Wild Minds network

Maladaptive Daydreaming: where wild minds come to rest

Do you think substance use is very dangerous for people with md?

I have stopped drinking since the start of the year. I think I was using alcohol to fuel this whole MD thing( I think anyway...Im very new to this and trying to separate stuff in my mind) Did anyone else here have a run in with drink or drugs etc and feel that it was connected or feeding off MD in some way?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cordellia Amethyste Rose on May 2, 2011 at 10:49pm

I was a serious pot-head and drinker for many years. I don't think my drug use made my MD worse, but my MD definitely made my drug use worse. It worsened the negative effects. Heavy daydreaming always makes me feel dizzy, disconnected, and sick. So did heavy drinking and pot-smoking. Being disconnected also worsened the paranoia. I've been sober since 2006, and my MD is still pretty severe. I don't miss feeling sick all the time, though. Good riddance.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by redhorse on May 3, 2011 at 4:32am

Thats pretty much what I am leaning towards too.You know the way addiction specialists talk about addiction having an underlying or root cause? Would you go as far as to say MD was it for you or a principle cause anyway? There is something that always sticks in my head. I read somewhere that addicts are in full flight from reality. Im not 100% dying about that phrase because I think it is slightly derogatory and hints at a simple choice that not all addicts can make..."Hey all you addicts come back and deal with reality! On the way sir" but I am interested at the same time at looking at that phrase in the context of MD and addiction.

I said on another forum that I think that I was a lifelong addict just waiting for my drug of choice to come along. If someone had pushed me to elaborate on that comment I would have struggled but knowing what I know now, I think its because of the lifelong severe MD.

If we can go mentally"missing" because of music or a car journey or a long walk then imagine what we can do with alcohol or drugs. Its MD short term paradise(although long term hell like all drink/drug abuse). Any views in agreement or disagreement are very welcome. Im just thinking out loud and trying to join some dots here.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Angel on May 3, 2011 at 9:36am

I used to be a major pothead too. I drank a little, but I'm a light-weight. I was never exposed to any harder drugs, which is a very good thing. At that point in my life where I probably would have been willing to experiment, back then I didn't care about myself at all. Currently I take a prescription painkiller for my migraines, but only as a last resort. This isn't a problem for me, though I see where people can run into problems so I try to be very careful.

I don't think substance use or temptation to use has had anything to my MD. Pot and booze actually hampered my fantasies. Pot closed me off, made me less social, more paranoid, and want to just sleep. Booze made me social for a short time, then I'd get really sick. Both were fueled by my depression. I think everyone's' experiences are going to be different though.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Julie on May 3, 2011 at 4:28pm

Only drinking socially. I don't remember, who told me, that if you drink with others, this is fun, if you drink with the mirror, you're done. But I believe in it. Ironically, my day-dreaming disappears, when I drink. I'm getting very social. As I already have a reputation of a crazy one, people provoke me, asking crazy questions. Recently, I was reading a short course of lucid dreaming. So ashamed now.

With other substances, I guess, they would only prevent real dreaming experience. I tried pot ... and I was counting windows, then trees, then fingers. So boring. And I felt, like it wasn't my thinking, like someone is navigating. Then it loses the point.