The root cause of Maladaptive dayreaming?

[Elisha]

Ok, I have theory, I am interested to know peoples thoughts...

So, I personally have found that it is a  emotional distancing technique. I think the brain uses it as a way to deal with painful emotions. I believe It is caused because people who suffer from the conditionhave very very sensitive dispositions and have not learnt a way to deal with the overwhelming emotionsthat is caused by everyday life. Also they have never learnt coping techniques for rejection.

1. Do you find a strong need to go into a state of maladaptive daydreaming in distressing situations, which may only be overwhelming for you and most people don't struggle with?

2. Do you find your daydreams are extra absorbing when you do go into them and you feel drained afterwards?

3. Most importantly do you find that AFTER you come out of the daydream, the situation you just experienced seems unreal and further away?

I think its a form of EMOTIONAL dissociation and I believe the cure would lie in psychotherapy. I think its triggered by a) a hyper sensitive reaction to emotions and b) a very unhealthy relationship with rejection and self esteem.

I think the brain does something to its perception of [a given situation] and in the process of maladaptive daydreaming it somehow applies dissociation and blocking techniques to quickly block out the painful or distressing emotions..... anyone follow me on that one? its fast acting and concious dissociation????? :D xx

[greyartist]

I think MDD is much like depression in that it has many causes. Grief, trauma, abuse, chemical imbalance, emotionaldisorders, etc. Mine is most certainly chemical imbalance, since it started with my menopause and was eased with hormon therapy.  

[Heaven]

I think it started as an escape for me. When I first started daydreaming I was very alone and being bullied. I didn't have any friends so I created a best friend in my daydream world. I find it very hard to daydream while in a stressful situation I usually do it when things are calm and not a lot is going on. I still daydream even though I'm no longer being bullied, My characters are much different and are now much more influenced by real life.

[roxanne]

the literature indicates that it is pretty much the same as the general population in terms of rough childhoods, abuse, etc.  The same percentage have suffered, so a rough childhood doesn't cause it.  It may make you more likely to retreat into it & not develop some other skills.  But the tendency to MD seems to start very early and exists separate from other factors.  Check out the literature provided on this site, which is quite compelling.

[James johannes sanford]

I don't think so, there are plenty of people who have mdd who don't have any negative trauma in their lives, also chemical imbalance is not real, it was proven bullshit quite a while ago.

greyartist said:

I think MDD is much like depression in that it has many causes. Grief, trauma, abuse, chemical imbalance, emotionaldisorders, etc. Mine is most certainly chemical imbalance, since it started with my menopause and was eased with hormon therapy.  

[Roel]

1) No, I do feel a strong need to get out of that situation but when these problems are happening outside my head, I won't go inside to seek for sollutions

2) After daydreaming my mind feels richer, more powerfull and I'm amazed by what I've seen. I'ts like Reality tires me, and my paracosms give me rest.

3)Never paid attention to it, I don't think it makes that much of a diference. Maybe daydreams only remove the problem temporarly, but they don't solve it.

I don't think MD's cause lies in stress, emotions or problems. I think it sure helps to make you forget the world, and so it's possible. But I have had this daydreamingdisorder my entire life, I might have problems now, but I didn't have them whene I was four years old. Blocking bad experiences or problems, can't be the cause in my case.
I can believe that for others it started like this though. So there have to be multiple possibilities. There might not be one root cause, but an entire list of (possible) causes.