Is it OK for an adult to have an imaginary friend?

I think I have an imaginary friend. I talk to him a lot, sometimes even out loud.

Is this crazy? He is based on a real person though, so he is half real half imaginary.

I had a very active imagination as a child and would rather imagine things than play with friends.

Hello Greenleaves,

Welcome to PC It's up to you who your friends are I doubt you would be judged on that here.

Looking forward to seeing you in the forum,

Rhiannon

I know for a fact you are not alone, I do the exact same thing, I've done it since I was a child. Except I fantasise about a different life usually as well (although sometimes here with me). I prefer it to real life, it is more reality to me than reality.

Hehe, thanks for the welcome, but I've been on PsychCentral for over 5 years. I just don't post much. I mostly lurk.

I prefer my fantasy world to real life too.

I searched on the web about adults having imaginary friends and didn't find much info.

I think my imaginary friend helps me cope with life and keeps me from being lonely.

You and I are very alike, instead of making up imaginary friends however I just use my dog and talk to him for him when I talk to him

I agree 110%, I'd go even more insane than I already am if it wasn't for it all. I can go from flipping out to completely fine in a matter of minutes having someone to 'talk' to. Mine are real people too, I don't know how I attach to them. When I was a child it was cartoons and things. It usually lasts a few years and then my attachment turns to someone completely different.

Remember Jimmy Stewart and his large rabbit friend, "Harvey" ? I know an adult male who "talks" to Harvey all the time lol takes the edge off situations, and helps him imagine SOMEONE is listening!

I'm with Bakery actually.....I have 6 american eskimo dogs & they would lever allow an imaginary friend to get between them & me.....there just is no room because anytime I sit down, I have at least 3 of them surrounding me constantly.......I would imagine that an imaginary friend would be necessary because I can't imagine NOT talking to anyone (or dogs in my case).

Sometimes we have to do what is necessary for ourselves.....as long as no one is hurt by the situation which I can't imagine that there could be, I don't see anything wrong with it. However, I would imagine that you might want to be a bit careful out in public.

Of course, I don't think that anyone in public would even notice. I remember one day when I was living in California, my psychologist & I went to the part that day. There was a guy that was just talking on & on while standing there with no one around......turned out he had a blue tooth in his ear & was talking on the cell phone......no worries anymore.....everyone would just think you were talking on the cell phone & think nothing of you taking to an imaginary friend in public either.

Green, you would be surprised how often this very question gets asked especially here.

As long as your imaginary friend is not harming you, or encouraging you to things you should not I see NOTHING wrong with having an imaginary friend. Heck - I'll even go so far as to say there is many things we do not understand and many phoenomena out there which we cannot explain. Perhaps what you consider imaginary friend, is truly something else. Maybe its God, befriending you. Maybe its some type of spirit. Maybe you are telepathic but neither of you understand telepathy yet. I beleive all of these are possible - maybe not likely but my point is you can think whatever you want in regard to this, and there is still nothing wrong with that!

For a longtime when I was a child, I would have conversations "telepathically" with a girl named Angelina and a boy named Johnny. They were aware that they were telepathic, and I was aware that was what was happening(was it really telepathy or just imagination? Who knows. It helped to calm me though and gave me friends I did not have otherwise)however only certain info could be exchanged. As soon as we tried to share our location, or identifying information the contact was cut. Other than that we would "hang out" in my mind, joking, doing things friends do, talking out my issues at the time.

to this day i can't rightly say was it real or was it imaginary friends. Why did i choose two? And why a brother and sister(as they were if i remember correctly)?

I even know what they looked like.

Angelina was about 14ish, maybe older, had nearly waist length gorgeous honey blonde curls. She had blue eyes, and a delicate face structure. She often wore white.

Johnny was a typical late teen. He had short brown hair, cut in the style of bangs but parted to the side, and sides buzzed. He always wore a sort of office-color-blue-Grey shirt and jeans. He was funny and fiercely protective of both her and I. I beleive, if i remember correctly, both Angelina and i had been through much abuse and Johnny protected us.

It could very well be an elaborate situation my mind made up to save my sanity(and if so, WOW what an amazing job!) or it could be i connected with a brother and sister with telepathy. I dont know.. and honestly to know seems to take the magic out of it. It served me very well at the time and every so often I seem able to connect with them. They grew along with me and now have children of their own!

Sooo. Bet everyone thinks im weird now!

From: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/2...aginary07.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/imaginaryfriends.html

I am not sure if this is a sign of a healthy mental situation, but it is most definately 'ok'. As long as you are confident they are just imaginary, it shouldn't be a major problem.

Dont feel guilty or weird, but if you are currently in treatment for any other problems, it might be worth mentioning to your therapist/Pdoc.

