I didn't go through trauma, so why do I have MDD?

[True Blue Dreamer]

Most people on this website say that they got their MDD due to an abusive childhood or going through some form of trauma. with me, I never really gone through any truama, thank the good Lord! I was never abused so why do I have MDD? I assume that I got it during middle school when I had no friends and I was bullied, but looking back on it, the bullying wasn't that severe. it was just some stupid little girls saying rude remarks about my weight and all that, but it was not that big of a deal compared to how kids are cyber bullied these days. I guess what I'm trying to say is I do not understand why I got MDD if I never Gone through anything dramatic. now thinking about it, I think another major trigger was my boredom. I was so bored and lonely in middle school and high school I would daydream a life where I had a active social life and having a lot of fun. Maybe my personality is prone to get this type of disorder for I an inspiring screenwriter and I've always been a daydreamer even before it got maladaptive. Is anyone else in the same boat as me?

[Tom]

Kinda yeah. You are prone to it. Couple that with some boredom, loneliness and insecurities and changes are you will develop the bad habit that is MDD. And if you're not careful the habit will turn into an addiction. 

[Ivy White]

Also, the psychiatrist with whom I'm in contact thinks MDD appears as a defense mecanism for people who have a heightened sensitivity to the world. In that sense, you need to protect yourself from the outside world a bit, even if nothing bad per se happened to you. 

However, one needs to keep in mind that the way we raise our children is typically rather traumatic, even if as adults we don't really remember it. Things like slapping a child, letting him cry alone in his room because "he needs to get used to it" are all things done with the best interest in mind, but for a child who is completely dependent on adult goodwill that can be very scary and cause some form of low, unconscious trauma. If you want to read more about this I recommend "the drama of the gifted child".

[S.D.]

Exactly! I am a very sensitive person and while I am sure my mother did try (maybe) there were things that affected me that might not affect other people. That is why people need to be careful how they raise a child because what might seem like a parents good intention can actually be really terrible for someone who is overly sensitive (like myself) or even just a normal kid.  I hate when people say that stuff like this doesn't affect children when I am proof and so are many others (some don't even realize it) that it does have a negative impact.

I think Ivy is also right when she says that MDD is a defense mechanism or a coping skill. We use it to defend ourselves from the real world or to replace what we are missing in our lives. 

True blue you mention that what you went through is nothing compared to what other people went through, please don't invalidate your feelings. Yes there is always someone who had it worse off and you should try to think positively but overlooking what might have been traumatic for you at a certain time is never a good idea. You still experienced it and need to be able to deal with that.

I think most daydreamers have creative minds, so when you are bored and lonely you daydream.

Ivy White said:

Also, the psychiatrist with whom I'm in contact thinks MDD appears as a defense mecanism for people who have a heightened sensitivity to the world. In that sense, you need to protect yourself from the outside world a bit, even if nothing bad per se happened to you. 

However, one needs to keep in mind that the way we raise our children is typically rather traumatic, even if as adults we don't really remember it. Things like slapping a child, letting him cry alone in his room because "he needs to get used to it" are all things done with the best interest in mind, but for a child who is completely dependent on adult goodwill that can be very scary and cause some form of low, unconscious trauma. If you want to read more about this I recommend "the drama of the gifted child".

[Roel]

I've always had it. It wasn't caused by an event, and so not by a traumatic or unhappy event either. I was born with it. For me it is a part of my personality, that has always been out of hand, but only had a lot of negative impact on my life whene I got older because I had to use my time for other things than dreaming. MD, isn't caused by a problem, it is the problem! It started nowhere, it is just who I am. My youth was actually realy fun! And that is a bit weird, because I don't relate to those of you that say it is a coping mechanism (and that is pretty mutch all of you!). It makes me feel a bit like I'm not in the right place here :(.
So I'm a bit glad to see that someone else had no traumas either. Although you shouldn't underestimate bullying, a lot of times it looks like no big deal, but maybe at the time it was like the end of the world for you. Don't think that you have been too sensible or emotional back then. Back then you had less experience and maybe you couldn't take insults as mutch as you can now.
Just my thoughts.

[Eretaia]

Actually, majority of people on this website didn't have any kind of trauma. You don't need anything dramatic in your life to develop MD. Low self-esteem is usually the main catalyst.

[Blair]

Just to back up what others have said about MDD not having to be triggered by trauma of any kind. I was picked on a little in my high school years but nothing serious. When my voice broke it took two years to settle into anything I could actually talk with. Add a vivid imagination and a need for escape and you have MDD. 

