Who has been able to quit MD for good?

[Mevve]

I am interested to know how many people on this forum had MD, and have been able to quit for good?

And if you quit, how did you do it?

- Self help?

- Therapy?

- Medicine?

- Someting else?

[Mevve]

For me,  1,5 years of  therapy (CBT & psychotherapy) allowed me to end it (self-help, faith).

[writerspeak]

When I have been able to quit it it was for about a month or so at a time, and almost always its been when I was beginning a new semester at college. During those times I didnt have a desire to DD since I was so happy with new and exciting things that were happening(New classes, teachers, acquaintances, etc.) Even though I have social anxiety, the first couple weeks of school were fun for me in that I was in new situations and met new people. Still anxious, but it also still fun because it was 'new' or different- if that makes sense. 

[Mишка (Miska)]

Try to LESSEN time dreaming over a few weeks and overtime it helps... You'll daydream less... But it never went away completely for me^ - ^, (*Wail*)

[Joey B]

The longest I've ever made it was a few days, and it was a very very strange feeling.  Staying conscious of not daydreaming is honestly very difficult, but I hope one day to be able to rid it from my life.  I find the more I try to not do it-- I'm so incredibly bored it's almost painful!

I've brought it up in therapy sessions (when I was able to go) and I brought it up a bit late upon losing insurance so I never really got to tackling it.  I have found most times medicine didn't help it, I just played the odd mood from side effects into my DD.  lol, go figure.  I think at that time I also didn't realize how much it was affecting my life. 

[Mevve]

Thank you all for your answers! Let's hope one day you will all be able to say you've managed to quit for good.

Anybody else? :-)

[Mynx]

For me my daydreaming has become less and less. I use to daydreams for hours on end, now it only keeps my interest for about 15-40 mins and im not even that submerge into it. I still do it 4-6 times a day but now its when I have finished all of my tasks for the day or in between breaks from chores and the more I give myself a to-do list each day, I don't really have time to daydream as much anyway. All my scenarios are old and boring. Quite frankly im not interested in them hardly, I do them because the habit it still there just not the interest. I know when school starts back in two weeks i'll be more focused and my MDD will probably go away completely. Right now im on winter break and im a little bored  so I daydream still everyday I just don't do it as in depth  or completely submerge in. It kind of feels like something to do when your bored like watching t.v to me now.

[New York dancer]

I can't imagine quitting it completely but nor would I want to. Yeah, it can be addictive and time consuming but I can't help and see the positive parts about it (especially if your an artist or work in a creative field). As both a writer and professional entertainer, having my mind constantly drift between my fantasy world and this world keeps me always inspired to create more art. I can throw ideas and scenarios into my fantasy world, play with the concepts and then take it out of me in a short story or performance piece. I use to be ashamed and freaked out by what I can do with my imagination, but that only showed me, that who I was really ashamed was in fact myself. When I embraced it as a part of me, I made it into my muse. Making peace with it gave me the ability to control it better and USE it to benefit me when needed. I know this specific thread is get rid of MD but I just wanting to shed some light on a different perspective. There are two sides to every coin :)

[Mynx]

New York dancer,

I somewhat understand what you're saying. One reason why I didn't want to stop day dreaming was because daydreaming and fantasizing helped me become more imaginative. I didn't want to lose that ability. But I started to do diy projects and arts and crafts projects for my house to keep that part alive about me! To me, MDD has its small benefits but the bad surpasses for the good for me so that's why I want to quite completely.

[Mevve]

Hi New York writer,

Thanks for your answer! I agree with you to some level.
I actually have experienced losing a creative side of me;   I've always loved to draw, paint, write song lyrics, write funny blogs, etc. And this past year (for as long as I have not been daydreaming), I have written maybe 2.5 songs and half a blog. Whereas before I quit, I was able to write a song/blog in a day/couple of days and (in my opinion) they were pretty nice. I def used my MD to be able to write the songs/blogs.

