Imaginary Friend (s)

Did any of you have one of these when you were a youngster? My sister has had one for a few years now and we are told it's normal and it seems harmless. What causes it? Can you please provide any info you might have about this or an experience. I never had one that I can remember. Although I did talk to some of my toys *but I still do that now* It's ok though, they rarely answer me back..
Magestica

I never had any imaginary freinds as a child, but i did day dream and fanatasize alot. I guess imaginary freinds make up for the kinda freinds we dont have and wish we had. I mean we controll them, thier feelings, thoughts, what they say. we control our Fantasies aswell...i really gotta learn how to spell..sorry..
I did used to run around as a kid pretending to be a superhero and sort.
Deep

I had an imaginary friend, I can still remember. It was a comet...or that's what it looked like to me, it was nothing more than a ball of light that was with me until I was about 7 or 8 years old.

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Be Cool
K_OS

Yep, I had one......His name was Hubert. Everytime I got nervous or upset....I would find myself talking to him. He was a great 'freind'. This lasted till I hit the age of 7 and haven't seen 'Hubert' since.

Strange, crazy....I dunno....but was a comfort for me back in those days.


regards
seekerof

Hey...thats odd.
When i was 7, my mother used to put me to sleep in my room and every night i would see balls of lights on top of me hovering. It scared the curry outta me too. Looked like halos, a lot of them too.
Deep

I never had one. I wonder what makes people have imaginary friends.

I'm actually thankful I never had one, that's the kind of thing that can lead to something more serious.

regards
seekerof

That's exactly why I started this post. I've been told it is quite common and normal. But often wonder if it actually 'is'? I was wondering the same thing you said. Could it become a problem and what exactly prompts it?
My sister is only 7 and she's had it for a few years, it does seem to be fading though...as it was much worse when she was a little younger. I thought at times it may be a ghost? That's like Amittyville Horror or something Yikes!
Magesica

That's quite rude..I don't and DO not think it's a laughing matter and I take offense..especially as I was asking in reguards to my little sister. But guess I should be used to those one liner comments by now.

Try punishing her everytime she talks to him. Give her a timeout or something and see if that helps.

thing you can do, and that punishment is likely to cause more issues then the imaginary friend. Wonder why?

nah, let kids be kids,
It's not crazy or wierd.

Originally posted by magestica
thing you can do, and that punishment is likely to cause more issues then the imaginary friend. Wonder why?

Well that makes sense. To think about it, it really can make the situation ore worse. Maybe she'll run to her imaginary friend for comfort and guidance when she's punished?

kids have high imaginations, part of developing those synapses.

let it pass as a fad, she'll grow out of it.

Look Mag, I laughed because many seem to think that have an imaginary friend is 'crazy', as I think Illmatic67 may have been eluding to. If he wasn't eluding to that then I do most certainly apologize.

My parents took me to a child psych. and he said it was normal and I would grow out of it....that its 'usefulness' in the situations that I 'saw' him and 'talked to him', would go away as I grew older and learned to deal with nervousness and being upset. Welp, I did grow out of it and my parents didn't punish me nor anything of the like............matter of fact, they helped me to deal with it and helped me to avoid situations that brought 'Hubert' on.

Find out when the 'occurances' happen and analyze the situations that lead to the occurances. I do believe it is a normal thing and will eventually go away once the reason for the occurance(s) is determined.

regards
seekerof

I don't rember ever having an imaginary friend.But my son did.His friends name was Bobby.Bobby was always around.If you asked my boy who he was talking to,most of the time it was Bobby.Bobby also had a house up in the hills.It was very strange.I often wondered if my son was really talking to a ghost.Around the age of 8 or so Bobby was all gone.Now we just joke about it.

Sometimes as you can see, it's easy to think you are referring to the original post when you just So I also apologize for the mix up. What I had wondered about it, is that I've also heard that kids who have imginary friend or friends also tend to become and are psychic..I've heard this from numerous people, that had them as a kid and are quite intune with their psychic abilities. Could be just a coincidence though? I also wondered what might prompt it? Why only some kids have them and others don't?

Thanks for sharing your experience...greatly helped and also appreciated

I had an imaginary friend called beelzebub
he always told me to kill my parents.

why couldn't he tell me to do something useful? like clean my room, do the dishes...

hmmm...

As to what 'prompts' it Mag, I don't really now to be perfectly honest.

My parents noticed the 'occurances' with me and when or what the situation(s) were. Being concerned and loving parents, they felt the need for professional advice and thats where I mentioned what I mentioned in my above post.

Now whether this was an indicationof psychic abilities, that too, I also don't now. I think for many very young kids today that have imaginary 'friends' or talk to them selves like they are having a normal converstaion, its natural.....its a child's mental capacities that are growing and its also a 'comfort factor'. Kind of like kids that cling to teddy bears or suck their thumbs or drag around blankets, etc.

As has been mentioned by a previous poster above.....children have very imaginitive imaginations...its part of the 'psyche' growing...its a natural thing. Listen to them tell stories and one can see how imaginative a child's mind can be. BUT, I also mention too, children are not as 'naive' as many think....children can understand things at 'levels' that we can only be amazed at. Children are like 'spoonges'..they hear all, see all, and can tell all, but are also very susceptable to 'outside' influences, fo all sorts.

Its actually quite fascinating when one remembers what Jesus said when refering to the 'mind of a child'.


regards
seekerof

My little sister had an imaginary friend named Bob. She was always talking to him. She stopped talking about Bob around 5. Then she got sick. She passed away right before she turned 7, but at one point during her struggle she said she could see Bob. Perhaps it was a ghost, a guardian angel looking out for her, or maybe just a ghost.