It's really a number of factors coming together. Small triggers on a mind that is already a fertile ground. I doubt you could take an unimaginative mind and force it to MDD. 

[Sasha Greenwood]

I follow Dr. Eli Somer's research vlogs on MD and he also mentions that not everyone who daydreams has an abusive background. He does say people who daydream sometimes do so because they are lonely.

The main thing is that MDers have to have a capacity, a talent, to vividly visualize in their head. Coupled with things like loneliness, boredom, sensitivity, abuse, or some other environmental factor can probably lead to MD. 

[Lostone]

I've always figured that trauma doesn't cause MD, but it can exacerbate it. I suffered a lot of bullying too and even though it wasn't as bad as what some people go through, it still had a profound effect on me.

[Blair]

I think the less we think of MDD as something trauma induced the more it will be seen by others as something to view seriously. By 'others' I mean mostly mean friends and family. No one likes a victim, especially a victim who hasn't really had it that bad. 

[S.D.]

Are you serious? Why would it be taken more seriously if it wasn't trauma induced? Many mental disorders are caused by trauma or a chemical imbalance in the brain. Traumas should not be over looked, no matter how big or small. Now MDD is not necessarily a mental disorder but some view it as a mental disorder and I have heard more times than not it being somewhat caused by loneliness, trauma, bullying etc. Would you say someone who is depressed is just using there trauma as an excuse and depression would be taken more seriously if they didn't use their trauma as an excuse?

Also, no one likes a victim? Plenty of people are victims to terrible things that happen to them they cannot control. There is nothing wrong with being a victim and to over look someones problems because they are being a "victim" is plain ridiculous. It doesn't matter how bad someone had it, to them their feelings, emotions and pains are real, big or small and they do affect people in a large way. One things that affects one type of person may have no impact on another person but that doesn't mean it should be over looked.

I really hate when someone says there is something wrong with being a victim. There is nothing wrong with feeling hurt or having problems because of something that has happened to you. I suggest you read up on some psychology and how the mind really works in relation to trauma.

[Blair]

Maybe my tone was not the right one for my reply. I'm not describing my own views, I'm describing what 'normal' people around me think whenever anyone mentions 'their issues'. I know a lot of people that would never take MDD seriously because to them it would just sound like a set of excuses wrapped in a Psychology acronym. My wife is a doctor and she hates it when she gets people coming into to her surgery who have made a self diagnosis based on something they have only just heard of. Wen I raise the issue of my own past and current psychological state I get no traction at all: "We talked about all this years ago. Why are you bringing this up now all of a sudden?" 

Perhaps 'martyr' would have been the better term in reference to the 'no one likes a victim' bit. And the line itself was too broad sweeping and wrongly phrased as an absolute. It was (supposed to be) an idiomatic way to express frustration with mainstream viewpoints, not a literal depiction of my on view. 

It was a commentary on what the general social view of mental illnesses is; not mine and I certainly wasn't speaking for or about anyone here. I've always had a hard time convincing people around me that I even needed to see professional psychological help. They always seemed to say: "Well that's just part of growing up." or "What about so and so down the road? He's had it ten times worse and he's perfectly normal." It's difficult for otherwise well adjusted people to feel sympathetic towards people who in their view are trying to use their relatively unremarkable past as an excuse. I'm speaking from the experience of not getting sympathy if you put something down to 'Shit that happened to me in my life'. My point is to do with the societal perception of anything that is caused by what others might have gone through and not been overly affected by. 

I, like others here, have MDD as we define it. But I wouldn't say I experienced a level of trauma that demands I bring it up around people. While I went through difficult experiences, I don't like the term 'victim'. To me, it doesn't feel very empowering. I just went through an unfortunate accumulation of events (some unavoidable, some man made) that have played their part in getting to the point I am now. If I were to go into detail, I would just become the very thing many people don't want to listen to; a self proclaimed martyr, distinct from a victim. A martyr seeks to gain from the fact that they have suffered, a victim is nothing like that. Victims do not choose their situation or use it for anterior motives like winning an argument or garnering credibility. 

Like you, I hate it when people blame the victim. That is not what I was doing in my earlier post. It might have read that way, but it wasn't. 

[The1andonlyAbber]

My MD started due to loneliness, boredom, and already being predisposed to it (I was a very imaginative and creative kid). I had some minor trauma in my life that made it worse.