By Autumn Sherman
This month’s blog article explores the relationship between the act of journaling and Maladaptive Daydreaming from the perspective of one of our volunteers.
Ever struggle with the ability to get ideas out of your head? Maybe creative ideas, or something you wanted to tell someone? Your mind is moving too fast to keep anything still enough to say aloud. Journaling is a very popular way to get thoughts out of a fast-moving mind. But how do you journal? What do you put on the paper?
How to Start
Journaling is a process of getting thoughts out of your mind and into physical space. Putting them on paper or typing them into a document. Journaling is giving those thoughts a space to exist outside of yourself. Choosing what thoughts to move into the physical space is easier than you may think. Instead of staring at the blank page with a too fast mind, you can start with a prompt and then let your mind lead you to whatever wants to get out.
If you get stuck with prompts and are still unsure what to write down, I often start by writing the titles of books currently on my nightstand and my general thoughts on them. Starting the process regularly begins to train your brain to let go of thoughts and let them move into the physical world.
Why?
So we have a plan and ideas for how to get the thoughts out. Why should you do this, though? Why does journaling help? And how can it help with daydreaming? If your mind’s constantly running a million miles an hour with daydreams, getting your big thoughts out can slow down your mind and help to lessen or soften the daydreams. Taking a few minutes in the morning, before turning on background noise or starting your day, to fill a page in a notebook with whatever you’re thinking of will help start your day with a clearer mind and with less to wander about. If you’re not sure what to write in the morning, or before trying to be productive, write down your daydream plans or current plot. Having it on paper gives you an easier option to return to it later, and lets you think about other things now.
How does it help with MD?
How can you use journaling to help control daydreams? I have a daydream character I often rant to. I let my emotions out to him, and we talk through whatever is going on in my life to help me process the emotions. This means I immediately get pulled into daydreams every time I’m faced with heavy emotions or am involved in complicated events. Getting these heavy emotions into a notebook means I can rely on my daydream character less and myself more.
If you also have a daydream character you use for emotional regulation, try writing them a letter instead of talking to them. Get your emotions out without going all the way into your head. Pretend that the character is away, on vacation or at work, and they can’t talk right now. This fulfills your mind’s desire to go to that character without getting fully pulled into a daydream.
Journaling helps clear your mind and get your complicated thoughts, emotions, and daydreams into a physical space where you can outwardly look at and process them.
It also gives you the option to put something aside to come back to later, without worrying about forgetting it.
Journaling: a true resource for maladaptive daydreamers
In short, journaling is a powerful tool to manage the overactive mind and lessen the hold of Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD). By writing down thoughts, emotions, and even daydream plots, you give them a physical space outside your head. This externalizing process helps slow down your mind, clears your thoughts, and reduces your dependence on daydreams for emotional processing, allowing you to put things aside and return to them later with greater ease.Not sure how to