Aislingean An Latha

Q1: my daydreams are about...

The options are "things that make me feel good at the time" "detailed stories and feelings" "money, sex, life"

Immediate issue for me is that all my daydreams make me feel good at the time, usually my daydreams are based around whatever gives me the biggest kick of intense emotions. These aren't always positive emotions but it feels good to feel them. And they are always very detailed and emotional. Also, it doesn't ring true for me but someone could easily have detailed emotional stories about money/sex/life that make them feel good. But you can only pick one of these options, and one of them is seen as being more indicative of MD, which doesn't make sense.

Q3: do you often create characters and give them detailed backstories

The variety of experiences with MaDD and the source of characters in daydreams is far too varied for this to be any sort of determining question in whether someone has MaDD. Some people do make up entire casts of characters, but some people dream about already existing characters, some people daydream about real life people. Two people could both definitely have MD and answer this question completely different

Q5: have you ever felt like you can visualise your fantasies in real life

This is honestly just a very confusing question and I have no idea what they mean by "visualise in real life". Its very common for MD daydreams to be set entirely in a fantasy or fictional world so how exactly would they be visualised "in real life"? The thing that distinguishes MaDD from SCZ is that we are aware our daydreams dont actually exist, they are firmly located in the mental realm, MDers are more likely to dissociate and block out the world around them than to see their daydreams within the real world

Q7: do others call you a daydreamer

Like I said in the original post, this relies on knowing how other people describe you, this is particularly difficult for people who aren't very social, and not being very social is one of the main characteristics of MaDD. Additionally, a lot of MDers will keep their daydreaming habits well hidden and only really done in private. For the times we do daydream in public, we'd probably be more likely to be described as "spacey" or zoned out than "a daydreamer".

What if you couldn’t dream anymore. How hurtful would it be to you?

The answers to this question were "it would be very hurtful", "it would be not very pleasant", and "it would kill me"

These are ridiculous answers, not only is one question poorly worded ("it would be not very pleasant"? Just say unpleasant), but two of the answers could essentially be perceived as having the same meaning, "it would be hurtful to me" "it wouldn't be pleasant". As for "it would kill me" its just far too dramatised. The fact this is most likely seen as one of the most positive indicating answers in this question means it implies that to truly have MaDD you must be borderline suicidal over your daydreams, to the point that you may actually die if you weren't able to do it. "I'd feel like im going to die" would be a better answer here but even then its still way too dramatic, it sounds like something you'd see in a buzz feed quiz, not whats supposed to be a fully MDS based quiz.

Would you rather have enough time to dive into your fantasies instead of going out or working?

This question is okay but I still feel like there's too much vagueness and room for variability in that question, which the answers obviously don't allow for. For me personally I'd like to have the time to do all the things I want to do. Id like to have time to daydream and get work done and go out and see people. I dont have that time though, and whether I'd pick a daydream over other obligations depends on the intensity of the daydream and what the other obligation is.

Q11: Would you like to live in a simulator that allows you to create your reality?

Just felt like a pretty bizarre question to me, I'm aware some people would rather live in their daydreams than real life but my daydreams dont really involve me most of the time, so how would being in a simulator even work? Besides I like the control i have over the events within the daydreams, this wouldn't really work in a simulator. And I dont personally hate every part of my life, I would never want to actually entirely give up my real life for my daydreams

Q13: How sad or mad are you when someone interrupts your daydreaming?

This is just another one where the answer is too complicated for a simple yes or no, the simplest answer i could give is "it depends" but that wasn't an option on this quiz.

Q14: Have you ever lied to others so you could have time to daydream?

I honestly just don't have good enough memory for this one, it could use a "dont know" answer option

Do you think daydreaming stops you from working or studying?

This one was difficult for me bc while my daydreams dont usually stop me working, they have interfered at times. The issue is that there are other factors that stop me working, so if im not working in the first place then daydreams can't really stop me from working. (For example, I have adhd, and tend to put any work or projects off until the last minute because I cant motivate myself to do them until that point, so even if I daydream during this period, its not the daydreaming that stops me from working)

Have you ever missed an opportunity in your life due to your fantasies?

I really didn't know how to answer this. I dont know what opportunities its referring to, I assume it means like job promotions or going to college or a big relationship or whatever but I havent had many big opportunities in life. I got into university but I dont think it had anything to do with my daydreaming or lack thereof. I didnt do amazing in school but I did well enough to get into to uni on a lowered grade offer (bc I come from a poor area). So really I was just lucky there. And I havent had any proper jobs or relationships so no missed opportunities in that respect.

Q19: Do you consider daydreaming as something similar to therapy?

No because I'm a psychologist and I know very well that a coping mechanism isn't the same as therapy and in general nothing maladaptive is similar to therapy, maladaptive and therapeutic are practically antonyms. I see what this question is going for but the way they asked it is terrible.

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