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Post by Babble on Jan 12, 2016 16:20:11 GMT
Wasn't sure where to stick this particular brainworm, but here we go anyway! I've recently been made aware that the way I get 'absorbed' in books/stories/films isn't 'normal' (whatever that is). Basically put, whenever I'm drawn out of the story, for anything up to a couple of hours afterwards real life doesn't feel real - it feels like I'm dreaming, and that my real self is a character in story. In return, while I'm reading, I live the story if you get what I mean? I tried Googling it (of course) to see if anyone else got that, but it just spat out a load of stuff about dissociative disorders. So is this a hyperfocus thing, or a dissociative thing? Or do I just have a very vivid imagination? Any other ADHD'ers out there get 'absorbed' into stories?
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Post by Bee on Jan 12, 2016 18:04:33 GMT
Oh my God! When I read a book I get so 'into it' I feel as if I am the main character and the other characters are my friends. I feel it all so much.
When I was a teenager I read the Darren Shan vampire books. I genuinely got so confused as to who I was. I felt like I had to be careful because the vampaneze (evil vampires) were watching me and it wouldn't be long before a good vampire came and took me away to be with my own kind...
It's actually a little scary to think about it now, because I can't remember quite how strong my belief that I was a vampire was. Definitely strong enough to confuse me for a good long while.
Once I stopped reading them I was fine. Until I read a romance book and was pretty upset with my partner...
I don't read much anymore lol x x
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Post by contrarymary on Jan 12, 2016 18:05:17 GMT
me three
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Post by contrarymary on Jan 12, 2016 18:08:44 GMT
me three not quite so much now, but defo when i ws younger. i would find myself drifing as tho i lived in the book, using the same language etc i also get the same from films or tv things; the things that happen can have a significant effect on my affect (!) ie feelings / mood. i wonder how far this might be a sensitivity thing? and/or linked with autistic traits, which can also inc blurred boundaries between self and not-self (for want of a better word - zonked brain this evening)
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Post by Bee on Jan 12, 2016 18:15:15 GMT
Although it doesn't seem to be EVERY book I read. I think its got to have some I relate to or something I really want. With the Darren Shan books I wanted friends, inclusion and understanding. I knew I was weird so I guess it wasn't too much of a stretch to think I was a vampire! I don't remember being confused about who I am or feeling the need to go on a secret mission after reading the Da Vinci Code x x
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Post by Babble on Jan 13, 2016 9:57:33 GMT
Glad to know I'm not the only one! Ha! I read the Darren Shan books too Bee - my bestie was obsessed with them in high school I don't read books that much either these days, but that's mostly because once I start I can't stop until I finish it, and I don't have that much spare time lol. With me its every book though - I don't tend to read anything that I can't get into properly. I really get into fanfiction for some reason - I'm slightly worried I have an addiction lol. I definitely get the whole 'drifting' thing, contrarymary - films effect my affect too (love it! ), which is why I never watch sad movies! I did wonder about whether there were links to autistic traits (I've seen a few posts on here about the crossovers with add and asd, esp in women).
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Post by clubby on Jan 13, 2016 19:00:34 GMT
I am the same Babble. I only became aware of it recently. I put it down to a form of out of control empathy. A few months ago I was watching a film in which the main character was a very realistic robotic woman. When it finished I went to brush my teeth and I caught myself brushing with the same robotic mannerisms. I seem to absorb the mannerisms of those around me, in stories, films or otherwise. I don't think this is disassociative, just a bit spooky.
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Post by contrarymary on Jan 13, 2016 20:40:32 GMT
I absorb accents really easily, and find myself reflecting the company I keep - except when i stick out like a sore thumb
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Post by Babble on Jan 14, 2016 10:05:57 GMT
I'm the same with accents contrarymary! My parents used to find it hilarious that I could go to Ireland on a school trip for a week, and then come back with an Irish accent lol. After 3 years at a Welsh uni, I started developing a Welsh accent too, which seems to get broader when I get anxious. I got some very weird looks during class presentations Empathy seems a good fit clubby. I keep getting mixed info on empathy and ADD - some people thinks ADDers have less, and some think more. I don't know enough to claim either way to be honest! Probably individual to every person tbh. Definitely could be spooky though
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Post by contrarymary on Jan 14, 2016 12:31:53 GMT
thanks Babble... the annoying thing is, a lot of people think i'm taking the P they don't seem to understand that it's completely unconscious and I generally have no clue I'm even "doing" it
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Post by anopheles on Jan 28, 2016 15:43:06 GMT
When I was a boy, I'd lose myself in tv films. Not so much as an adult. Now, as an aid to sleep to stop circular thought processes, I drift off to different fictional universes and help / improve/ hinder as suits my mood. sometimes I take a companion (Tyrion Lanister, for example) for the ride.
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Post by vagueandrandom on Jan 29, 2016 12:29:50 GMT
I've come back to this thread a few times because of the title (always forget that I've looked before!)
I would say that it's more hyperfocus, not dissociation.
