Welcome to my Disaster Glad You Could Come

Icon by @artsying-ifer, MaDD flag by @neopronouns | Just your friendly neighborhood maladaptive daydreamer | Sideblog where I post about MaDD (likes and follows from @darkgriffin5785) | I would be more than happy to talk about MaDD with people so don't be afraid to ask questions! | Call me Ash or Asher | She/her/any | ace/grey-aro |

[madd-information]

hey so, i just wanted to ask if it's normal for people with MADD to get angry (i.e to snap at someone, getting upset) when interrupted during daydreams?

Not only normal, it’s number six in the symptom domain of the diagnostic criteria. https://www.somer.co.il/images/MD/MD_diagnostic_criteria.pdf

[madd-information]

Is there some sort of checklist to know whether or not you have MADD? Like, whether or not it be official, just the main boxes to tick to see if you've got it?

There is the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16). It’s a tool used by researchers to screen for MD. Scoring high means probable MD.

Here’s a link https://daydreamresearch.wixsite.com/md-research/measures

Keep in mind though, that it was meant to be administered by clinicians, it’s not meant to be used for self diagnosis. It can only give you an idea of where you might fall. 

That link will take you to the ICMDR, which is a fantastic resource full of academic articles and resources. While you’re there take a moment to look through them and learn more about Maladaptive Daydreaming. 

Maladaptive daydreaming measures | ICMDR

The MDS-16 (Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale) in your language and other diagnosis tools

[headinthecloudsagain-deactivate]

bitches really create an entire fantasy world with fake family inside their head because they wanna simulate the feeling of being loved and cared for unconditionally🙄

…it’s me. i’m bitches.

[heartofdaydreams]

Hey I've been wondering if I was a maladaptive daydreamer for years now and I just found your blog, I'm not sure what paracosoms (hope I spelled that right) are, could you explain if you're feeling up to it please?

Yeah of course! A paracosm is a universe in which your daydream takes place. Some people refer to all their paracosms together as a paraverse. Some people only have one paracosm.

Some other terminology you might come across:

Para: a character in your daydreams

Verit/veritbond: a para you have a deep emotional connection with, moreover rhan other paras

Paravain/parain: a para who is a villain

[its-driving-me-madd]

madd is like okay spend three hours deciding what kind of peanut butter is their fav but create an extremely explicitly violent traumatic backstory in .2 seconds

[juliamccartney]

unpopular opinion but if i got the opportunity to get rid of my maladaptive daydreaming i would do so in a heartbeat

[madd-information]

I assume I have Maladaptive Daydreaming, but I have know way of knowing for sure. I read that it's a coping mechanism for severe trauma, but Nothing super severe has ever happened to me. Could I still have it?

Yes, you could. About a quarter of MDers report a history of trauma, the other three quarters do not.  There are many paths to developing MD, trauma being only one of them. 

[madd-information]

Is there a cycle for maladaptive daydreamers like there is for other disorders (i.e. OCD)?

Do you mean something like this? 

Associated paper.

[headinthecloudsagain-deactivate]

another day, another slightly paracanon-divergent, super self indulgent five minute scene inspired by some random show that will inevitably become an entirely different paracosm 🤡

[paracosmaryfaerie]

here’s a madd/id problem i haven’t whined about before:

trying to read a book because you fucking love reading books but every sentence triggers you to start daydreaming.

[id-daydream]

TLDR; do research before accepting that you have a disorder

Friendly reminder to not just accept you have something (such as maladaptive daydreaming disorder in this case) because you saw one post/tiktok/video that you somewhat relate to, but actually take your time to do research on the disorders. It’s okay to not be able to identify with something because you aren’t qualified too! It doesn’t make you special to have this label and it doesn’t make you special to not have it.

Simply put, unless you have actual symptoms of MaDD, you can’t identify as having it, and that’s okay! You don’t need a disorder or mental illness to look “cool” or “quirky” because at the end of the day, it really isn’t. They’re supposed to be seen as negative and people who have it see them as negative as well. It’s okay to just label yourself as a daydreamer when the only reason you daydream is for fun and it doesn’t impact your life negatively, you don’t need a “fancy” label for it to make you seem “special” since it already shows you’re creative.

MaDD, meanwhile,is a disorder and it shouldn’t be flaunted around like it’s regular daydreaming since it actively harms the MaDD communities efforts to have it recognized! Just do the research, it’s easy to see when something that you relate to, is actually far from relatable. Help stop the spread of misinformation!

[bubblesarecute-deactivated20220]

is it hard for you to listen to new music too? Like you already know the lyrics to the current ones and have a daydream revolved around it, so new music doesn't really excite you? Just me?

[dizzociating]

the thing is, i’d still be horribly depressed, extremely isolated, detached from reality, constantly dissociating, completely unmotivated, neglectful of my health & basic needs, and just overall miserable even if i didn’t have madd.

with the way my mental health is, and considering what my living situation is like, “healthy daydreaming” really can’t exist for me. but no daydreaming at all would leave me much worse off. 

it’s like my mental illnesses are all people that i’m stuck in a room with and they just constantly take turns beating the shit out of me but madd is the only one that comes back at the end of each day with an asprin and a cup of tea and apologizes for kicking my ass.

of course it would be nice to only have 9 instead of 10 people beating me up every day. but i don’t know what i’d do or how i’d survive without that one small moment of relief.

[madd-fujoshiteko]

Any other madder has a "time distortion"?

Like

You DO remember what you have done today

But you remember it like it happened days ago

[celestialmadd]

My process of (trying to) study:

*stop pacing, sit down and turn on music to study*

*study for 5 minutes*

*sing along to songs*

*BEEP BEEP DAYDREAM IDEA*

*spin in chair and daydream*

*suddenly realize I'm not studying anymore*

*proceed with studying*

*repeat*

I'm embarrassed that I'm not even exaggerating this

[c-ptsdrecovery]

(Seen on FB)

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE. 

When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.

I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.

“What are you struggling with?” he asked.

I gestured around me and said “I dunno man. Life.”

Not satisfied with my answer, he said “No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?”

I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it.

I wanted to have something more substantial.

Something more profound.

But I didn’t.

So I told him, “Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.”

I felt like an idiot even saying it.

What kind of grown ass woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with *actual* problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes?

But my therapist nodded in understanding and then said:

“RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.”

I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.

“Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares?! Rules do not exist, so stop giving yourself rules.”

It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.

That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times.

I felt like I had conquered a dragon.

The next day, I took a shower lying down.

A few days later. I folded my laundry and put them wherever the fuck they fit.

There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.

Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry.

But at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:

THERE ARE NO RULES.

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE!!!

(by Kate Scott 2018)

[celestialmadd]

Hey daydreaming peoples. Very serious question.

When you're daydreaming at night do you daydream with the lights on or off?