Maladaptive Daydreamer?

[darkride]

Hi,

Has anyone here ever hear of "Maladaptive Daydreaming"?

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/maladaptive-daydreaming

It is a relatively new psychological condition in which a person spends a lot of their time daydreaming quite vividly, typically of big "scenes" or stories, often re-visiting the same dream over and over, building that "world" with each visit.

I've not had a diagnosis, but it absolutely fits me.

In my teens I spent a lot of time staring out the window during classes, dreaming up stories that I would then sometimes write as short stories. When I'd go home, being the lonely nerd I am, I would lay on the sofa waiting for my family to come home, imagining myself on board the Enterprise, or in some other franchise, having my own adventures.

When I would masturbate, it was whilst envisioning some kind of erotic story in my head... (Porn is nice, but it's a well written story that I really love...)

These days I kind of prefer fairly repetitive tasks at work, because once I have learned the task, I can then daydream as I'm doing it. Zombie apocalypse? Cool. Shooter coming into the building? Let's go.

I will day-dream about what conversations I'm going to have when I go to the doctor, or what I wish I'd said to that asshole who pushed in front of me at the checkout.

It's long been the source for my writing... stories playing out in my head, with characters that annoyingly tend to do what they want, not what I want. Bastards, how dare they.

Anyways - just curious.

darkride

 

[darkride]

It's not currently recognised by the APA... but it's gaining ground.

I can certainly function... I work 40 hrs a week... yadda yadda yadda... But basically my mind is never still - if I'm not talking to someone, I'm daydreaming.

I basically had a 6 month daydream about a girl who - well, stuff happens to her... coming of age and other battles... During those 6 months I shed tears for her, her imaginary life was as important to me as the lives of other real people around me...

 

[Winter_Fare]

I do this, always have. But apparently I'm not normal lol. Daydreaming is a big part of ADHD inattentive type. It's only a problem when it stomps all over your real world priorities.

 

[darkride]

Ahhh see, I'm probably on one of those spectrums... never been diagnosed as I guess it wasn't ruinous enough to my life. Maybe it is just that I'm a day dreamer and nothing more... I just know when I should have been, for example, making calls after I graduated from university to make something of my creative degree, I tended to just imagine the result if I DID do it... and here I am decades on with nothing to show for it.

 

[DeLaFaye]

I do this, always have. But apparently I'm not normal lol. Daydreaming is a big part of ADHD inattentive type. It's only a problem when it stomps all over your real world priorities.

I daydream like this, too. I always thought it was normal until my ex caught me crying once, asked what was up, and I told him it had to do with one of my daydreams. He’s a psychologist and so that was a whole fun thing. I really thought everyone got that into their daydreams. And yeah, it’s an ADHD trait. Our brains are crazy and powerful and fast, but as the saying goes, the steering is awful and the brakes don’t work.

 

[darkride]

I daydream like this, too. I always thought it was normal until my ex caught me crying once, asked what was up, and I told him it had to do with one of my daydreams. He’s a psychologist and so that was a whole fun thing. I really thought everyone got that into their daydreams. And yeah, it’s an ADHD trait. Our brains are crazy and powerful and fast, but as the saying goes, the steering is awful and the brakes don’t work.

It's certainly not every daydream that I get totally lost into... But this character / story that I dreamt up most recently... She seriously felt like the daughter I never had, and when I imagined her in various situations and the turmoil of those situations...

'Lucky' having a partner who is a psych.

I try to diagnose myself with things and my wife says that's up to the professionals, not google...

 

[DeLaFaye]

It's certainly not every daydream that I get totally lost into... But this character / story that I dreamt up most recently... She seriously felt like the daughter I never had, and when I imagined her in various situations and the turmoil of those situations...

'Lucky' having a partner who is a psych.

I try to diagnose myself with things and my wife says that's up to the professionals, not google...

Same, some daydreams fizzle/play out quickly. Others turn into crazy worlds that get turned into novels.

And yeah...lucky...

I'm 35 and only recently started meds that off-label treat my ADHD. It's been life changing. I always did well in school, college, etc., though I never got where I wanted to because I'd change my focus too frequently. Your primary care physician would hopefully be comfortable trying you out on a non-stimulant without diagnosing you. (They likely officially can't.) If you were interested. Never too late and all that jazz to use your creative degree.

 

[HopelessDreams]

Yes I have heard of this before.

It also perfectly describes me when I was a child. During class I often dreamt up scenarios about fictional characters and the worlds they inhabited, which led to a diagnosis of ADHD. As I got older I got my mind-wandering more under control (to the point where I stopped taking the meds), but I still spent my recesses wandering around daydreaming about these stories instead of playing with the other kids. (The adults in my life objected to this too.)

Those daydreams were the precursors to the fantasies I wrote about in my stories here.

 

[oneagainst]

Same, some daydreams fizzle/play out quickly. Others turn into crazy worlds that get turned into novels.

And yeah...lucky...

