When children have imaginary friends it's seen as cute. But when adults do it's seen as a disorder, amirite?

I had an imaginary talking horse called Terry. I was 17. He was useful: got me through a lot. Goddam miss him...but I know he would always come to me if I needed him. Enjoyed eating carpet, as I remember.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The cadence of how I read that was setting it up for a punchline

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Lol same

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Terry, Tearer of Twines

by Anonymous 1 year ago

One day, Terry came back. # "Why the long face?"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When I was like 12, I told my little sister that I had kidnapped her imaginary friend and put it in a shoebox, high up on my shelf. I'm 36 now and she still brings it up when she is angry at me lol

by Anonymous 1 year ago

bojack's cousin Terry? what is this, a crossover episode?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Ah yes, Terry Hayman, a relative of the Sugarmans

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Fuuuck. Bojack is such an incredible series! Dunno why i just started to watch it, but damn I'm glad i did!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If you had changed his name to god you could still talk to him and people would ignore it

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Did you get over your carpet eating habit?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

17, or 7? I'm slightly concerned about the former haha. Sounds like a great horse though.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Is it really that common for kids to have such friends, though? I don't think I've ever actually met a kid with one.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

My aunt had one and when her mother was leaving her abusive husband, they had to turn the car around because my aunt forgot her imaginary friend.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Your grandma sounds awesome.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm sure she was. She passed before I was born.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Well now I'm sad, she sounds like she was a caring person.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

That sounds pretty scary for her mother. Took some balls. I always feel some kind of pride for human kind when hearing about people who risk their wellbeing for the sake of kids.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did. I pretended all of my stuffed animals were alive. I was an lonely kid... I even played board games with them.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I used to write letters to mine to ask them to wake me up in the middle of the night when they did so we could play. I also had an imaginary friend. I too was a lonely child lol.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Same. No one completely imaginary but when I went to bed all the animals had personalities. Also powers.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Bruh saaame

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Also an only child! I got good at playing board games by myself

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Is this the same as having an imaginary friend? I also did this, and I never really considered it abnormal.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Well, unless toys really do come to life when you're gone, I'd say it's close enough to count. You are still using your imagination to create a friend just using an object.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did, but I don't know of anyone else. I think it might be some sort of coping mechanism.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did too and it was definitely a coping mechanism

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Casper the Friendly Ghost was my imaginary friend when I was very young. I had a crazy vivid imagination when I was a kid. I could visualize an object or a monster or something, and then have a hard time making it go away again. For a while I was plagued by visions of Sulley from Monsters, Inc. staring at me through various windows in our house.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did the same. Except I'm old so my monster was the dad from Dinosaurs

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I literally had a family of my own. Proud father of 7 at the age of 4, lol

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The first time I heard of this was when I was playing Sims 3, never heard of it before.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I had one named Gus.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

They likely should, most research deems it to be beneficial in their development, Harry Sullivan guy talks about it

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yeah. Mine was the red power ranger. If you don't have siblings close to your age then you end up with time playing alone, and an imaginary friend makes sense. The adult equivalent is probably arguing with yourself about events that won't happen.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Also had one, the thing is that when someone was around ive tried to act "normal" and have less conversations with my no body buddy. Always assumed that other children did the same but oh boy now im surprised

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Same, I've never known anyone that had an imaginary friend.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Is it a thing you ask people about?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Lol I had one. Herman. I think Herman was my solution to being an only child.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It seems like people don't usually want to tell about their imaginary friends. I had them because I was lonely and friendless, why would I tell people about my ‘friends'?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I had one as a kid, apparently. Don't remember it i just have been told stories by family members. I'm not sure how common it actually is to have one.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I had four imaginary friends, all of whom shared a variation of my real name. So yes, very common

by Anonymous 1 year ago

That just means you were the imaginary friend.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did and so did my brother it's just a way of playing

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Lonely kids had imaginary friends as children. I think lonely adults just do it in their head. We crave social connections and our minds help us cope when our needs aren't met.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Adults are supposed to know how to separate their imagination from reality

