What causes MD?

[Laura Rose]

Hi I joined this site mostly to find out why I'm like this and can't stop. I really just want to know whether I was born with this or if this is something that happened to me caused by something in my early childhood. I've had uncontrollable daydreams since I can remember. I think I started it when I was swinging on my play house as a kid. That was when I was like 3 or 4 which makes me think it was something I was born with. But I'd like to also hear other peoples earliest memories on this also. :)

[starfoot01]

hi there, i dont think you are born with it, i believe that its something that happens when you feel alone and thats how it starts, i dont exactly remember DDing when i was relly young, i think i started doing it when i was being bullied in school (being about the age of 12), when i felt like i was alone and DDing made me feel safe and like i belonged.

[Placidia]

I could see people being born with such a tendency, but it doesn't seem like most people start DDing immediately.  Then again, perhaps in your case, you did. 

 

My earliest memory of this was when I was five.  I remember having had this really weird and creepy daydream about Snow White, of all things, that just wouldn't go away.  But I'm not sure what if anything triggered that.

[roxanne]

I believe you are born with it.  Most MD'ers include some DD's in earliest memories.  You really don't remember much before 5.  And because you are born with something doesn't mean it will start at birth.  It will develop when that part of your brain develops, and your whole brain doesn't develop fully until late teens/ early twenties.  There is quite a diversity here among MD'ers.  Some had early trauma, social isolation, unhappiness; many had nothing of the sort.  So I believe that just colors your DD's,; it doesn't cause them.  That's my belief.

[Angélica ramirez]

I wasnt born with it, i believe that it was a cause. the cause was that i was emotionally unstable, lonely, didnt love myself and still sort of do, i didnt believe in myself, but mostly because of bordemn. then it became an addiction til now....im over MD now (i havent MD for 4 months now and will continue) because i realized this disorder and realized that its not goind to take me anywhere in life and its not, its stupid. so there you go, i think anybody that has this issue like me will eventually grow up and realize how fucking stupid MD is and how we all have control over it. we just have to use common sense and logic with ourselves, ive fucking had it with my life as in i had REALLY high expectations that i would be famous or have a amazing artistic career because when i was young i was totally brainwashed by celebertys and the media, and that's what i would daydream about is becoming better becoming somebody that i wanted to be at 18 or 19 and now im 19 and i thought to myself "wtf did i do all this time" nothing....  so that's why im done and MD is dead to me and i will never go back to it because it fucked up everything i wanted. yeah i understand the good things about what people say but i just have to get serious with my life now and start working hard toward my career goals because i am so obsessed with career ever since i was little but i would daydream about it so that's why i didnt get anywhere. so yeah YAY for me i hate the fact that i still live with my parents ugh! but yeah ill stop writing now hope that gives you understanding in my point of view with this disorder. and i hope one of these days this stupid disorder will come to realize to us and make us snap us out of it because it truly is a waste.

[Truthful Alibi]

This is a commonly asked question by many MDers, if you search the forum you will probably find a lot more discussions on this.

No one is really sure. It was originally believed that MD was caused by trauma. Although this is true for many MDers, it isn't a reason that goes for everyone.

Some people believe it has a hormonal basis (greyartist *wink wink*).

And then there are other people, who are left wondering why the hell they have this condition.

Since most people haven't even heard of MD, and there is only a minimal amount of reasearch that hasn't been going on for very long (only since 2009 I believe) no one actually knows yet.

For me, I originally thought that it was due to 'trauma' (being bullied when I was 7/8 years old). However, I can remember DDing when I was younger too, around the age of 4 or 5.

I think it's just a habit, for example say one day you decided to try some beer for the first time ( because it's not like anyone here has had beer before *extreme sarcasm*) and you liked it. So a few days later, you felt like having some more beer. And you did. Then it became a daily habit, and you were addicted to it. So replace beer with DD, and that's probably what it's like for most MDers.

MDers also have a lot of brain activity (obviously) so maybe it's because we are bored from not using our brains properly so decide to DD instead. Then it becomes like a natural response (like my natural response to seeing a crane fly - running away screaming!) when we are bored or need to use our brains. I know that after school I tend to DD less than on, say, a weekend, which is probably from using my brain in lessons. But there are some days when I don't focus at all and I can't DD because I'll end up muttering to myself or something, and after school, BANG! An explosion of DDing. Lol.