I'm 35 and only recently started meds that off-label treat my ADHD. It's been life changing. I always did well in school, college, etc., though I never got where I wanted to because I'd change my focus too frequently. Your primary care physician would hopefully be comfortable trying you out on a non-stimulant without diagnosing you. (They likely officially can't.) If you were interested. Never too late and all that jazz to use your creative degree.

I do this a lot too. I can get a flash of an idea and rework it into a full story structure over days. Maybe it's ADHD for me too. I worry about the pills though. What happens to the ability to focus, or to have the daydreams, if you're on the meds? Seems like quite the trade-off.

 

[DeLaFaye]

I do this a lot too. I can get a flash of an idea and rework it into a full story structure over days. Maybe it's ADHD for me too. I worry about the pills though. What happens to the ability to focus, or to have the daydreams, if you're on the meds? Seems like quite the trade-off.

I can maintain my focus so much better and turn it off when I want to. Same with the daydreaming. It’s like having the same vehicle, but with more control. I’ve never heard of anyone regretting getting on meds for adhd.

 

[Dearelliot]

It's an escape for me, to drift into my perfect world where everyone acts exactly the way I want them to. There are no aches, pains, or interruptions, except when someone in the real world disturbs my reverie.

 

[SimonDoom]

This rings true to me. I'm a daydreamer, and Literotica has been a forum for playing out daydreams. I suspect this is true of many writers. Writing is a way to express one's creative dreams.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I do this a lot too. I can get a flash of an idea and rework it into a full story structure over days. Maybe it's ADHD for me too. I worry about the pills though. What happens to the ability to focus, or to have the daydreams, if you're on the meds? Seems like quite the trade-off.

Meds (when I remember to take them) lead to better planning, flow and as an unforeseen happy bonus: increased horniness and better orgasms.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Writers have done this for centuries, maybe millennia, that's thousands of years, not a thousand, that'd be a millennium.

 

[Seadog777]

Its FUCKING DREAMING!!!

Why in the blue god damn hell, do these "doctors" think they gotta put a another name with everything.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Its FUCKING DREAMING!!!

Why in the blue god damn hell, do these "doctors" think they gotta put a another name with everything.

Because it's their job, they make money by creating things to study. Then they study them, writing reports, papers, and articles to explain things that have been without a name for centuries. They just were, and now they are this disorder, that condition, a malady, a syndrome, an affliction, so we have a name for our pain.

 

[Seadog777]

Because it's their job, they make money by creating things to study. Then they study them, writing reports, papers, and articles to explain things that have been without a name for centuries. They just were, and now they are this disorder, that condition, a malady, a syndrome, an affliction, so we have a name for our pain.

They come up with shit, to create studies, to make money, to then overcharge people for medication that doesn't really work.

It's called having a dream and daydreaming.

I've been having episodic dreams my whole life.

 

[MillieDynamite]

They come up with shit, to create studies, to make money, to then overcharge people for medication that doesn't really work.

It's called having a dream and daydreaming.

I've been having episodic dreams my whole life.

Don't be so logical, or the whole system might come crashing down.

 

[Seadog777]

Don't be so logical, or the whole system might come crashing down.

I'm the White Redneck Country version of Dr. Spock.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Ah, Mr. Spock never approved of Dr. Spock's approach to child-rearing.

I'm the White Redneck Country version of Dr. Spock.

 

[Seadog777]

Ah, Mr. Spock never approved of Dr. Spock's approach to child-rearing.

Well.... if were being completely truthful, both Spocks are dumbasses

 

[MillieDynamite]

Hey, Star Trek, I love so much it hurts. Not the new shit Star Treks, but everything before 2009. I did like the first season of Strange New Worlds and the last season of Picard, and that's about it for the new stuff. Like the definition of insanity, I keep watching the programs, thinking it'll get it right soon. Well, maybe the next one will. Or the one after that.

 

[Seadog777]

I tired to get into Star Trek, I just couldn't.
It's so.....wooden.
I appreciate the boundries it broke and all of that.
My favorite Leonard Nimoy character is....William Bell from "Fringe".

 

[MillieDynamite]

With only 13 appearances, you'd think he wasn't all that important to the show. Even so, he seemed to be a part of every episode. Belly to Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). Speaking of John Noble, there were dozens of easter eggs to Elementary, despite the fact it happened after Fringe.

I tired to get into Star Trek, I just couldn't.
It's so.....wooden.
I appreciate the boundries it broke and all of that.
My favorite Leonard Nimoy character is....William Bell from "Fringe".

 

[Seadog777]

With only 13 appearances, you'd think he wasn't all that important to the show. Even so, he seemed to be a part of every episode. Belly to Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). Speaking of John Noble, there were dozens of easter eggs to Elementary, despite the fact it happened after Fringe.

You are right. William Bell seems to be in every episode.
Walter always talks about him, Massive Dynamic IS in every episode and then with Olivia being a product of the experiements, etc, etc.

I admit that I haven't seen a lot of John Noble's work, but from what I have seen, Walter Bishop is by far his best work.

I heard of Elementary, but didn't watch it.
Is it worth me taking a gander???
If I can find it for free on AP or NF.