LIVING INSIDE YOUR HEAD.

[Anonymous]

Hi, id like to ask all of you a question please. I heard social phobics are big daydreamers. They fantasize all the time about being someone powerful and important. They often feel they have the necessary talent to make an impact in this world. Is that your case? Do you live inside of your head too often?

 

[Dill]

I do that all the time.

I can stand in one place for hours and 'Live' in my head. I am therefore a huge daydreamer.

Wander if people think im a zombie or something :lol:

 

[Fredscars]

hmm, ive heard that for a different personality disorder, dillusional paranoid disorder i think it was.
i have to admit i do that alot too. not so much with a specific talent by i day dream constantoly about a differnt life...
i do it so much i find myself forgetting what is real and what is not.

 

[Anonymous]

No, I'm not the dreamer type. I have ambitions and my goal is to do them. I don't wish to be anyone I am not and I do not wish to be any different then I am now. The only thing I need now is to get myself some social skills, but they can be learnt.

 

[applesewer]

OMG! That’s exactly me! I’m just constantly thinking all day. I can’t turn my brain off. I’m always trying to figure everything out, and everything’s internal. I’m in my own little bubble and sometimes things can get a bit dreamlike and unreal. I have to pinch myself sometimes.

But the feeling important thing, well yea, that’s totally me too…but I dunno if that’s an SA thing? Might be! I remember hearing once that people who spend a lot of time alone, often end up thinking they’re someone important or special so maybe that’s why it’s connected to SA. But yea, sometimes I worry about this a bit because sometimes, well actually all my life I’ve felt “special”, and I’ve always had massive ambition and I believe I have a talent, and I’ve always wanted to be one of those “great” people that appear on the news when they die. But I wonder if it’s all a delusion. I wonder if I’ve seen too many Hollywood films and I’m chasing after the wrong dreams. I wonder whether my talent only seems good to me, while to others I seem crap. I’m also very aware of how arrogant this all sounds and I hate that about myself. I know every human being has equal worth, but sometimes I feel like I’ve got such an ego.

I feel arrogant right now, after writing a long post about myself. You don’t have to reply to me! I’m just venting!

But anyway, I’m not too bothered really, cause I love my ambition…I get loads of fuel and happiness out of it.

 

[LilMissTragic]

maybe your mistaking a bit of self confidence with arrogance

 

[Crimefish]

Yes, except: I'm not "powerful and important" in my head, 'cause that's not important to me. I'm beautiful and healthy and I live with my friends instead of being thousands of miles away. And I don't consider it "too often". It's enough to make me happy. I think that's the optimum amount.

 

[ricky]

wow sums me up 2! most of the time im jus ther thinking not noticing wats going on around me, also think wat it would b like if i was sumin every1 looked up to n stuff.

ric xx

 

[Shadow]

Yeah I do that alot. I fantasize about being a different person, although I haven't done it much recently.

I'm always stuck in my head though. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I always tend to think about sometime relating to myself. I'm very self-absorbed. But it has been decreasing since I've been getting treatment. I guess it's because I'm doing more things and giving my mind more of a workout.

 

[Nightshade]

I'm a major daydreamer and always have been. When things are difficult it is really just a lot more pleasant in the world inside my head and it can be difficult dragging myself back to reality. Nonetheless, I never have any difficulty knowing which is the reality part of my life and which is the fantasy.

Having said that, my daydream worlds do not necessarily feature me as a powerful and important person, in fact they seldom do. Some of the fantasy worlds that I have created do not feature me at all, others have one character that has aspects of me and has things that I would like to be, but they are not me, and nor are they someone I would particularly like to be. I don't really want to be anyone else, despite my difficulties.

My daydream world is important to me for another reason. The characters that most "me" in my fantasy worlds are often people who are very kind and caring towards others. In real life, I have often been incapable of (or at least very bad at) things like putting an arm around a crying person or listening to someone's problems or being sensitive and compassionate towards others. This mostly predates any obvious social anxiety problems, and in fact I believe that it is most likely "the way I am" (and in some of my genetic relatives similar traits exist).

I knew that this behaviour was undesirable and dearly wanted to be "nice" and so my fantasy world became a place where I, or at least characters I identified with, could be sensitive and compassionate in the way that I found very difficult. I think that by using the fantasy world I learned to cope better with these situations, and I have actually learned how to do things like put an arm around a friend who is crying, or listen to someone telling me their problems without running away or changing the subject bluntly onto something I would rather talk about.

If I didn't have this fantasy world to help me I don't know how I would have coped.

 

[felix]

I've always been a daydreamer, although I don't do it so much now. When I was younger I could entertain myself for quite a while just by sitting there thinking. I suppose thats quite worrying really.
I do kinda like to think that theres something special about me, but who doesn't? I know that thats just something I want, not something thats true

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I do that alot. I fantasize about being a different person, although I haven't done it much recently.

I'm always stuck in my head though. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I always tend to think about sometime relating to myself. I'm very self-absorbed. But it has been decreasing since I've been getting treatment. I guess it's because I'm doing more things and giving my mind more of a workout.

Which exact type of therapy are u doing?

 

[Anonymous]

i live in my head all the time, even when things are good i've got some little daydream on the go, i've been like it since i was a kid

 

[Anonymous]

everyone daydreams i dont think it has nething to do with a mental illness @ all

 

[pitkreet]

I live in my house.

But this daydreaming lark and thinking you've got great potential and all that - certainly not something unique to us mental cases.

 

[avid_merrion]

maybe your mistaking a bit of self confidence with arrogance

* Avid Aplauds*

I think your right lilmiss people like us need to stop being too hard on ourselves have some faith folks we are all capable of wonderful things all thats needed is some belief within.

 

[Shadow]

Yeah I do that alot. I fantasize about being a different person, although I haven't done it much recently.

I'm always stuck in my head though. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I always tend to think about sometime relating to myself. I'm very self-absorbed. But it has been decreasing since I've been getting treatment. I guess it's because I'm doing more things and giving my mind more of a workout.

Which exact type of therapy are u doing?

Congitive Behaviour Therapy, Talk Therapy and Explosure Therapy. I'm also on medication which helps alot.

 

[Dill]

I guess, we Spers are very self centered.
I still don't understand why the hell we care about peoples thoughts even though they don't care about us.

You know what, If people dont like me , then skrew them.

 

[Anonymous]

they don't think of myself us as much as i do for them...so yep.

 

[Yossarian]

Yeah I daydream alot. There's not much else to do if you don't have a real life. Especially if you have an overactive brain without the talent to cure cancer etc. I certainly don't think I could make a major impact on the world but as for what I dream about. Well there's not much point in daydreaming about being dull or stupid. I like football so I daydream about winning the world cup not going out in the first round etc etc.

Can I ask you some questions Martin C? Is daydreaming about being important/powerful etc just something SP daydreamers do or daydreamers in general? How do we differ? Is our differences if any SP related and how? What's the difference between imagination and daydreaming? For example does a novellist use their imagination or daydream when writing a book?