How do I escape from this?

I have this issue as well. Mindfulness can help by learning to be totally present in the moment and in your physical reality. It can keep (or redirect) your thoughts away from your characters.

I do mindfulness, meditation and lots of deep breathing on a regular basis.

I just wanted to chime in to say thanks for this. I have characters in my head too and until now, I thought I was the only one that did this

I thought I was alone as well. It's comforting, although strange, that this is a rather common phenomenon.

Can you ask each one to journal, one at a time? That helps me. Or if I can't get them to do it one at a time, I just note in my journal who is saying what. For some reason getting it written (or typed) helps them calm down.

My T suggested buying a journal for an emotion log, and I bought one for my characters but not sure what to do with it.

I made my first character journal entry!

I'll share because it's goofy.

Characters X and Y sing "Jump in the Line" with Jimmy Fallon with kids instruments

Ha ha! See, it's not all bad things I think about. But to explain what I've mentioned in this thread further, certain songs trigger certain scenes and/or images. "Jump in the Line" by Harry Belafonte triggers a happy and pleasant image of my characters having fun and being goofy. I have a lot of happy songs, and I use them when I feel down to make me feel better or simply because I am in a good mood.

It's important for me to share that I take advice here to heart and I think the character journal is an excellent suggestion. I bought a journal specifically for my characters but wasn't sure what to do with it. Thanks!

Now that I have found an outlet with the journal, do you guys have specifics to make the best use with this character journal?

Today I had no character activity. In housekeeping I had 15 checkouts and 5 stayovers, and I did my very best to hustle, work hard, and stay focused.

Before work I practiced mindfulness and throughout the day I did deep breathing. When a negative thought came to mind regarding my characters, I directed my thoughts to the pleasant dream I had last night where Tommy was my boyfriend. In my dream, I saw him from behind and tackled him and rustled his crazy hair, then he scooped me up and cuddled me and we talked. It was such a nice dream and it filled me with happy thoughts as I cleaned rooms, so when I had doubts I thought back to the dream and reminded myself to stay in the moment.

I wrote the lack of character activity in my character journal, and I think it is important to mention this in my next session with my T.

I'm debating whether I want to keep my characters and control them, or to let them go. When they are happy, they fill me with joy and I feel less lonely. When they are not, it can make me feel tortured and wishing I had a real-life friend.