxiety and depression as something that is a normal part of academic life of a student. Greater the level of studies, greater will be the stress and depression. Many times it is true. As the exams get over students come back to their regular mood of joy and happiness. However in many cases the reason could be other than academic performance. But just because the symptoms appear to be aggravated by academic stress, academic stress is mistaken to be the actual cause. Being a second year MBBS student (Sorry for lying that I'm a final year student in one of my previous posts. It was just to hide my identity) my depression and maladaptive daydreaming is definitely going to be associated with the level of my studies and stress of my work. Little do people know that this is something I suffer from since childhood. And secondly, let us accept it maladaptive daydreaming is not known even to the best doctors in my city. I will be spending a lot of money and either end up with no significant treatment or with many other side effects.
2) Just like most of the MDers my family and social life have been a flop. My mood shifts and self created fights with people for no reason just so that I can withdraw myself from the society into the little shell of my small room have made me a target of everyone's hatred. I've got nagging family members who will definitely blame my mental illness for everything that goes wrong even if they're at fault and finally I will be left with nothing much to prove myself right. Who believes a person who is mentally ill and not in his senses anyways.
3) Well the third reason is not really my reason but is something that people very commonly feel about psychiatric patients and could be a reason of many others. Depression is often associated with not being religious enough.
4) Doctors other than psychiatrists see psychiatric patients as 'drama or attention seeking queens' and psychiatrists as money extracting machines. Trust me.......I interact with surgeons and physicians everyday and I know what most of them think. Sad but true.
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