On the other hand, I have been drawing and painting more than before. To me, that kind of creativity feels more 'safe', because you don't necessarily need words/a story to be able to create something. Also, just like Mynx above, I too have become so much more creative doing DIY projects in my house. Funny.. ;-)

Since I've been able to quit MD, I've been sort of struggling,   trying to figure out what is normal dd, and what is MD. Since I still don't know, I just don't dd at all. To me, it's the same as a recovering alcoholic wanting just 1 glass of wine at a party (which is normal), but fearing that it might cause him to go home and drink the entire liquor store empty (which isn't normal, like MD).

I understand that you feel like you need the MD for your job. My therapist also suggested to use my MD to write books since it would probably come easy. But I just really wanted to quit MD for good, because I felt like it harmed me more than that I could benifit from it. I think it;'s up to you how you 'use' your MD. If you have found a good way to use it to your benifit, well, than that;s good too. Just as long as your MD doesn't hurt you in the meantime aswell. You are a creative person, and there are 1000's of ways to be creative. Losing 1 type of creativity doesn;t mean you can't be creative anymore.

To me, losing the ability to write songs/blogs is hard, and I def don't like it. I'd still love to be able to do so,  but for now, I see it as a small price to pay.. I'm pretty sure & believe that that kind of creativity will come back one day.

[Mevve]

@Mynx

Thats so funny,  I got bored of my daydreams at the end, as well.... lol. Thats the beginning of the end my friend.. :-) Hope you will succeed quiting MD completely!

[New York dancer]

LOL, wait a minute guys your dividing yourselves when you don't have to. What I'm hearing is that you are trying to create separation within your creative worlds but all the art is stemming from the same place. Creativity stems from the same section of the brain, you can try to close one internal door, walk into another room but no matter what, your still living in the land of fantasy. Anything in form of the creating something in a artsy way is still coming from the internal world of fantasy. Unless your sitting down and working on mathematical problems for hours of a day or something more scientific, only then you are dwelling on that side of the brain. Everything of art dwells in the same place. Make peace with it, don't fight it. In the end, what you resist will persist.

Wouldn't it be more fair to blame the "addiction" element of MD and not so much the MD itself. See it's this addiction element that makes the day dreaming so intoxicating like a sweet drug. It's the battle of addiction that can hinder your life and control your mind. Addiction is toxic and it's proven with any kind of addiction that it can be harmful when it becomes your life. We want to blame MD and label it the enemy, but can't it be true that the real blame goes to it's addiction power? Understanding the problem is the first step to overcoming addiction. So in this case the problem here is overcoming the enslavement of pleasure addiction we get from MD and not the MD alone.

There is a way to have your cake and eat it too. It is possible to live in dual worlds (real world and fantasy) and still maintain a happy healthy fulfilling lifestyle. The key is to dominate/control your ability to daydream so you can manage it based on your life. Battling the addiction element is the hardest but once achieved, you will hold the bull by its horns. Understand you are the god in your internal universe, you are the sun and your imagination are the planets that float around you. You have the ability to be the boss but you have to know it and believe it.

To prove whose in charge try doing a activity that scares the life out of you. Consider jumping out of plane or something extreme, within seconds you'll wake up and stay awake. Fantasy lands takes a back door when you dominate your attention else where. Achieving something big reminds us we are alive and makes your stronger from the inside out. 

Try not to judge what's normal and what isn't. In the end, your own happiness is all that ever matters. All I recommend is to love all parts that make you who you are.  You are awesome no matter what :)

[Mevve]

When you say things like "Understand you are the god in your internal universe" you lose me very quickly. I don't think like that.  But I'll respond to some things you say.

When I paint or draw I don't daydream. I am being myself, expressing myself. I am very much in touch with myself.
When I used to write a song for instance, I usually daydreamed. Which means I lose contact with myself. I am no longer me.

Losing contact with yourself is what I consider to be unhealthy. When I talk about MD, I actually mean "losing contact with myself"; trying to escape from myself and my real feelings. I no longer want to fantasize, because I have a strong desire to be *me* at all times.

Being creative is good. But losing touch with my real self is something I no longer want.

I have never loved the me wanting to be someone else, because that's not who I am. It's not the person God created me to be.