So, personally, by DDing was kick-started by being bullied when I was 7, but I think I was doomed from the start. Lol.

[littleschrodinger'scat]

I think it varies from person to person. As far as I can recall I have always had daydreams and they have always been intense, but I have heard of a few people who do not remember ever doing it until they were adults.

[1nmiirc70dne4]

I know I wasn't born with this. I was usually always doing something. I had a friend across the street who I would do everything with. Have sleepovers, she had dinner with us almost every night and she came over everyday. She didn't go to my school where I had my other friend :) until she left me...its weird because an evil thing from my childhood, something I was happy was out of my life came back. In 1st grade I had this girl who would always bully me. It was the only year in school I didn't have that one friend I always hung out with. I didn't daydream then. Then that girl left and I was SO glad. Until the end of 5th grade when she came back. My friend in 5th grade left me to be with her. I thought it was something I had done but when I apolized she would always yell at me. Then we had to pick a book out of the library to take a test on it and the book I picked I really liked so over the summer I read all 40 books in the series. Then in the beggining of 6th grade was when I got MD. The charcters from the books and there world, was my world. My friend (who didn't go to the school anymore) emialed me apologizing for everything she had done and we were friends again :) but MD I still have a I know ill probably always have.

[greyartist]

I was 45 when it started with me so I was not born with it unless it was dormant for some reason. I do think some of us are predisposed or more likely to get it then others. Something definitively changed in my brain.

[Teagan Heart]

Thank you Angelica, that was very well said. I can't belive that there was another person besides me who had high goals of being famous! I mean, WoW! But it really is stupid. I truly wish that we can stay in touch. Oh my gosh, I am so shocked but happy that I can find that hope. It does exist, and I could sure use it.

Angélica ramirez said:

I wasnt born with it, i believe that it was a cause. the cause was that i was emotionally unstable, lonely, didnt love myself and still sort of do, i didnt believe in myself, but mostly because of bordemn. then it became an addiction til now....im over MD now (i havent MD for 4 months now and will continue) because i realized this disorder and realized that its not goind to take me anywhere in life and its not, its stupid. so there you go, i think anybody that has this issue like me will eventually grow up and realize how fucking stupid MD is and how we all have control over it. we just have to use common sense and logic with ourselves, ive fucking had it with my life as in i had REALLY high expectations that i would be famous or have a amazing artistic career because when i was young i was totally brainwashed by celebertys and the media, and that's what i would daydream about is becoming better becoming somebody that i wanted to be at 18 or 19 and now im 19 and i thought to myself "wtf did i do all this time" nothing....  so that's why im done and MD is dead to me and i will never go back to it because it fucked up everything i wanted. yeah i understand the good things about what people say but i just have to get serious with my life now and start working hard toward my career goals because i am so obsessed with career ever since i was little but i would daydream about it so that's why i didnt get anywhere. so yeah YAY for me i hate the fact that i still live with my parents ugh! but yeah ill stop writing now hope that gives you understanding in my point of view with this disorder. and i hope one of these days this stupid disorder will come to realize to us and make us snap us out of it because it truly is a waste.

[Betsy]

I've never talked about it with anyone before, but I started daydreaming when I was between 11 or 12 years old, because I was lonely, felt socially anxious, and only felt comfortable alone in my darkened room. I think lonliness is a definite trigger. I know quite a few people who have felt lonely and felt socially awkward and now they're full-fledged MDers.

[Wish Upon A Wish]

I'm not sure, I think maybe it's a mix between something at birth and something that happened while you were young, even if you don't remember? Maybe it's because of something happening while our brains are developing, and either something in the brain ends up slightly over-or-under developed. Maybe.

I have been as long as I can remember, but I was always really, really shy, and now, I'm less shy, but also quite introverted (well, except while typing. Then I'm likely to ramble.) so maybe it has something to do with that, maybe lonliness while the brains developing?

Hopefully someone finds out some day.

[Elizabeth]

I think you could be born with it. I have done it all my life for as far as I can remember. My parents did reach a rough spot in their marriage and some things happened but I was DDing before that. My mom said when I was a baby I would shake my hands a little more than most when I got excited or was watching something. So.. I dunno.