I was just wondering how much other folks on the board daydream. When I was younger I would even leave my own parties to go for a run and a day dream break. I still love getting off by myself and staring in my own daydreams while walking or riding a bike just to entertain myself and relax. I'll even do it while doing a boring job like washing the dishes.

I'm also curious about what kinds of things other people enjoy daydreaming about and whether meds have changed or ended your daydreaming. And finally do you feel daydreaming enhances or detracts from your life?

I used to daydream a lot; I would just let my mind go, no specific subject. Now on meds I still occasionally do it. Letting my mind go is the reason why I always liked to be by myself.

Letting my mind go is the reason why I always liked to be by myself.Yeah, me too! I tend to enjoy it, but I'm afraid sometimes I isolate myself from involvement with others which isn't so great, especially when those others are my kids.

OMG! Even on meds, I still prefer to be by myself. I too am scared of loving to be a loner, but am trying to join society because it is supposed to be healthy.

I got so used to being by myself that now I find being with other people inefficient.

I think there are different kinds of daydreaming. The kind of "fantasy" daydreaming I don't do so much any more. But I still have my favorite daydreams that I like to engage in every once in a while.

Then there is what I would call the "brainstorming" daydreaming, where you are just letting all sorts of ideas bounce around in your head. That can actually be productive for something other than enjoyment.

Then there is the "zoning out" daydreaming, where you don't realize you were doing it until you "come to."

I don't know if you would include these second two as daydreaming, but I consider them to basically be the same process. I try to set aside time for daydreaming these days. In the shower is a great time. While driving is not a great time. :o

Have you ever had trouble remembering whether something really happened or you (day)dreamed it?

While driving is not a great time. :oNo kidding! I found that out one night when I was driving along lost in my own daydream and I turned my headlights off twice while fiddling with the light switch and didn't realize it until a ways down the road!:eek:

Have you ever had trouble remembering whether something really happened or you (day)dreamed it?Yes, lots!:rolleyes: Pretty frustrating and more than a little disconcerting!

Speaking of driving and being spaced out: Once I was on a parking lot looking for my car and was having a hard time finding it, only to realize that I was DRIVING it!


Regardless, I am a better driver when I am by myself; when there are other people in my car, they need to tell me when to turn, etc.

One of my favorite quotes reads, "A dream is a goal with a deadline."

I thought I was the great pretender when I was a child. I daydreamed very often and halfway believed that if I dreamed something enough that it would become real. I did it innocently and at the time it was a wonderful escape from boredom. Later in life I felt like my mind was prisoner to daydreaming and was always having movies of the mind. I constatntly (still do) acted out scenarios in my mind with mental pictures and talk to myself in my head (not verbally through my mouth) but with mental voice. It's like having a television in my mind that never shuts off. It has affected my life greatly and I don't feel like I connect well enough with the present moment to fully absorb the world around me. After experimenting with various ADD medications, I learned that some would temporarily turn off the television in my head and I could better focus on the present moment. Once tolerance developes, usually within a couple of weeks, the mental radio seems to come back, but not as bad. I now take ADD drugs on an off and on basis, which has seemed to work well for me. I've tried meditation before, but never stick with it long enough to know if it will benefit me or not. I gain some benefit by being more aware that I daydream way too much and try harder to focus on the now.

Im always telling my stepson,"dont you know how to pretend?"I would spend hours,I never got bored,who could with all the thoughts and ideas in my little noggin.It became a problem as a adult,now on meds I dont unless I want to.That feels really good too.

When my 6 year old daughter would come in from running in the yard and tell me she was making up movies in her head, I knew just what she meant. Just a chip off the old block!;)

Curiously enough, I used to daydream constantly. But with the meds I'm on I don't seem to anymore. At least not nearly as much. I still get easily distracted and my mind is always working (I have more inventions in my head than I can ever complete!) but the fantasy aspects are pretty much gone. Maybe I don't need to escape as much?

Craig

Speaking of driving and being spaced out: Once I was on a parking lot looking for my car and was having a hard time finding it, only to realize that I was DRIVING it!


Regardless, I am a better driver when I am by myself; when there are other people in my car, they need to tell me when to turn, etc. HAHAHAHA! Sorry, it feels good to know that someone else has done something similar to what I've done and to know I'm not such a total airhead.

I have 2 different cars, a wagon for hauling things like big boxes and a regular fancier car. Well one time I knew I had to drive my wagon up to someones house to pick up a large TV. Well without even thinking about what I was doing, I jumped in my regular car that I'm so used to driving. I didn't even realize I was driving the wrong car untill I was miles down the road! :eek: Yeah, that was real humiliating and made me pretty angry at myself. I had to drive all the way back, get into the other car and drive all the way back again.

Also how many times have you been looking for a pencil or something of the like and realized you were holding it in your hand? We ADD types always look at the deep things first and glance over the obvious. :)

That's one of the primary attractions of running for me - that I can daydream without interruption for nearly an hour. I do have to make sure I alwas run the same route so I don't get lost, though. :p

I can *so* relate to the temptation of leaving a party to do that, LOL!

