Does having an imaginary friend as a child portend future mental health problems as an adult?

Question

I'm hoping someone may have info regarding any data from psychological tests or experiments that may have been done in this area. Also, I'd like to hear from anyone who has personal experience with the subject.

Answer 1

Sounds to that you will have mental health problems if the imaginary friend never goes away and you still communicate with them as an adult.

I had lots of imaginary friends and foes as a child (most kids do) - they sure did not follow me into adulthood.

Answer 2

actually yes, it proceeds schizophrenia. According to the DSM -IV.

It is usually develop through lack of interaction with a child. To prevent this a child should be interacted with by parents and or siblings on a day to day basis, independant playing is fine imaginary friends is not health, it shows signs of lack of involvement by the parent, thereby the child feels the need to create something for the space of love and interaction that needs to be filled. How much time are the children spending with the family? Is there family time? Park visits? tea time?

In my experience children who go outside and play with others do not have imaginary friends they have real ones which is healthy and condusive to growth. I would challenge any expert to prove UNDER A PROVEN TEST that children with imaginary friends are not prone to some other type of disorder, obesity, balimia, depression, esp, delirium.

Even still remeber the DSM -!V is always changing as experts dont know ****. If your child is happy then roll with it if your child turns into a nut blame society. After all no one on this page really knows because none fo us NOT EVEN PSYCHOLOGIST understand the human mind totally, being that we only use a third

Furthermore for someone to tell you they arent crazy and they have had an imaginary friend I would take with a grain of salt because again how do we REALLY know who is crazy and who is sane. For all we know the transient walking up the street speaking to his imaginary friend is sane and the Mental health worker telling people they arent sane is crazy.. You decide.

Maybe the friends arent imaginary and are ethereal or your child can transend dimensions who knows. As long as they dont appear at the foot of your bed with the imaginary friend telling them to do evil, I would not worry, just spend more time with your children

Answer 3

You may think I have mental problems and well that is up to you. To me children are innocent beings. I saw the movie Sybil where she had imaginary friends but that was because she was being abused by her mentally ill mother. As for me, I had an imaginary friend when I was small, mom said his name was Johnny. I grew up to be psychic. I see things, and know things before they happen. I wanted to know why I was that way and another psychic stated to me that they thought I was that way because I was given up for adoption by my mother and my father never looked for me so I didn't have the love of my parents and so God took me under his wing more so than others and I received the gift of ESP. Don't know if that is true or not, Probably not unless your child is adopted too. You just need to keep watch over your child. good luck

Answer 4

Not necessarily. Unless the imaginary friend is causing trouble or extremely violent or harmful, I wouldn't worry about it. It usually indicates a good imagination.
The DSM-IV (and the APA) state that schizophrenia cannot be diagnosed until age 18.
So, no, imaginary friends as a child are not harmful. I had one and I am a mental health worker, not patient.

Answer 5

My sister had imaginary friends, she grew up fine, was a straight A student, went on to college, plays a musical instrument and teaches elementary education. I don't think having an imaginary friend did her any harm.

Answer 6

No, not always. Some times having one is due to a problem, but again, not always. Having one inspired me to take drama in high school. I haven't done any scientific testing, but I did have some as a child. So did my mother, before me. And we turned out fine.

Answer 7

No, it means that the child has a vivid imagination. Usually people with a high quality imagination are very creative and bright.

Answer 8

This is from Science Daily:
Imaginary Friendships Could Boost Child Development
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050308101309.htm

-Or-

Here's more info. I found from http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=122&id=1979


It is quite common for children of about three or four years of age to have an imaginary friend. This may be another child or could be a magical person or an animal. Sometimes the imaginary friends change as the child grows older.

Often children who have imaginary friends are only children, or oldest children in the family; but having an imaginary friend does not mean that your child is lonely. They are usually creative, imaginative children. As the child grows older the real world takes over and by the time the child is going to school the imaginary friend usually just quietly disappears.

What do imaginary friends do?

Imaginary friends can be helping your child in different ways.

* As playmates providing companionship.
* They allow the child to play creative games and try out different ways of doing things.
* They are a way for children to practice getting on with others.
* They are a way for the child to safely test out different actions and feelings, eg fear or anger.
* They allow the child to be in charge and control someone else at a time in her life when most people seem to be controlling her.
* They allow children to have a private life that adults are not part of.
* They can help children to deal with strong feelings such as fears or anger, by having a fearful friend or being angry with their friend. ,
* They can help children if things in their lives are stressful. For example a child who is always cross with her friend may be in a situation where she feels that the adults in her life are always cross with her.
* Children who are very "good" may have a friend who is very "naughty" and does some of the things the child would perhaps like to do.
* They can help children avoid getting into trouble with parents because when some thing is wrong "the friend did it".

Are imaginary friends a problem?

Imaginary friends are a part of normal development and rather than being a problem they can help children to deal with some of the stresses in their lives.

Sometimes an imaginary friend can help parents to see where a problem is.

* For example if the imaginary friend is afraid of the dark it is likely that the child is afraid of the dark and learning to manage her fears through the friend.
* If the friend is always misbehaving and getting into trouble it may be that the child is having too may rules or punishments.

Sometimes children can use their imaginary friends to avoid doing something they don't want to.

* If this happens a lot, parents need to treat the imaginary friend in the same way as the child, eg "Mrs Rabbit might say you don't have to go to bed, but I am your mum and it is bedtime. Mrs Rabbit can come if you like".

If your child plays happily with others and enjoys doing things with you and other children there is not likely to be any problem. If the child continues to choose the friend very often rather than doing things in the real world it is helpful to have a look at what is going on in his life and think about ways to help him enjoy doing real things as well.

What you can do

Here are some ways you can respond to your child's imaginary friend.

* Let your child take the lead in how you respond. If it is a private relationship and the child wants you to stay out of it follow that lead. If you are asked to join in the play then do so. Usually you will be asked to make room for the friend in different ways such as providing a seat in the car, not sitting on the friend in a chair and maybe providing things like a cup or plate for the friend.
* While accepting the way your child wants you to act towards the friend it is helpful if you don't get too involved and take over or add your own ideas to the story. It helps your child to work out what is real and what isn't if you stay grounded in the real world most of the time and if you take over or add to the story you are taking from your child's need to create her own story.
* If the friend is always to blame when the child does something wrong it will be helpful to take it out of a "blame" situation. For example if the child says his magic bunny spilt the milk you could say that mistakes are to learn from and that you will help him to clean up the mess for the bunny.
* As your child gets older try to provide lots of enjoyable experiences with real children and real things so the friend will gradually not be as interesting or attractive as the real world, and will disappear.
* Remember that being three or four years old in an expanding world can be scary and that by having a friend to help him through this time your child is being both resourceful and creative.
* If you feel that your child is shy or does not relate easily to others see the topic 'Shyness'.

Answer 9

it doesnt make them crazy n it shows they r imaginative n creative which could help them in the future

Answer 10

no, and it shows that the child has a good imagination