Did you have an imaginary friend when young?

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Ahh, ok.

It's very hard to describe (and understand others discriptions of) such matters of thought.

Is that considered an imaginary friend or is that something different altogether?

This post is my longest one ever, so if you don't want to read it, you don't have to.

I am 13 and I still have an imaginary friend. I found her right after I started to go to preschool. I tried to make real friends, but I couldn't because no one wanted to be around me and they had a good reason: if I asked them to play with me and they said no, I would badger them, then try to persuade them, then intimidate them. At this point I would be really frustrated (I have spent a considerable amount of my childhood being frustrated), and would throw a temper tantrum and become very mean and violent. And no one my age cared. They didn't seem to have any concern for me. So I made up my own friend, Iris, who is now 11 or 12 and is my avatar. She helped me to become more disciplined by listening to my problems and suggesting things that greatly helped me. The temper fits gradually faded, and now I do not have them often.

Anyway, during my later preschool and kindergarden years, everything was fine. I made friends and still managed to associate with Iris, whom other people in my grade befriended Iris and didn't think I was perverted for having an imaginary friend. I moved to Missouri to go to kindergarden.
Kindergarden was one of my best years in school because of the freedom. And because I occasionally did bad things and didn't get in much trouble. I loved it.

Then in first grade, everything changed. I didn't have the same friends in my class who liked Iris, and apparently, these people in my class had matured since kindergarden and thought I was a lunatic. I got mad at them and the temper fits came back strongly and I got in lots of trouble for the little bad things I had done last year and did this year. Iris tried to calm me, but it didn't work anymore. I hated it and I disliked 2nd grade as well which was even worse. The teacher there was very nice but she did some really mean things to me and I got in trouble again.

But the next summer and all the summers after that I went to Camp Kodiak, a special camp in Canada for kids with Asperger's and other disabilities. I improved my behavior there with Iris there to help me. Then came third grade, and even though we had a very frustrated teacher, I wasn't very scared. I managed to have a great year, and Iris was always there, even through the horrible events that happened the next year.

4th grade was great. We had computers inside our desks and we had to work with a partner on the computer for a quarter school year. All my partners were great, but not as great as the last quarter when I worked by myself with a laptop, and I had Iris as a partner. But on Tuesday, March 11, 2002, something happened that changed my life forever.

I was sexually harrassed by a babysitter. He did a horrible thing to me and I will not go into detail, thank you very much. I was scared and intimidated by him. He threatened to make up a terrible lie to my parents if I told about what he did to me and then he said he would have his revenge. I asked him to leave my room and talked to Iris, who in turn, told me to tell my mum and dad when they got home. I did tell. A bit too early though. I missed school going to a psychiatrist and to the Children's center. We hired a detective from there to get the babysitter to apologize. Iris and my parents helped me in my time of stress.

It took more than 1 year. He did not confess and apologize until near the end of my 5th grade year. I was 12 years old. 5th grade was probably even better than Kindergarden. I tried going to a catholic school and tried to skip to 6th grade, but I hated that school so I went back to Seneca. At camp I met my ex-girlfriend Brigit. I had lots of fun acting in plays and learned quite a bit during that year. I made friends and was voted "Most likely to Succeed" in my class. And Iris was still there to help me. I loved it more than Kindergarden.

All of that changed in middle school. Although I was the fastest typist (which is amazing because I type slowly), and the spelling bee champion, and National History Day medalist, but I was very annoying and lost all my friends, who are mostly acquaintances, except for Iris, who was still there for me and helped me, even though I was buried in homework and had other problems.

Now I am in 7th grade and have a fewfriends, but they are all in 6th grade. Brigit broke up with me because she thought she was too young to go out. And she was right.

Now it's just me and Iris as best friends. We endured a lot together and had lots of fun together. I hope we never are apart.

Gee, I talked a lot tonight! I hope I haven't taken too much of your time. Thank you for reading. Tee hee!

Chris

No problem, Chris, that was interesting.

I sometimes get this image of Jesus welcoming me to Heaven, saying "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," and seeing in Him all the images of the stuffed dog "sentients" thaat I made in my hed. Because I sort of see them now as just gifts from God to help me through things. But, Iris may be an even better example of how the Lord does work for those who put their trust in Him to forgive them. And, I can just see Jesus saying that He was with you all along through Iris.

Sorry, don't mean to preach again, but I guess hearing things like this just makes me think about my True friend. I might even make a good minister with handicapped and special needs people, who knows.

I don't remember having imaginary friends, but I do have imaginary conversations all the time. Friends, videogame characters, my psychologist...whoever pops into my head when I feel like talking and there's no one around.

hate to say it, but I did indeed have an imaginary friend. it was the big cottonwood tree out in our back pasture. we talked, and I got upset when it wouldn't talk back ... still, we had long convos on all the vital topics of the day ...

I didnt have an imaginery friend.

But i did act out a lot of "scenarios" like i was in a movie. I used to talk to wall or something. But i think it was different from an imaginary friend, i wouldnt have some kind of general conversation like a real person was there, i would just act out things cos i loved acting.

That made me a very good actor i think, my drama teacher in school really encouraged me to carry on, but my parents wouldnt let me to take Drama, so it all stopped there.

I do this daily, even in public without thinking about who might be watching. My drama teacher thinks I'm a natural actor. Now all I have to do is actually turn in my work and I won't almost be failing the class.

Is that "typically" related to SA and not to madness to make imaginary friends ?

I had numerous imaginary friend within my life and at a certain point (12years) i thought i was mad because of this and number of other strange behavior. Unfortunnaly i tryed to stop to act this way but this is on top of me and thouses pratices come back quickly in a form or another.