Take care

I made up a whole world of people, totally separate from ours, but one of them kind of got out.. I even made a yahoo account and stuff for him. It's great because I can confide in him without really alarming anyone else about my troubles, and I know he's always sincere and trustworthy to keep my secrets. I used to be content with just posting stuff to him, but lately I've noticed a lot more humanity and concern for me in his replies. He's real enough for me not to be an imaginary friend.

I talk to myself - A LOT. And often loud. I'll walk down a corridor, and halfway along realise someone has noticed me talking to myself...
It usually starts with me just being in my head, going through my thoughts and feelings. But then I may start whispering, discussing the pros and cons of the thoughts. And sometimes it comes out aloud - oops!

I don't think your weird. I think we think alike.
Although I don't really relate to having an imaginary friend, I completely relate to the idea behind your statement. I love to think about the unknown and the potential skills that the human race may have that have not been discovered yet.
You give the example of telepathy as a means of communication. That means that I could be talking to lots of people in my head all the time! That would be so cool in some ways! (Not very cool in others..) Although I grant it does not seem likely, think about it this way- Imagine being alive before telphones were invented. If someone were to walk up and tell you that you could talk with someone miles away using a little device you held to your ear, you would have a hard time wrapping your mind around the concept of how it is done. Then imagine that someone tried to explain internet to you, and that you could talk to many people at one time using a thing called a computer. It would seem like an impossible concept to a person from that time period. So who's to say we don't have the power of telpathy, but don't know how to use it yet???

I think we are only limited by the power of our imaginations...
So in response to the OP, I think it is totally fine for an adult to have an imaginary friend.

My boy Eric is 9.....I'm 54....DID, is he imaginary? Many say he is...I know the truth. He's for real.

I have lot of imaginary "friends". Guardian angels, random ghosts, three space owls

I talk to myself too (mostly in my head though).

I like hearing stories about everyone's imaginary friends. We are a creative bunch!

During the most lonely years of my marriage, I had an imaginary friend. He was a guy with red hair, younger than I am, and I would usually talk to him when I was alone in the car and driving somewhere. I imagined that he was a visitor from out of town and I would tell him all the things we could do together in the area and all the sights he could see. I would explain about the local sights as we drove through town and the countryside. Once we stopped at a waterfall along the side of the road because I thought he might like to see it. I would make CDs with a lot of my favorite songs and play them in the car for him and tell him why I liked the songs--what meaning they had for me or maybe just that I liked the melody. I kept the passenger side of the front seat open for him--didn't pile junk there--so he was always free to ride along. I never talked to him about "serious" or unpleasant stuff--I think I had enough of that in real life. I was just trying to be a gracious hostess and show off my part of the world to him, make his visit a pleasant one, etc. I enjoyed our time together.

I think I did this just because I was very lonely. I never had any doubt that he was made-up. When I began making progress on getting my life in order and exiting my lonely marriage, I didn't need him anymore and he stopped going on drives with me. He was like a companion during that awful "stuck" phase of my life.

For those with DID (dissociative identity disorder) those "imaginary friends" are not imaginary but a distinct aspect of that persons whole personality. Science has shown that each "part" can have it's own respiration and heart rates, and even brain scans!!!

Ye I have an imaginary friend called Walter, he has been with me for at least 18 years. I only speak to him when no one else is around. But when I got really bad depression I would talk to him all the time. I don't know what he looks like or how old he is I just know he is in my head. Generally when I speak to him I speak to "people" too. I imagine "real" people being there and I will talk to them through him if that makes sense? He doesn't ask em to do things or anything like that. He just comes now and again. I tried cutting him out of my life when I was 23 and that made it worse as he kept coming back when I really didnt wnat him. I got frustrated and gave up. I was caught by a friend talking to him she sneaked into the room I was in. I was majorly embarrassed

PS I also have his sister at times Wilmena!!! She isn't as frequent as he is. Also I never say his name I just talk to him

I am so glad to have found this post. I am 23 years old and I have one imaginary friend who is around all the time. I even day-dream before bed about hanging out with him every night. I have noticed he helps me deal with my ptsd and loneliness. I guess it's better than wallowing in depression..

I was diagnosed with multiple personalities DID back in the 80s now they say i have schizoaffective disorder. hmmm I speak to either imaginary friends or hallucinations i don't really know anymore. It seemed more like they were solid and real when i was in my 20s my how things change, now they just lurk around and I talk to them more than they talk to me , I miss that.

It is okay however your thinking is much like a Schizotypal personality disordered person would think. That is NOT a bad thing.... I think Schizotypal people are so fun to be around!! I wish there wasn't so much stigma!! There are varying degrees of it though and you sound like you are on the milder schizotypal side, which means you are basically completely normal. You just have a little bit of "magical" thinking.... but hey, that's not a bad thing!!!

wantanewme i am amazed you new about my magical thinking , I have heard that from therapists and docs for 30 years. Yeah i like to think like i am on the normal side but am medicated for the super schizo side.