maladaptive daydreaming poll-please read post then respond

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Do you suffer from this proposed condition, "maladaptive daydreaming"..... if so do you have AS or not? I have this 100%! If so please describe how well your symptoms fit the condition

This is a quote from someone else from another daydreaming thread.
In my search throughout the internet over the last year, I’ve come across literally hundreds of people like myself who exhibit many symptoms associated with Maladaptive Daydreaming, and I’ve been repeated struck by how similar we sound. The following comments are based on my observations.

One or more of these symptoms are frequently mentioned:

Daydreaming excessively in a way that is often compared to an addiction.

This excessive daydreaming often begins in childhood.

Books, movies, music, video games, and other media may be a daydreaming trigger.

The daydreaming itself is often detailed and elaborate, sometimes compared to a movie or novel.

Repetitive movements while daydreaming are common (pacing, rocking, spinning, shaking something in their hand, etc.)

Some people will lie in bed for hours daydreaming, and may either have difficulty going to sleep because of this, or have difficulty getting out of bed once awake.

They may sometimes talk, laugh, cry, gesture, or make facial expressions as they daydream.

People suffering from this know the difference between daydreaming and reality, and do not confuse the two; this makes them distinctly different from psychotics or schizophrenics.

Daydreaming causes difficulties in their lives, or prevents them from fully functioning in their day-to-day life.

*I CANNOT EDIT THE POLL NOW ... BUT YOU CAN INDORSE THE "I HAVE AS" ITEMS IF YOU HAVE ANY DIAGNOSED ASD (OR PDD AS THEY ARE CURRENTLY CALLED).

Last edited by daydreamer84 on 03 Feb 2011, 7:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Have you heard of "schizoid fantasy?" It's a defense mechanism, not specifically linked to schizoid personality disorder.

I hadn't heard of it...I looked it up. I don't have grandiose fantasies of success though (as described by people who have this defense mechanism). Although it could still be a variation of this defense mechanism....interesting.....

My daydreams are not "as detailed or elaborate as a book or movie" as mentioned in the original quote that I copied. Mine are very repetitive and encompass one detailed "scene" having to do with a topic with which I am preoccupied. Sometimes I imagine slight variations of the one or two scenes but they remain for many years....when I was a child they were all consuming. I shake/twirl a piece of paper pr string in front of my face (it has to be a certain n specific length of paper or string and feel a certain way)...I sometimes get so involved in the dreams that I speak words from them out-loud.

I also had major social impairment (and insistence on sameness, rituals etc) as a child and have been diagnosed with AS. However now I think my social impairment would be sub-threshold.

I was looking at a link someone else provided to this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maladaptive_daydreaming


I wondered if this proposed condition might be related to a sub-set of people with AS.

I have had daydreams - intense, detailed, movie-like, daydreams. I do gesture and stim and talk while daydreaming, although I think the most intense, detailed daydream I ever had was when I couldn't talk and focused entirely on all of the sensory data. But even the others, I can visualize scenes from them and describe them in detail.

I usually daydream when I'm doing something else that keeps me physically occupied, like taking a walk or a bath.

Books, video games, TV shows, movies, all of these can trigger daydreaming. Roleplaying games are a big trigger for me too.

Daydreaming actually helps me clear random thoughts from my head and focus on the creative process. I can plot out entire stories this way (and have). I just need to sell some.

This can and has caused difficulties with daily functioning, but it's not consistent.

I space everything out at times even when people talk to me. It is not something I choose and can be compared to silent seizures. Focusing so much on a certain thing the rest of the world goes away. I do not think it is day dreaming but a concentration. I do this all the time and it can frustrate people. Also there are the time of over-stimulation and then the mind goes into itself so then the people I know that overstimulate this part of my mind know to settle down. I call the person animated and I say he is being to animated right now because it's to much.

Mal-adaptive no. How I am yes!

where's the "I do/do not have AS and no longer suffer from this" in the poll?

Daydreaming is a major part of who I am. I began daydreaming during my childhood around the age of 5 and has only gotten more elaborate, intense and in depth with age. My daydreams could easily be used to write novels or, to be more precise, a novel length fanfiction, as most of the characters in my daydreams are copyrighted characters from established movies and television shows. Whenever I daydream, I always pace around while listening to music.

I looked up schizoid fantasies as a defense mechanism and I agree with what I've read in that I use my daydreams as a means to escape and avoid reality, as well as using the characters in my daydreams (my "imaginary friends") as substitutes for real human relationships.

However, I disagree that it is an "immature" defense mechanism and I also disagree that it is an "addiction". It is quite enjoyable for me and it has served as a wonderful tool that has softened the impact of various hardships in my life as well as preventing me from ever becoming bored.

I get the impression from various psychology articles and society at large that life is only meaningful when you are an integrated member of society with a large social circle. But that seems like a stupid unspoken rule to me. If you are able to function (as in, keep a roof over your head and take care of yourself), if you are not doing any harm to yourself or others, and spending time playing in an imaginary world with imaginary friends is what truly makes you happy, then you are living a meaningful life. Maybe it's not meaningful to others, but it is to you, and that's all that counts.