It seems the more i read others asperigian texts, the more i find within others, thouses "strange" behavior that had been mines for years.
Not that i am less affraid of what i am but in a sens i get a little more trust about myself. I just get the hard feeling that i am really more different than other, than i could have ever thought.

Having an imaginary friend is not a sign of madness. It's only a problem if it interferes with "functioning", as they call it; such as, when an imaginary friend urges you to beat up someone, and you fell compelled to do it.

There are lots of things nowadays that you had better not tell a psychiatrist, but aren't dangerous.

Me too! I always have imaginary conversations with people. I think it started cuz I was so uncomfortable talking to people if I hadn't rehearsed how the conversation would go beforehand. Now I tend to fixate on people and if ever there's a person in my life (new friend, potential boyfriend, psychologist, now people on this message board.... ) I start talking to them in my head. I even do it when I'm in public and I can't always keep from moving my lips or whispering the conversation. People probably think of me as the crazy girl on campus who talks to herself, but I do it subconciously now.

I never had imaginary friends. My son did, however... a Meer cat (sp?) named "Hargar". I don't know where he got that, but Hargar was around for several years.

-Eva

I've had imaginary friends pretty much all my life....

When I was I think only 3 or 4, my imaginary friends were Frosty the Snowman (from the Christmas special) and Winnie the Pooh. When I got to be about 6, my imaginary friend was ET (the little alien guy from the movie) and Orbie (another alien character from this Canadian kids' program called "Katie and Orbie" - it's really cute and kinda like "Lilo and Stitch" for preschoolers).

At the age of 9, my imaginary friend was Randall from Monsters, Inc...I've always thought he was cool and never felt ashamed for liking a character everyone thought was "the bad guy." Randall was always nice to me, anyway.

As I got older, my imaginary friends were the movie and TV characters I liked: Finding Nemo characters, Chicken Run characters, Lilo and Stitch, and of course, the characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (I mean, what could be more appropriate?) My favorite one was Wilt.

I also have imaginary stuffed animal friends, too - I have this collection of dolphin plushies that I used to talk to; "Dory," my favorite one, being the one I talked to most, and many others, like my Littlefoot, Stitch, and Chicken Run plushies.

My parents remember that when I was a toddler, I would have tea parties with my stuffed animals - a dog, a rabbit, an Ernie, etc. in my playpen.

When I was 14 and poised on the brink of entering high school, my imaginary friends became the characters from the "Cars" movie...a traumatic event happened to me around that time and went on for about 3 weeks, and my only comfort was my small collection of Cars die cast toys....I'd take them up to my loft bed and just unload my troubles onto them. I have literally a ton of them now (been collecting since 2006) and yes, they have gone to college with me. They're my imaginary friends now, too. Mater, Sally, and The King were the ones I'd always seek comfort from first. Sometimes Luigi, too, since he was my first Car I found.

My mother was forever concerned that I didn't have "real friends" and that I desperately needed to have social opportunities. I really never saw what all the fuss was for - my imaginary friends actually taught me more about what real friendship is than my interactions with "real people" have. For instance, when I was friends with ET and Orbie appeared and wanted to play with us, I went to my mom (prior to her patience with my Imaginary Friends having reached its utter end) and said to her, "Mom, Orbie wants to be my friend too, but I don't want to give ET up." Not bothering to ask just who ET and Orbie were, she told me, "Well, they can BOTH be your friends - you'll have more fun that way." Never before had that occurred to me, but, she was right! You see, all the relationships I'd had with my peers up to that point had been riddled with possessiveness, hierarchical structures, and a lot of "She's OUR friend (referring to me) and you can't play with her!" and "If you play with them, you can't play with us!" etc. If that was the sort of petty, childish garbage that my mom wanted me to pick up from having "real friends," then.....I can't even.

In addition to my die cast Cars, my other imaginary friends are Susie (the little Car from the classic Disney toon that inspired "Cars" in my avatar) and Holloway. Holloway is a small, rather chibi - fied version of the late real - life actor Sterling Holloway. During his lifetime, Sterling Holloway was this really sweet guy with a soft, soothing voice, who was friendly to everyone he met, but at the same time had a rebellious streak...he's quoted as saying once, "I'm very stubborn...I just want to do what it is I want to do." Me too, man, me too. I'd been drawing Holloway since I was about 12, and he's evolved a lot over the years while I tried to capture the essence of the real - life guy, but now, I think he's been perfected. I can hear him talking if I concentrate hard enough. He and Susie sort of serve as parent figures...that is, ones I can still tolerate, being 20 yrs old.

Yes, and not just one, I had a whole crew of imaginary friends when I was in elementary school. I would talk with them when alone, and when I was stuck with nothing to do for a long time, I would imagine us all going off on adventures together. Our group dynamic was almost akin to the "sentai soldier" genre of Japanese anime and live action shows such as Power Rangers, since each one of my imaginary teammates had a specific ability and identified with a specific color.

Anyways, that was all way back when. However, I do still have an imaginary friend of sorts; it's actually more like an visualization of my inner self that I speak to at times, since there are times where it helps me to think things through by discussing it out loud. Ever since I played the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games, it's taken the form of Izanagi, the Persona used by the protagonist in Persona 4 that is based off of the Shinto deity of the same name (believed to be one of two responsible for the creation of Japan). I got my hands on a Persona 4 tarot deck replica that has the card images from the games, and now I carry around The Fool card at all times, and I can visualize Izanagi appearing by looking at it. To the outsider it looks like I'm talking to the card but hey, whatever works.

I don't remember having imaginary friends