I often experience periods of dissociation - have done since a teenager - and have been diagnosed by psych for it.
It's like feeling that you don't exist in the world with everyone else. . a parallel universe. . I feel that my body is just a carrier for 'me' and 'me' consists of my eyes linked to my brain with an offshoot going down into my chest where there's a painful void. When I walk, it's like the feeling you get when you're riding a horse. . you can feel the muscle and bone, an have a certain amount of control, but it's not a part of you.
That's what it's like for me anyway.
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Post by blaze on Feb 9, 2016 16:31:31 GMT
Dissociation involves forgeting afterwards what you have done- so if you don't remember any of what you have read/ if there's a blank/don't remember where you are or why you are reading or how you got there etc that would indicate dissociation (which is totally normal in some amount) but hyperfocus would involve remembering - atleast as much as normal & not loosing chuncks of time
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Post by anopheles on Feb 9, 2016 17:11:14 GMT
I think dissociation is something I've had a work where I swear blind I have not done something, usually a mistake or 'not best practice' (tedious term)and then proof is shown that I did and I stand there open mouth looking like a lying turkey, so not only has my inattention made me seem incompetent my dissociation makes me look dishonest too. This explains the average work span of three months, I suppose. It could also explain why I sometimes think appointments are completely different times than they usually. I used to argue that I was right and they were wrong. Not so much now! Maybe so or maybe it's just the wonky memory thing?
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Post by vagueandrandom on Feb 10, 2016 12:39:57 GMT
I had an interesting chat about this with my counsellor yesterday because I often get it and can't remember much of my childhood, or indeed, large parts of my life.
Although there have been traumatic things in my life, there wasn't much to worry about in early childhood. I can remember facts, but not feelings.
Getting engrossed in a fantasy world which is provoked by something external: film, book, accent seems more like hyperfocus to me.
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Post by Kathymel on Feb 10, 2016 23:46:02 GMT
I was being assessed for depression a few years back and the counsellor gave me a scrap of many-times photocopied paper with some multiple choice questions on it which seemed to be the only thing she used to make her decision. The fact that I could totally lose myself in books and films was supposed to indicate that I wasn't that depressed.
I didn't argue at the time - what do I know - but I've since realised that those are the only two things that shut up the internal babble. They're literally the only escape when I'm beating myself up internally - and beating myself up internally is the reason why I got depressed in the first place.
I spend a lot of time losing myself in books and films, simply so I don't have to listen to myself.
So, by this reasoning, is this phenomenon part of the scope of ADHD experience, or is it a coping mechanism? Or are we doing different things entirely?
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Post by vagueandrandom on Feb 11, 2016 11:23:54 GMT
Oh yes Kathymel I read a lot. . .and can't stand easy reading ie chicklit or victorian writers (too many words diverting from the narrative) and I read all sorts of genres. I can't get in to a novel at the moment, but have some short stories and am frustrated that a poetry book that I ordered online hasn't arrived yet! (2 whole days!) And I love films, but prefer to see them at the cinema in the daytime (not many people to distract) on my own and I sit near the front, so I can't see the edges. And art. . .the right kind of art does something that I can't explain. . I can't imagine a life without art. . music too. . . All of this takes me away from myself and lingers in my soul for a while. I don't know if it's a coping mechanism or not.
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alien
Member's posted somewhat
Posts: 76
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Post by alien on Mar 23, 2016 14:13:35 GMT
Interesting that so many people here seem to enjoy reading and watching films – common/mainstream sentiment seems to be those with ADHD wouldn't focus long enough to do so.
I'm not sure about the dissociative state thing – sometimes a lot more time can pass than I think has, but I think being absorbed in play is not necessarily a bad thing.
I've definitely witnessed my daughter, who's autistic, become absorbed in both her own world and fictional worlds, which are very real to her.
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Post by marionk on Mar 24, 2016 4:37:56 GMT
When I was a boy, I'd lose myself in tv films. Not so much as an adult. Now, as an aid to sleep to stop circular thought processes, I drift off to different fictional universes and help / improve/ hinder as suits my mood. sometimes I take a companion (Tyrion Lanister, for example) for the ride. These days I tend to think about technical things e.g. building a workshop, or designing my ideal handbag, but I used to do the fictional scenarios thing a lot. So much so, that I even wondered if I could write stories, but when I tried to put any of them on paper I'd keep thinking of/drifing off into variations, and could never decide which would be most likely to sell! I like your idea of taking a companion (rather than finding someone there). I might try that, and give someone a guided tour of one of my imaginary worlds.