I chose that I have AS and I suffer from this however I dont feel that it is "suffering". I have done this my whole life, I am now 43. My son also does this and is still in the stage where he acts it out. I still do the gesturing, laughing, smiling and even crying. I have written down some of my "daydreams" and other people seem to enjoy them as well. My "daydreams" play like movies in my head. I dont see what is around me physically because I am no longer there. I can be brought out of it by sounds or someone calling my name. I have very well developed characters and lives and I think it is what has keep me from becoming severely depressed or suicidal in very low times in my life. Its my life raft, so to speak.

I just looked at the link to the Wikipedia definition and I also forgot to mention that listening to music sometimes helps make my dreams more vivid and sometimes can also derail them. It just depends on my mood.

I had never thought there was something with a name to it for an excess of daydreaming, and to be honest it seems a bit pointless, but I definitely fit this.

Sometimes when I am reading/watching tv/whatever I just encounter something that makes me have to get up and go daydream for a while, on impulse, and I can't carry on doing that thing anymore without leaving for a bit. Also for me it is when I have headphones in, either on the bus or when I am jogging/exercising, I completely space out in to it and it is like an addiction in that I crave it somehow. It has got to the point before where I get confused between daydreams and actual dreams and general thoughts and I forget to do things. Sometimes I will even be listening to a song which causes me to have to go and daydream to another song at the same time, ha.

I am not formally diagnosed, but believe that the likelihood of my being an Aspie is extremely high. All these fit me, except for the one about daydreaming in bed. Beds are for sleeping (well, there are other things that are traditionally done in bed, while awake , but you know what I mean!).


I don't think anyone has ever used the word "addiction," but yeah, this is me.
Check.


Check. When we read Walter Mitty stories in, like, 6th grade, I found it odd that his daydreaming was considered odd.


Check. I can spend hours thinking about alternate versions of a scene, exploring different ways it might play out if something was changed.


Check.


Check. Pacing - or just walking while I daydream.


No. I will sometimes use a pleasant daydream to lull myself to sleep, but I don't generally daydream in bed. Besides, if I'm lying down, I can't do the next item in the list - and I do!


Check. Pretty self explanatory, I think


Check.


Check. Unfortunately. I'd prefer not to go into detail.

I'm often in my own world and sometimes feel as if I am dreaming, but I don't think I really "daydream" very much. As in, I don't really have full-blown dreams and fantasies. I just space out and think of not very much in particular. There are also times when I'm lost in thought and I do this.

I do daydream occasionally, but it is not a big deal. I only do it when it's quiet and I have nothing else to do.

I do tend to space out a lot, and it can be a problem, but it's not a daydream. More often I get caught up in thinking about elaborate plans to solve some problem and questions of what would happen if I did sometime. I spend a lot of time thinking about things that I've done wrong or bad experiences that I have had. I think a lot about what I could have done, or what I should have done.

I'm not really a visual thinker. I'm more of a verbal thinker and a problem solver. This is probably why I get caught up in the things that I do. I suppose, if I was more of a visual thinker, I would spend more time daydreaming.

I'm confused. I barely understand what daydreaming even is. I stim and make facial expressions often when I think but I don't know if my thinking is daydreaming.

yes x 10, or alternatively...

Yes, sometimes I take pleasure in re-running a scene and planning a new future system (transport infrastructure for example) in my head. I've lost hours this way. I can have all day to make somewhere and still be late, it's really difficult to snap out of my thoughts

I can't remember when it started
I struggle to read because I get lost in the image painted by what can be as little as one paragrah then subsequently go off on ridiculous thought tangents. If if was written down it would be like the answer to a essay question
Elaborate is an understatement, I've drawn up my own entire finacial budget whilst lying in bed, I remember 'desgining' video games when I was 12 right down to the courses (rally game), menu layout and music (options where displayed on a semi-opaque box, I remember now!). Pity I never did this stuff in real life.
Not sure here, may have paced
I struggle at both ends, we're talking 2-3 hours either side. I've been 3 hrs late for work then virtually shutdown when they've rang me
Yep, I sometimes relive past conversations or plan hyperthetical future ones, re-answer questions.
Reality is disappointly different. My new road system would have to get through a planning enquiry for example
Yep, I've missed Uni, Work, appointments and generally pissed people off because of it. Then when I'm 'active' I'll beat myself up (not litterally) about it

Everything except the part where it's a bad thing. It's absolutely wonderful. It's kept me sane. I write fiction and I want to get it published, so this might even be a money-maker.

Other than that, everything in the OP describes me.

buryuntime, daydreaming is, like... thinking... in a fantasy kind of way. In this specific context, making up stories in your head, and, like, watching them as a movie that you're making up as it goes along, in real-time. Sometimes people will describe it as daydreaming if you're doing something like mentally laying out the plans for some sort of invention, too, though.

I have it moderate during the day and severe at night. Seriously, I find that I just cannot stop daydreaming at night. I like it, so I don't have any desire to get over it. It's great on weekends!