Has anyone wondered about pacing while daydreaming?

[Just Me]

So I'm in third year medicine and I've been daydreaming for the last 8 years. I realized few months ago that my problem was MD and that many people suffered MD as well.
As I read the wikipedia article about MD the thing that really catch my attention was the pacing symptom. I do that every time  I daydream but I don't remember when I started doing it. And I think it's curious that so many people do that while daydreaming, it's like a common instinctive reaction of he humans while daydreaming. 

Does any one remember when he/she started doing that or knows why do we do that?

[Eretaia]

You know how some people with ADHD tell that pacing while thinking or talking helps them focus on their thoughts? My daydreams are all followed by the urge to pace, sometimes I even get the urge to run and I sort of feel that it's my body's way of telling my brain to make more dopamine because the more intense my pacing is, the more pleasurable it gets. Also, why do you think people feel the urge to dance when listening to music? Isn't it the same thing?

Dopamine. Probably.

[Amoka]

I don't pace while I daydream, I have to act them out. Before, I used to have to either be in a moving car, swinging on a swing set, or riding a scooter to daydream. Now I find that, while I can still daydream doing those things, it isn't as intense as when I act them out. I have never paced before though, it just doesn't have the same feeling.

[Just Me]

So dopamine, that's very interesting. I understand what you say, when you speak about the urge to run. It happens to me too. When my daydreams make me feel too excited I get the urge to run. I start to walk very fast when I walk and daydream at the same time. But I find it hard to daydream while laying in bed for example. So, could pacing or moving be a trigger? Or is it just a consequence of daydreaming?  

Eretaia said:

You know how some people with ADHD tell that pacing while thinking or talking helps them focus on their thoughts? My daydreams are all followed by the urge to pace, sometimes I even get the urge to run and I sort of feel that it's my body's way of telling my brain to make more dopamine because the more intense my pacing is, the more pleasurable it gets. Also, why do you think people feel the urge to dance when listening to music? Isn't it the same thing?

Dopamine. Probably.

[Just Me]

Hi, Amoka!

But do you act them out on purpose? Because I use to make the facial expressions of what it happens to me in my daydream and move my mouth as I was talking, but I don't realize when I start doing it in a dream. I just start daydreaming and at some point I start doing it. My point is, why do we do that? If it was a trigger I should start doing it before I start daydreaming. So it must be a consequence of daydreaming, but what for?

Amoka said:

I don't pace while I daydream, I have to act them out. Before, I used to have to either be in a moving car, swinging on a swing set, or riding a scooter to daydream. Now I find that, while I can still daydream doing those things, it isn't as intense as when I act them out. I have never paced before though, it just doesn't have the same feeling.

[Marla Singer]

I read a report on md a while ago that said the pacing/repetetive movement was self hypnosis. I have spoken to 2 different doctors about this and they both agree

[Marla Singer]

Music is also used in hypnotism, and i  think that is why md is triggered by music, and for me the type of music i listen to when i md affects the content of my daydream e.g happy upbeat music for a happy exciting daydream. I have found that I cannot have a happy daydream whilst listening to sad music

[Eretaia]

I also cannot daydream without pacing... or rather, I can but it's not nearly as intense as when I'm pacing. As for your question, I think both pacing and music are merely intensifiers, not the core problem of daydreaming. Regarding pacing itself, it could also serve as a tool which helps us externalize the excitement created by daydreaming. For example, there are people who simply have to pace when talking on the phone and this might be the same mechanism. It's their way of acting out the nervousness or excitement or surplus of energy created by the conversation which they engage in.

Just Me said:

So dopamine, that's very interesting. I understand what you say, when you speak about the urge to run. It happens to me too. When my daydreams make me feel too excited I get the urge to run. I start to walk very fast when I walk and daydream at the same time. But I find it hard to daydream while laying in bed for example. So, could pacing or moving be a trigger? Or is it just a consequence of daydreaming?  

Eretaia said:

You know how some people with ADHD tell that pacing while thinking or talking helps them focus on their thoughts? My daydreams are all followed by the urge to pace, sometimes I even get the urge to run and I sort of feel that it's my body's way of telling my brain to make more dopamine because the more intense my pacing is, the more pleasurable it gets. Also, why do you think people feel the urge to dance when listening to music? Isn't it the same thing?

Dopamine. Probably.

[Eretaia]

Also, if pacing helps us focus on what happens in our heads while objective reality around us fades, then it's a sort of hypnosis. After all, even normal daydreaming process is regarded as a light hypnosis.

[Wakethenight]

I don't need to pace for my DD's in the daytime, that's usually at work when I have nothing to do.  Later on in the evening almost near my bed time, I will have a urge to skip around which is followed by a heavy DD session.  I do pace, but I skip around more and listen to music and DD.

If it is Dopamine levels...does anyone else  DD more later in the evening. Like my morning ones I know I could avoid if I just focused on something else. But the evening ones, I just have to skip and I feel all giddy after I DD. So maybe Dopamine levels are lower in the evening or something?

And now that I think about it. I used to rock when I was younger, but stopped that by the time I was four because I remember my parents getting worried about it.  Instead of rocking, I skipped. I would skip around a lot when I played as a kid or even if i was supposed to be walking somewhere which usually made me happy if i was a little down. I didn't DD until my teens and had stopped skipping around by then. Once I began DDing, i began having urges to skip during it .

I agree with music being a self hypnosis thing. 

[Haleigh]

I remember when I started pacing/running. It was 6 years ago. I used to run when I had a huge yard, but after I moved I don't have a yard so I'm forced to pace in a small circle in my room.

[Sarah Beth]

I honestly didn't notice that I paced during a daydream until my former roommate said it was making her anxious and asked me to stop or go somewhere else. Any repetitive movement will do for me; bouncing is a particular favorite (I have a little trampoline in my room). I also daydream a lot right after I wake up and right before I fall asleep. I feel like I either have to be constantly moving or perfectly still and relaxed in order to daydream well. Music also helps, and often triggers me to daydream. So I'm leaning toward the hypnosis theory on this one, but I also think that dopamine may play a part.

[Jessy]

I don't just pace, I run and jump. I remember doing that since I was small. I think it's my body responding to need for movement, probably something to do with adrenaline and the brain which is responsible for such vivid, intense daydreams that I cannot keep in the head alone. That said, I agree with Eretaia above - it's the same thing as dancing to music.