How many of you are/were an outcast?

[NovBaby]

I'm just curious if there is a connection. When I was in school I got teased a lot and didn't have many friends.  I'd spend a great deal of time in my room watching movies, listening to music and being in my own little world.  Til this day I'm still  an outsider, I have 0 friends. The only people I associate with are my children, husband, parents and sister. Even my extended family doesn't really accept me. I don't like being by people in general. 

I think for me it might be an issue..maybe because I'm no accepted in the real world and have low self esteem, I wonder off into my fantasy land in my head. Just a thought.

[Mишка (Miska)]

I suppose I am an outcast in any community because I mean I never make long-term friends and when I do it's really rare but for the most part I don't because even though I'm very charismatic as far as making friends goes people just tend to hate me in the long run. I think mostly girls tend to not like me for some reason my friend Sarah did tell me that my intelligence was a bit too intimidating somehow... Hmmm, I don't have as much trouble with making friends with guys but I mean again I just you know I'm "creepy" so I mean people just like to make assumptions as well. For example I tend to just wear black and white and I don't like to wear colored clothing as much because I am colorblind so I don't like a lot of neon because it confuses me and people tend to assume that I wear black and white for negative reasons. Sometimes I just have trouble talking for example it's kind of hard for me to explain things in a way that isn't scientific. I was once trying to explain to a girl the way vocalization synthesis works but it was really hard for me because she couldn't understand half of what I was saying. When I was explaining the larynx and pharynx to her I think that's when she thought I was saying something dirty- I don't know but she just looked at me really creeped out and then she walked off in a bad mood. And sometimes I am just pretty creepy, I'll say something about genetics and Harliquin babies and someone will become easily offended so I mean that's just me. I usually don't mean anything negative about it but people just don't understand that I'm just saying something that is true to its place. I mean they think that I mean some sort of connotatious something when really that's not what I'm trying to say. So I suppose I really am an outcast.

[Emma]

I've never been super popular, but I've always had friends and can find a way to fit in.  Dr. Schupak's survey conclusions showed that there was not a correlation between MD and childhood trauma or being successful/unsuccessful in life- including relationships.  Most of us have been daydreaming like this from a younger age than starting school anyway.  I remember doing it as a toddler though of course the plots were less intricate or developed.

[Lynnk]

I had...maybe two good friends through all of my school days. I was really nice to people - I rarely had a bad word towards anyone. I guess I was too nice, & that was viewed as a weakness.

Though, during High School, I became very depressed, & didn't really care about...well, anything really. (undiagnosed Major Depression & out of control OCD.)

I was definitely an outcast - though, I was left alone most of the time. When I was bullied in HS (by students & some teachers,) it usually varied from small, snide remarks, picking me out of the crowd (and not about good things, either,) to rumors (although, I only heard about  those rumors after I dropped out of High school. Haha!) Anything before High school, though, made me miserable. I didn't have the greatest family life, either,  but I definitely preferred it over school.

So...yes.

[Ethan Levy]

I can say with no uncertainties that I had not experienced true friendship untill 6th grade. Before that, everyone picked on me for whatever reason (to this day I can't figure out why, but I don't feel like it's worthwhile to find out 10-plus years later). And then I got addicted to video games. It was so bad; if I wasn't playing it, I was daydreaming about it. Eventually I broke myself away for my sanity's sake, and by then I was pretty much in the "social outcast/pot smoker" cliches. But even then i was pretty distant. However, high school popularity didn't ultimately didn't matter to me. Now im 21; my whole life is now in the real world where qualities like respect and hard work are actually valued. So while I considered myself an outcast then, I now have a clean slate where I can be myself and not feel bad about it. So any high schoolers or young adults like me, take heart! Start fresh, do your best, and you won't have any regrets!

[Rachel]

I was an "outcast" in elementary school and in the beginning of middle school, but I became more social in 7th grade (and my daydreams decreased) and now I'm in 9th grade (well, it's summer. I'm going into 10th grade.) and I have plenty of friends that are a bit more distant and a few friends who I see/talk to often. I'm not popular at all, but I'm comfortable with a lot of the people I go to school with and am not always afraid to talk anymore. I also hardly daydream anymore. 

[Lucy McGillicuddy]

I always felt like a weird kid, too, and that hasn't changed much into my adulthood. I always used to envy people who had scads of friends, and I wondered why I could never manage the same. I am someone who usually has only a couple of really close friends, and that's it. I think that may be part of the reason behind my MD--as a kid, I always imagined myself with lots of friends, and we were always out and about, causing a ruckus and having a great time. In reality, I just spent a lot of time at home with my family. 

As I got older, I realized that I didn't want a million friends because, as Aristotle said, "A friend to all is a friend to none." I'd rather pour myself into relationships that are going to last a lifetime, rather than friend a gaggle of people only to forget about them in a year's time. My MD changed, too--I still daydream every day (whether or not it's a struggle or a gift, I still can't say), but I daydream about close relationships rather than numerous ones. 

I completely understand your feelings, but are you really an outcast? You have a husband and children, a sister and your parents. Maybe you're not so much an outcast as you are just really selective about the people with whom you choose to associate. 

[Emma Indigo]

I used to have a close network of good friends when I was in elementary school, but by late elementary years I guess they finally realized that I wasn't like them so that's when I became the outcast for my middle school life. (I'm starting sophomore year in fall). Also, there were a lot of problems at home that started during this time. I had no escape from it all. So, the daydreams became much more frequent and more developed. Last year I did find another small group to hang out with. But they are totally different than me and they don't understand my 'weirdness', like that I'm not really shy, I just don't talk that much. They don't know about my MD but they know that something is up with me. Sometimes I am glad to have a small group of friends, even if they are nothing like me whatsoever, but I don't like dealing with people that much. I got used to being completely independent and that's how I like things to be now.

[Heaven]

I was an outcast and I think that's kind of how it started for me. I didn't have any friends in my reality so I escaped to a fantasy world where I did. I have a small group of friends now and I love them. I've only told two of them about my MDD. They were both completely supportive. But there are still some days where I feel left out and It's possible that my daydreaming can be more intense on those days.

[Jay]

I got social anxiety I won't talk to anyone unless they talk to me first, that's why I don't have friends at school cause no one came to me and spoke to me first when I first started my new school. And idk if being anti social started my md or not cause I started doing it when I was 5 yrs old and I'm 15 now

[Auryn]

I did feel like a social outcast in elementary and middle school, when my daydreaming was the strongest. It was a powerful coping mechanism.

[Source]

All I can say is that no friends is better than fake, idiot, exploiting friends. Still, it's quite an extreme situation

[gigglycharm]

yup