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Today is Easter Sunday.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Lol ive heard it called Zombie Jesus day before. By the youth of course

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I prefer Lich day

by Anonymous 1 year ago

No, not a lich. A lich attains undeath through arcane means. Jesus supposedly attained it through religious means, so he'd be a mummylord. That is, if we're going off of D&D.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

A lich can be any type of caster that can achieve spells equivalent to soul jar and animate dead. The process is exquisitely unique for each lich, and the only "known" repositories of documentations on the various processes are the Book of Vile Darkness and (*if they still somehow exist*) the libraries in the Oubliette in Cavitius, Vecna's old stronghold when he was still imprisoned (but again, it can't be determined if that entire section of the Demiplane of Dread, aka Ravenloft, exists anymore). But back to Jesus, we don't know if there's a philactery of sorts, so there's not enough evidence that he is or isn't a Lich.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Bunny Day, if you're an Animal Crossing fan

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Or a Pokemon fan.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's a full moon this year though which can only mean one thing… Werewolf Jesus

by Anonymous 1 year ago

My mom loves calling it that

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'll be 38 and I love calling it that. Just because I got older doesn't mean religion seems less silly.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Literally could not have come up a better response if I tried lol.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yes haha I was going to say "lots of people call it religion"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yep. Precisely.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yeah! We all know that giant bunny's don't lay colored eggs! It's ridiculous Anyways happy lich day!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

"Supposed to"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's already Monday for me. It's been Monday for me since 5 hours and 38 minutes ago

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Right now for you it is 6.02am

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Right now for you it is 6.21am

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not necessarily. Everyone should be encouraged to explore their imagination as long as it is in a healthy, functioning manner. Applying your imagination to everyday life allows us to problem solve and entertain.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Kids are way better at detecting the difference between real and imaginary, they just don't realise or cannot do much about, that adults are pushing them into their imagination for nefarious reasons.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It is very much possible to have imaginary friends and understand that they are not real. It's a common coping mechanism for depression, anxiety, loneliness, etc.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Then why is religion so popular?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Indoctrination. Fear, and fear of being tormented for eternity. The want for things to magically get better such as diseases and troubles. The idea that when you die there's more. The idea that when you die you get your own personal paradise with everyone you've ever loved hanging around. It's popular for the fake or unproven things. It's unpopular for very real and evil reasons.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Because we don't protect our children from it, instead allowing them to be indoctrinated at a young age by whatever religion happens to be the choice of their parents / legal guardians. If we taught comparative religion in schools from the first grade on, ensuring they know that whatever religion their parents / guardians are trying to push are just as comforting and non-falsifiable as every other religion out there, their popularity would drop rapidly, though probably never to zero. Put another, very crude way: Religion is an information virus that is fairly easy to vaccinate most humans against, but extremely hard to defeat once it has taken hold.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Ignorance and indoctrination. Most people that believe do so because their parents or family do, and simply never question it.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

said Jesus Christ, Jedi Master

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The difference in perception between children and adults having imaginary friends stems from developmental stages and societal expectations. While children's imaginary friends are seen as a normal part of cognitive and emotional development, helping them explore creativity and practice social skills, adults with imaginary friends may be perceived as deviating from typical adult behavior. As adults are expected to rely on real-life relationships and experiences, an imaginary friend could indicate underlying issues, such as difficulties with relationships or emotional struggles. However, it's important to recognize that having imaginary companions as an adult isn't inherently problematic. They can serve as a creative outlet, self-expression, or even be part of spiritual beliefs. Concern arises only if the imaginary friend negatively impacts an individual's daily functioning or their ability to maintain healthy relationships with others.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Mate we all know that's a ChatGPT answer

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Half the planet has an imaginary old guy with a beard in the sky. How can it be deviating from the norm, when most people believe there are pearly white gates in some afterlife manned by an old dude who will let you in if you were nice enough (or at least whatever variation of said afterlife looks like in their religion)