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Post by anopheles on Mar 24, 2016 8:53:37 GMT
When I was a boy, I'd lose myself in tv films. Not so much as an adult. Now, as an aid to sleep to stop circular thought processes, I drift off to different fictional universes and help / improve/ hinder as suits my mood. sometimes I take a companion (Tyrion Lanister, for example) for the ride. These days I tend to think about technical things e.g. building a workshop, or designing my ideal handbag, but I used to do the fictional scenarios thing a lot. So much so, that I even wondered if I could write stories, but when I tried to put any of them on paper I'd keep thinking of/drifing off into variations, and could never decide which would be most likely to sell! I like your idea of taking a companion (rather than finding someone there). I might try that, and give someone a guided tour of one of my imaginary worlds. Yes. I like writing too (it's typing, which I can do, that bores me). I just have to accomodate writing into my 'Carousel of Interests' and be ok with taking a longish break when the energy dissapates, as it inevitably does. As for sparking ideas... I find if I write the idea down immediately/speak into a dictaphone then I can 'trick' my mind into thinking I've dealt with the issue.
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frameofmind
Member's not posted much yet
ADHD used to be my prison, now it is my best tool.
Posts: 26
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Post by frameofmind on Mar 24, 2016 15:00:08 GMT
The thing with the stories, Im really glad I got to read them as I realise Im not a weirdo, for two huge reasons:
[1] When you guys talk about how you lose yourself in the book or film. I had such a vivid imagination when i was a younger I remember I could look out of the window and there were elf or pirates or whatever story i was readinf there on the other side of the glass. Now im still slighly inmature but when I read books I personally feel I meet them, not as characters but as real people I though I still had invisible friends or something so I started creating blogs and fanfic. But then it was like i was sending them back to storyland or something. (I feel like writing this im crazy person but Im aching to share and) I started reading bios litelly and Ive come to feel more content as they once where real too and gone further to study filmmaking and create this real visuals in my imagination.
[2] I though that there was something really wrong when, in many ocassions, i leave things in places and i cant even remeber that I left them there and my mother or people say i leave stuff in weird places and messy and i dont even remember. I lost my bike years ago because i left it locked somewhere and something drifted my attention and to this day I dont know where i put that bike, i never seen it again.
I know i sound weird, crazy and stupid but I had to share.
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Post by clubby on Mar 24, 2016 22:35:53 GMT
Hi@frameofmind. You are so lucky to have such a vivid imagination. I don't think it's weird. It is a talent to be channelled.
I have imagination but it is "locked in". I feel it but I cannot see it or hear it. Inside my head is a timebomb of creativity which I struggle to express.
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frameofmind
Member's not posted much yet
ADHD used to be my prison, now it is my best tool.
Posts: 26
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Post by frameofmind on Mar 25, 2016 10:16:16 GMT
clubby. I took the liberty to read your precious post on how you get so absobed into the character that you catch yourself uncconciously acting similarly. it just proves how our bodies and minds are so in sync. so much to the point that we are so creative we embed or accomodate other conciousness. I have felt this way many years now but never shared it out loud for social fear of misplacement. Much like what many think of Ovni and Alien Conspiracy loonies.
If you have Ideas popping around your mind your ACHING to chanalize some way just do it and im sure we can all find a way to help each other organize these ramdomness. Why is it that we must be individuals doing what is more complicated due to our condition when we all can draw from our empathic ADHD Bond to group and do the task. As people with ADHD we really and truelly are like wolfs... stronger in a pack. hence why we seek friends, people who to talk to and that can understand us... we struggle as lone wolfs or as fish in a piranah bank but in our own packs we conquer any field we seek and more even with creativity wich I believe it is our stonger suit.
Lets be creative togather.
By the way here is the link to a bit of a film I made a while back. What do you think???
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Post by clubby on Mar 25, 2016 22:33:30 GMT
Hi frameofmindReally enjoyed your film - it flows really well and looks professional. What would be great for folk on this forum would be for a short film to be made that, involves adult Adhd in all its different forms. Boys like Charlie lose the worst of the jumping about symptoms as they grow up, so the establishment walks away thinking he has grown out of it. Trouble is that the underlying disability is still there. Charlie says, he just does what comes into his mind. There is a balance to be had between "just do it " and "waiting for the stars to line up". This balance does not come instinctively to me, and I am all or nothing. I have to balance my mind manually with constant self awareness, understanding, adjustments and a huge amount of faith. That is, when I remember to do so!
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frameofmind
Member's not posted much yet
ADHD used to be my prison, now it is my best tool.
Posts: 26
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Post by frameofmind on Mar 26, 2016 16:04:49 GMT
That is a great idea that Id love to follow through with. When I was making this piece I learnt a whole lot about the condition as it relates to the best known and treated packet group of adhd:children. But it would be a great path to analyse how this carries on into adulthood or even how some people in adulthood discover their connections and how it changes them. it could be also quite new and experimental to actually treat this film as a video forum made of all of you who want to collaborate wether you have it or not... You are here for a reason... Reading this.
Lets get together online and build this.
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Post by clubby on Mar 26, 2016 17:47:54 GMT
Why not start a new thread about how to represent adult Adhd in a film.
Thinking quickly about it, the results could be very complex but very interesting.
I also liked your idea about following a child through to adulthood.
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frameofmind
Member's not posted much yet
ADHD used to be my prison, now it is my best tool.
Posts: 26
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Post by frameofmind on Mar 26, 2016 19:05:18 GMT
Done check it out.
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