Have you ever told a therapist?

[Nina]

I was wondering if any of you ever told a therapist about your MD and how they reacted? I kind of want to tell a therapist about my problems but I feel like if I tell them that I'm sitting in my room all day, pacing, rocking back and forth, making faces etc. while making up vivid scenarios in my head they're gonna think I'm crazy? How do they react to this? Especially when they never heard of MD? Which, I'm pretty sure, is going to be the case. 

[Bee]

My only advice is to take the research (including Dr Somer's YouTube channel vids) and this sites URL with you just in case for backup. Sometimes they react well...sometimes they don't and think it's part of something else. There's really no way of knowing - although you can usually judge depending on how well you know the person. Just remember, in this case you're right and up to date and they're not.

[Roel]

I told my therapist. She nodded, said she would look it up and look into it. And than she simply didn't. It was never mentioned again in the following conversations. I brought it up multiple times again afterwards. Same thing kept happening. However my therapist was a specialised mentor to help students in highschool study more efficiently. She probably can't be compaired to whatever therapist you will end up with :/

[OhMyMagenta]

I agree with Padraic in that the response you get depends on the open-mindedness & level of experience the therapist has. As a therapist myself, I've had many clients come to me wanting to explore things like MDD that aren't so textbook DSM diagnosis. I've always felt that if the client took the time to bring in an article/show me a link or video about something that's concerning them, I need to honor that and educate myself on it. That being said, as providers we are constrained by having to bill under certain DSM criteria for health insurance to pay for services. It is what it is. Bottom line; if a client came to me with articles et al, I'd be remiss as a provider of I didn't look into it and validate their concerns.

[Chelsea]

Yes I told a therapist before. She told me I needed more hobbies and to keep myself busy, she didn't understand that even when I am busy I daydream. She never brought it up again after that.

[Bluejay Fire Agate]

I've told a couple different therapists about MD. One of them basically told me that daydreams were just an expression of the parts of me that I censor and that I just need to try to be more of the person I am in my daydreams, because that's probably my authentic self. They didn't really seem to understand how much MD negatively impacts my life. They didn't really seem curious to understand it. My current therapist had a similar reaction. They asked, "why are you bringing this to me?" It seemed like they were also having a hard time grasping how daydreaming or fantasizing could be excessive and distressing. They were, at least, more curious about it than the other therapist. To them, it seemed to be related to creativity and so they suggested I engage in something creative, like acting, to redirect it. I feel like it was an honest attempt at helping me, but I feel like acting and playing someone else's character is very different from fantasizing for me. In my daydreams, I'm just an alternative version of myself that either is idealized or a means of expressing parts of myself I find hard to express. So, acting doesn't seem like the best channel for me. It would feel very different. I just sent this therapist some scholarly articles on MD though, and am looking forward to discussing it with them. So, I'll keep you posted when it comes to that. 

Here's a question I have for you all: For those of you who have or have had a therapist, does your therapist play a significant role in your fantasies/daydreams? If so, do you find that it complicates therapy for you? I find myself enacting conversations I wish to have with them or wish I could have continued or explored in a different way. I feel like this has been troubling me, because it's like I'm scripting all my conversations with them. It's hard for me to be present with them and engage with them in an authentic way that's grounded in the present, because I've already enacted various versions of the conversation many times. Also, since the relationship with the therapist is so asymmetrical and I don't know much about what they think or feel, it seems to make it harder to distinguish between what is actually going on in our relationship and what I have only explored/imagined might be/could be going on in our relationship through my fantasies/daydreams. 

[Roel]

Never dreamed of my therapist .__.

[Matheus F]

I`ve told my thearpist too. I wouldn`t say she irrelevated it, but didn`tshow any further worry than she does usually after I tell somthing. Even though, she got it right that it comes from the very few social interation which I`ve been up to. She says I`m trying to compensate that by recreating some dialogs with people I don`t talk anymore, and I agree with that.

Furthermore, she afirmed that it could be some mechanism I developed to prepare myself when facing the real world, like a rehearsal. I have to agree with that too, because a good portion of my DD focus on me being funny or saying smart things I hear here and there. 

Anyway, what bothered me was the fact that she didn`t give any feedback about this "sympton". The thing is: maybe this is a natural thing and though excessive, does not caracterize a disorder. But at the same time, regarding that it affects my funcionality, it may be more serious, as we can see what the study of Dr. Somer is presenting.

Just for the record: the majority of my DDs bases on my idealized self, and my number one trigger is music, which I`m trying to avoid, even though with few success...It is very addictive.

[Bluejay Fire Agate]

Matheus F said:

I`ve told my thearpist too. I wouldn`t say she irrelevated it, but didn`tshow any further worry than she does usually after I tell somthing. Even though, she got it right that it comes from the very few social interation which I`ve been up to. She says I`m trying to compensate that by recreating some dialogs with people I don`t talk anymore, and I agree with that.

Furthermore, she afirmed that it could be some mechanism I developed to prepare myself when facing the real world, like a rehearsal. I have to agree with that too, because a good portion of my DD focus on me being funny or saying smart things I hear here and there. 

Anyway, what bothered me was the fact that she didn`t give any feedback about this "sympton". The thing is: maybe this is a natural thing and though excessive, does not caracterize a disorder. But at the same time, regarding that it affects my funcionality, it may be more serious, as we can see what the study of Dr. Somer is presenting.

Just for the record: the majority of my DDs bases on my idealized self, and my number one trigger is music, which I`m trying to avoid, even though with few success...It is very addictive.

That's cool that she understood that it is about compensating for little social interaction and sort of rehearsing as a way to prepare for social interaction. I feel like that's part of why I do it too. Most of my daydreams are about imaginary conversations with either real people in my life or imaginary people as my idealized self. I think maybe I feel like I don't get to spend as much time with people as I would like, and so I compensate by excessively fantasizing about conversations. 

My therapist also didn't seem to think of it in terms of a symptom or disorder. I don't really care too much if it is recognized as such, but I want the therapist and other people to take it seriously. I want them to understand that this is a real thing I struggle with and that causes distress and gets in the way of living my life. 

[Matheus F]

Absolutely, sometimes I feel my parents and my therapist don`t realize the size of this problem.

[José Luis]

Yes, I've told my therapist. He's been supportive, I talk to him about different issues in my life (past and present) and he tries to relate some of them with the problem of the daydreaming. I explained to him all I knew about MD. Actually, that was the beginning of the therapy: I decided to go because of MD so it was about this I started talking and I bring the theme back every time I feel is necessary.

[Bluejay Fire Agate]

Well, that's cool that he takes it seriously. What have you learned about it and how it relates to other things in your life?

José Luis said:

Yes, I've told my therapist. He's been supportive, I talk to him about different issues in my life (past and present) and he tries to relate some of them with the problem of the daydreaming. I explained to him all I knew about MD. Actually, that was the beginning of the therapy: I decided to go because of MD so it was about this I started talking and I bring the theme back every time I feel is necessary.

[Source]

As everyone said, you can't be too careful. Therapists may or may not get it right, or even take it seriously, so always grab all the documentation you can get when you go to see one.
I've never been to a therapist myself, but that's because I don't trust therapists and I'm a stubborn fellow who wants to get things fixed by himself.