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I wonder if it's a cultural thing because in Europe I think it's weird even for children. I've never heard of someone having imaginary friends and feel it would be quite unusual in my country.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Southeast Asia here and imaginary friends aren't much of a thing here either.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

American, and while I've seen it in a few shows I don't recall any kids I've known having imaginary friends either

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If a kid has an imaginary friend here, they would probably be sent to a faith healer to check if there are supernatural creatures talking to them.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

LMAO we're from the same place then. Ipapatawas yung bata hahaha

by Anonymous 1 year ago

*Baka may kalarong duwende* 😅

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Agree. Not sure what cute for a kid to have an imaginary friend. I would be concerned if my kid was to have one lol

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Do you know anyone who prays?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Half the population has an imaginary friend

by Anonymous 1 year ago

same, im european and if I ever told my parents I had an imaginary friend I would live my life at the mental hospital

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I don't find it that strange, but I guess it depends on the age of the kid as well. Children talk to their toys and plushies all the time.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If you haven't already seen it you should watch Drop Dead Fred. It's not even a good movie but it's my absolute favorite.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yeah dude cause kids brains are incredibly underdeveloped and function differently compared to adults

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I did, sort of. Because I loved fosters home for imaginary friends. So I would create characters and sometimes even give them to my real life friends and draw them. But I didn't think they were real. It was imaginary play.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Religious people think that God is watching them every second.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

They even talk to their imaginary buddy

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When I was 16-17 I had imaginary friends, they were tiny elves. I was living with my grandma away from my family in a different state. With it just being me and my grandma, she worked all day, so I was completely alone. Had no friends and was bullied. Those imaginary elves helped me through my middle school years until I got to go back home to my mom and siblings. Now I don't have imaginary friends or think to have them.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Unless it's religion. For example, millions of adults today are celebrating their imaginary friend "coming back to life". This is treated by society as completely normal, a positive even, and not in any way a disorder, or cute.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm pretty sure if you have an imaginary friend as an adult it's called religion...

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not really. Lots of people have Jesus as an imaginary friend.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When adults talk to their imaginary friend, it's called "praying"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

But when they say it's their "beliefs," it's seen as "religious" smh my head

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Well duh. As an adult you are supposed to be rational enough to pretend you are normal. Having an imaginary friend isn't a symptom pf a disorder, letting anyone else know about it is!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Very much this! I still have my same imaginary friend since childhood, but I'm not telling people about him irl. I don't "see" him frequently, but when I do, he's mostly just a sounding board or emotional support.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Mine is Alice the Alligators. She has been around since I was 6

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Is she an alligator? I'm curious as to the stories people come up with to make sense of why their imaginary friend "exists."

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not if you're religious but it definitely should be seen as such

by Anonymous 1 year ago

And when lots of people have the same one its called religion

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Sadly, adults that have imaginary friends ARE common and normalized, its just called religion.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Billions of adults talk to their imaginary friend every Sunday

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's currently Easter and it seems a lot of adults have an imaginary friend

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Only if you don't realize the friend in your head is imaginary.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I personally don't see the issue with having imaginary friends as an adult, as long as you recognize they aren't real. I had imaginary friends up until I was 18 years old because I was so lonely and depressed. It was the only thing that kept me from feeling like I was truly alone in the world. I also acknowledged they weren't real, and now I channel that creativity into making characters for my stories. People cope in different ways, and imaginary friends are certainly a healthy coping mechanism, as long as you are able to acknowledge and accept they are not real.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The trick is not to let anyone know you still talk to them, that way it stays cute.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm a writer, which basically is just a socially acceptable way of being an adult with imaginary friends. I also make them pay rent. And other people get to meet them.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If a child has an imaginary friend i will think that they're haunted

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If adults all have the same imaginary friend it's seen as a religion

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yes, a disorder, now tell all those religious folk this so we can make some progress in the world.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I still think it's valid but u have to pay close attention to the kids imaginary friends

