Tendency towards MD?

[Pareidolia]

Hey !

I was just wondering if it's common for people with MD to have family members that struggle with addiction (MD or otherwise, whether it's substance abuse or behavioral addiction). I'm kind of curious because talking about it might help us learn whether there's an hereditary component to it or not, who is more likely to have it, etc. I was also wondering if any of you have other addictions, if you're prone to overindulging, if you have trouble controlling your behaviour, etc.

My case of MD is not exactly typical but my dad is an alcoholic. I used to be a heavy gamer as well, spending hours and hours playing to some MMORPG, basically spending all of my free time on it. Maybe it's just a meaningless coincidence but eh, let's find out. (:

[LostSoul99]

I often wonder if my dad had it. I know if I did get MD or the traits that an Maladaptive daydreamer usually has, its from my dad's side. Although, my dad never listened to music or watched a whole lot of tv, I feel that if he did, he could've been or he really was a maladaptive daydreamer. He used to zone out like I do alot. He's a quiet person like I am, and he gets anxious around people. I know that I do not have ADD because although I have phases where I do zone out, when I need to concentrate, I can concentrate and I also get good  grades. I remember him telling me how all of the dreams that he had as a child came true. So he must've visualized some scenerios as a child. He also paces like I do. He doesn't pace to music like I do, of course. Just so you know, I'm muslim. And sometimes I would find him pacing while he read the quran(a holy book for muslims), when he could've just sat down and read it like most people. Also, my cousin from his side has Aspergers syndrome and Maladaptive daydreamers do have some symptoms from Aspergers syndrome. And afew of my other cousins and some of my uncles from his side are just as quiet as I am. They don't like to be around people. Those cousins dropped out of high school and I heard from my mom that they just couldn't focus and often they would just leave school and roam around. I don't know whether they have ADD or  MD like I do or why they would drop out of school like that but one thing is sure, I got MD from my dad's side of the family. Well, I don't think I have addictions of any other kind but I watch a lot of tv shows and I usually never miss even one episodes. I also love reading fan fictions about my tv shows. I guess these things are triggers and I need it to DD. I'm also a very curious person. I will look up everything that my head questions. Supernatural stuff usually interests me.

[greyartist]

I don't know about addictions but I have a strong family history of schizophrenia spaning 3 generations. I do think "different" thought patterns run in families. 

[Angela E]

My mom and sister both have eating disorders, and yes, addiction does run in my family.  I do think of MD as an addiction, and research has showed that addiction has a genetic component.  It also has an environmental component.  Certain genes make you more susceptible to developing addictions.  Also, once the brain has experienced one addictive pattern, it is primed to become addicted much more easily to other things.  That's why people with one addiction tend to develop other ones.  

I think you're pretty spot on in your thoughts.  

[Wish Upon A Wish]

I'm not really sure, actually. I know a fair bit of my family smokes. Dad started when he was twelve, 'cause it was 'cool' then, and they thought it was good for you too. He quit a few years ago. Just like his father, he drinks a lot (I think technically he'd be an alcoholic, which I only realized when he called himself that. He gets very drunk almost every night, but he doesn't drive or anything while drunk)

My brother smokes tobacco and he has had weed plenty before, though I'm sure he's not addicted, and I know he has tried some other drugs too, but not crazy strong ones (there was this one he told me about that's still actually perfectly legal in NZ, a hallucinogen which doesn't last for very long and I think is kind of expensive, and is supposed to be burned so people breathe in the fumes, but not actually smoked in whatever people smoke it in. But yeah. Rambling.)

My sister drinks a fair bit (brother used to too, but not really much anymore) and she (sister, not calling my big bro a girl haha) also smokes, and has had weed plenty of times too, she likes parties quite a bit too.

And me? Well, I'm not addicted to the computer, or books,  but once I'm on/started reading, it's generally hard to stop. Especially the computer. And fantasizing, obviously. I don't mind drinking a bit, and I do very rarely, (I think I've gotten tipsy what, once or twice this year? I've never been what a lot of people would call drunk, either, only tipsy. I get lazy when I'm tipsy, though, and would rather crawl than walk 'cause it's easier haha)

And Mum smokes, though less than she used to. not long after Dad quit, she 'quit' too, and everyone knows she smokes, and she knows brother knows she smokes, and she prob knows my sister knows, and she probably suspects I know but if I catch her not quite smoking but really obviously throwing a butt on the ground and squishing it, I'll just act like I never saw it. She might think I'm an idiot though, for 'not noticing' haha. Ah well.

But yeah, I think if everyone in my family is going to be addicted to at least one thing, mine would be my fantasy and hopefully that'll be all I'll be addicted to.

[Melanie]

There's a lot of lifelong alcoholism on my father's side of the family. I think it's reasonable to assume that one can inherit a susceptibility to addiction.

[Beef]

just smokers and chocaholics in my family, and i have pepsi addiction

[Dani]

My twin sister and I both have it, and addiction runs in my family from my Mom's side. :)

[Philip Dorrell]

The major difficulty in measuring the genetic component of MD is that of observing the occurrence of MD in the first place. Currently the only way to "observe" MD is from the self-observation of the MD-er, when that person makes the observation that they feel they "daydream too much". And even if you know that you are MD, the only way to reliably observe MD in another person is if that other person admits to MD when asked, or if they "come out" as an MD-er. And that's not so reliable, because it is entirely based on self-reporting.

However, as measured by the criterion of self-observation, MD is not that common a thing. So any observed co-occurrence in relatives is potentially significant.

Comparing MD to other more generic afflictions, such as "addiction", where those afflictions might have some genetic component, is I think unnecessarily indirect.

If MD has a genetic component, then that will be directly observable by sequencing the genomes of people who have MD, and comparing them to those of people who don't. Because MD is a very specific thing, it is more likely to have a specific cause than something like "addiction" that is defined more vaguely.

So, who would go to a website like 23andMe, and push for a Maladaptive Daydreaming Survey? (Is anyone here even on 23andMe? Of course you have to pay for their DNA analysis service before you can join. Myself I'm a non-MD-er, but I do belong to 23andMe.)