Did you tell your therapist about it?

[Anna]

Hey,
I'm 15 years old and from Germany.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with depression since then I was often in therapy. We usually talked about my family or school but I never mentioned my biggest problem, the daydreaming. But it's getting worse and I cant stop myself from dreaming sometimes it gets so bad that I dont know if it is reality or just a dream. I'm really scarred.
In a few days I have a date with my new therapist and I don't know how to tell him about it. A part of me dont even want to tell him about it and just keep going like this but it makes me crazy and I cant handle it alone.
I'm sorry for my english I'm still learning.

Thanks for reading

Anna

[JenBren]

If you can't handle it alone then you need to be honest and tell your therapist exactly what you're dealing with.

I completely understand your struggle though...I was in therapy and it took me a while to open up and admit to my MDD. While my therapist had never heard of it, she was up front about it and asked me to give her time to look into it. By my next appointment, she had read everything she could about it and was able to help me (and even found the subject fascinating and said she was going to continue her research with it). It can be a scary process but in my case, it was a good process. I hope it will be the same for you.

Best wishes whatever you decide.

Jenn.

[Jennifer]

Hello Anna,

I'm Jennifer, I live in Baltimore, MD, USA. It took me two YEARS to tell my therapist about my daydreaming! When I brought it up, she had no idea what MDD even is, so I printed out some articles and brought them to her for her to read. I have brought up MDD a few times to her, but I am not getting the sense that she really understands how much of a struggle it is, or how in depth our dreams really can be. She didn't seem to really understand what I was talking about when I told her about my characters and storyline, so after a while I kind of just felt that it isn't something I can comfortably discuss with her. Unfortunate, because MDD makes me so sad when I realize how much more I love daydreaming than real life. I wish we could get some professional help for MDD. 

If you decide to tell your therapist, best of luck to you. Most psychologists do not know anything about it.  I wish you the very best.<3

[Kitt Coltrane]

I didn’t because I didn’t know how to explain. When I’ve tried telling people they just comment on what a great imagination I have which is great for my writing. 

[Alice]

Same here.  I’ve been seeing a therapist for 18 months and I feel like she doesn’t know what to do with this topic.  I have withdrawn from talking about it head on and find myself using euphemisms.  I need to bring her an article or some research and just try harder to talk about it.  It’s beyond awkward for me.  I’ll talk about anything but this because I’m a “rocker”.  I listen to music and rock against the wall for hours on end.  I will say that as I get older it’s getting more physically difficult to do this.  My neck and back hurt and this pain  govern my “sessions” significantly.   It’s the first time in 45 years of doing this that I see a change in my behavior.  I don’t have anxiety for or against it.  It’s just becoming almost physically crippling to do it so I’m slowing down.  

Ill try to bring it up to her if not for me at this point but other or future cases.  

[Alice]

Same here.  I’ve been seeing a therapist for 18 months and I feel like she doesn’t know what to do with this topic.  I have withdrawn from talking about it head on and find myself using euphemisms.  I need to bring her an article or some research and just try harder to talk about it.  It’s beyond awkward for me.  I’ll talk about anything but this because I’m a “rocker”.  I listen to music and rock against the wall for hours on end.  I will say that as I get older it’s getting more physically difficult to do this.  My neck and back hurt and this pain  govern my “sessions” significantly.   It’s the first time in 45 years of doing this that I see a change in my behavior.  I don’t have anxiety for or against it.  It’s just becoming almost physically crippling to do it so I’m slowing down.  

Ill try to bring it up to her if not for me at this point but other or future cases.  

[Rory]

I have told my therapist before. At first she dismissed it, and said it seemed like a good thing because it helped with my anxiety, but she didn't seem to understand the problems it causes me. She didn't bring it up again, and for a long time I didn't either. One session, maybe 6 months later, I decided to bring it up again, and I was a little more assertive that it was a problem for me in my life, and she took it more seriously, and tried to understand better. In the end though, we didn't get anywhere as she wanted to treat it like ADD and go the medication route, and I don't want to take any medication at the moment.