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When I was a kid adults played along when I said I saw things, I was in my teens before I realized nobody else could actually see them and something wasn't right. I just figured everyone was seeing what I saw and just learned to tell hallucinations from real.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Then there's me concocting an imaginary world full of people and figures for a game I want to write.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Never had any as a kid, I'm sixteen now and have quite a few but it's better than loneliness

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I wonder if there is a correlation between imaginary friends and childhood trauma.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's not "seen as cute" for a child to have imaginary friends, it's part of the child's brain's development. Young kids don't understand that the voice inside their heads is their own, so they come up with imaginary friends. But if an adult has imaginary friends then it's not just "seen as a disorder", it IS a disorder.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

No…I think it is still considered odd in children too. Presumably a coping mechanism for childhood trauma?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Is it weird that I discuss things with myself as if I am my own imaginary friend

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When children pee themselves it's seen as normal. But when adults do it's seen as a disorder

by Anonymous 1 year ago

One time I had an imaginary friend named Bobo, who was a monkey wearing a Hawaiian shirt. There was this girl who wanted to be my friend on the playground but she was aggressive and I didn't like her, so I deadass gave her my imaginary friend so that I wouldn't have to be her friend, and it worked, she left me alone. I don't know what that says about me or her.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Having an imaginary friend and having a friend thats imaginary are very different things.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Many things, kids do are seen as cute, but would be considered a disorder later. Just imagine someone laying on his back trying to fit its foot in the mouth compulsively.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I tried eating with my hand and no shirt and a diaper in a restaurant, while also screaming when waiting for my food. They kicked me out, but two babies got to stay. Talk about double standards.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Unless that imaginary friend lives in the sky and is judging everyone all the time.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Dang, why is religion being dogged on in here. Like the one dude barely said anything and now a bunch of people are being jerks to him just because they dislike his opinion. It's so saddening.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Because religion is entirely about having super powerful imaginary friends who punish your enemies and offer you perfect joy.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Unless your imaginary friend is named Jesus or God. Then, it's perfectly acceptable to be delusional.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

When adults do it, it's called fiction and it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If you can't understand the differences between adults and children you might need to seek treatment yourself.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Actually when adults have imaginary friends it's called "religion"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Well it is quite unusual for an adult to have an imaginary friend.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

There's lots of religious people out there

by Anonymous 1 year ago

i used to have an imaginary friend when i was a kid, her name was silkie and she could change her age at will- think from my age at the time (5) to baby to teen to elderly. i think i was a lonely child looking back

by Anonymous 1 year ago

sometimes the friends are not imaginary. when you reach a certain age and they're still there and real, then we got an issue

by Anonymous 1 year ago

There's probably more adults who have imaginary friends than we realize, because adults simply won't talk about it because they know it's seen as weird. I still converse with my childhood imaginary friend from time to time just to kind of flesh things out and to get through times when my life is feeling rough. Then again, I am bipolar and have experienced psychotic symptoms before, so I suppose my brain is just wired differently.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I still talk to mine. I was diagnosed as bipolar but my current doc thinks it was a misdiagnosis.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I want to believe mine was a misdiagnosis, but I'm also a therapist and avoided getting diagnosed for the longest time because I already suspected I was bipolar. If your current doc thinks it was a misdiagnosis, absolutely fight for a second opinion from another psych if you can! Everyone deserves treatment based on the truth of what's actually happening to them. I wish you the best, and it's cool to hear of someone else who talks to their imaginary friend!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Unless your an artist, or a religion. Than you get away with it, and people even make fandoms to support it.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Society expects adults to behave differently than children. Crazy!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

"when children poop their pants, its seen as normal, but when adults do its seen as weird"... Obviously somethings change when you grow up and therefore would be weird if you repeat old patterns...

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's because it is a disorder…a disorder defined by DSM. PLEASE SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

No one no matter there age should have an imaginary friend that's called not having real freinds

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I think more adults have imaginary friends. "Cough,cough, Christianity"

by Anonymous 1 year ago