Hello. From what i've read, it seems like the most important element that defines MaDD is the fact that the excessive daydreaming causes distress or social impairment to people who deal with it.
But i think this definition kinda excludes MaDD introverts. As an introvert, I'm already socially impaired and I'd rather spend every hour of the day alone in my room without any interaction (with family, colleagues, etc...) and i'm also a professional procrastinator. So when I started daydreaming when i was around 10 yrs old after some stressful events, it was a relief to have this new fictional world to help me get along with my life. I had imaginary characters that would fully live my emotions when I couldn't personally deal with them. And the fact that they always find the best way to deal with them kinda helped me cope with my own problems. Their deep interactions/dialogues had really helped me evolve socially.
Yes, I cry over my fictional characters when they are going through deep traumas. Yes, I feel genuine happiness when they are experimenting great moments. As an introvert, i rarely exteriorize my emotions, so the clinical symptoms I deal with are mostly: tears, facial expressions like smiling, expressing disgust. But I don't pace or anything like that.
My characters are 100% fictional and I got nothing to do with them. Their background story hasn't changed for the past 14 yrs, they just deal with different situations everyday like sickness, death, work-related problems, sexual tension, and they often discuss about important social topics like feminism, sexuality, marriage, etc..
I can daydream for hours. Sometimes I keep going back to the same scene and come up with better/deeper interactions between the characters. I get mad when I'm interrupted while daydreaming. And sometimes, I have to quickly change my facial expressions when someone enters my room.
I can get out of my daydream without much difficulty, even if it's sad or disturbing to do so. I can normally watch movies, read books, study, etc... even if i'll daydream for 1-2 hrs while doing so because they might act like triggers to a new scenario in my paracosm. Then I'll just naturally get back to whatever I've been doing.
BUT ....the whole point is that I don't feel distressed because of my excessive daydreaming. It doesn't impact my social life because I never had a social life. SO... can I still consider myself as potentially having MaDD ?????
#MaDD #Maladaptive daydreaming
I’m quite similar as I would not consider myself maladaptive all the time nowadays. Your story is interesting.
Please look at @madd-information for more scientific facts and more answers.