My husband sometimes complains that my mind is never on the mundane tasks I do - like washing the dishes. I admit it is very difficult for me to do those kinds of tasks without lapsing into a thought-surfing session.

When I started meds, the daydreaming decreased notably. However, it's still a huge part of my life. It sometimes detracts from my quality of life - I need to be sure I am not zoning on my kids when they are telling me about their school day, or when I need to listen during a meeting. But there are enormous compensations: I get neat ideas, the daydreams turn themselves into short stories that basically write themselves (I write short stories as a hobby), and I never really get bored - I have a full-screen TV playing movies in my head whenever I want to tune in and watch them.

I am not certain yet if my children have it, but have my suspicions about my older daughter. Once when I asked her to please stop daydreaming and pay attention, she answered, "But Mom, daydreaming is *so much fun!*"

I have situational daydreams all the time. I commute about 35 miles to work and I love it. it gives me me plenty of time to consider possible outccomes to all sourts of things. Of course I "see" the situation as it unfolds and I occassionally rewind and change the outcome.
Thank goodness it's a straight road. I often don't remember half of the major landmarks by the time I get home. But generally there's not enough traffic to distract me from my thoughts.

I had a ton of imaginary friends as a child and thought everyone did and talked to and for them. I liked being able to have that creative control. My husband still doesn't understand that I can't watch or hear certain graphic things because they keep showing up in my mind.

I daydream all the time
it's what gets me through my boring job and through the drive to work and through my nights of not sleeping.

When I was a kid I used to daydream all the time...I like to daydream with music. I guess I wish life could be like the movies and have theme songs with what goes on durning the day...would be cool...

I have 3 other sisters but I would much rather play alone when i was little then with them...cause i could talk to my dreams in my mind....I LOVED taking naps cause I would lay there for the whole hour or whatever and just dream away on whatever I wanted....when i'd get into trouble my mom would put me in a corner or my room (sometimes) she realized it wasn't a punishment for me cause i never wanted to leave...just sit/stand there and "space out" hehe :)

I still daydream about life, about silly things and about problems the outcome of stuff.....I love it and even when/if I get on meds I still want to have that part of me...its ME and very important to me.

Okay the whole driving around the parking lot was FUNNY!!!! I do that with my glasses...i'll look around the whole house and turn it up side down just to push them up on my nose cause they are sliding down...then realize 10min later that i pushed my GLASSES up...silly me!!

Yeah, me too! I tend to enjoy it, but I'm afraid sometimes I isolate myself from involvement with others which isn't so great, especially when those others are my kids.

I isolate sometimes too.

I sometimes prefer my day dreams to anything. I usually day dream a sad or tragic event turning into a wonderful experiance. It usually has to do with the two things I have the most trouble with and that is money and love.

I daydream almost 24/7..I can't stop, I don't know how. Even when I try not to, I discover 10 minutes later that I wasnt in reality all that time... I have given up trying. Im either addicted to it or just lack the ability to not, not sure which.

I have to wonder though, since daydreaming gets so many of us through the more boring bits of time like commutes, do non-adders have the benefit of being lost in a dream during those times too? Obviousy they do daydream but do they just autmatically fall into it like we do or are they aware that its a good way to pass boring time? For me its not a choice whether I want to daydream during those times..my mind is ALWAYS somewhere else, is it completely up to the non-adder whether they do or do they just kind of fall into it as well?

How much daydreaming goes on in the mind of a non-adder?

For me its not a choice whether I want to daydream during those times..my mind is ALWAYS somewhere else, is it completely up to the non-adder whether they do or do they just kind of fall into it as well?

How much daydreaming goes on in the mind of a non-adder?Good question -- I've wondered the same. I'm with you I don't have much choice in that I have to be thinking about something or I quickly get anxious and if I don't find a topic soon, depressed. If I don't have some daydreaming time, I tend to get uptight and have a hard time functioning at my best -- I think it's like my mental vacation from the constant assault of thoughts and worries.

Scattered

I use to daydream often when I was younger, but after my wife kept saying that I wans't paying attention to her while she was talking, I swithed to games. Now I play various PC Games that grab my imagination. If it doesn't then the game is boring or slow.

My wife now let me play games without complaining as long as I listen to what she says and don't spend to many hour behind the PC.

I use to daydream often when I was younger, but after my wife kept saying that I wans't paying attention to her while she was talking, I swithed to games. Now I play various PC Games that grab my imagination. If it doesn't then the game is boring or slow.

My wife now let me play games without complaining as long as I listen to what she says and don't spend to many hour behind the PC.
Hey Cliff -- welcome to the forums! I'm glad you and your wife have found a solution that works for both of you!:)

I am a very frequent daydreamer. A lot of time I will daydream while driving ( :o not good. :cool: ) I do believe that I need meds. :faint: