Imaginary Friend

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I had an imaginary friend for many years when I was younger. I preferred his company to that of real people. Later on, I read that other people with AS do this, too.

Did any of you have an imaginary friend?

I currently have an imaginary friend.

I currently imagine that certain real people are my friends ... does that count?

I never had imaginary friends in the typical sense, but I always created characters. I never interacted with them as me, though. Either I'd be one of them interacting with the others, or I'd just observe them and narrate them. Pretty naturally led into being a fantasy writer, once I had the writing skills to put these stories on paper.

By the way, imaginary frriends is described as a characteristic of Newson Syndrome, also called pathological demand avoidance. I suspect the line between that condition and regular autism is blurry, though, with many autistics having only one or two of the traits instead of the full picture.

I had an imaginary friend from around age 12 all the way up into my early 20s. I was very isolated as a child up until my late teens. Even after that, I was not very social.

I had never heard of Newsons Syndrome before. I only had a few of the symptoms that overlap with autism.

Yes I do.

I was thinking about this a little more just now and realized that I still have conversations with people that don't exist. I didn't think I still had an imaginary friend just because I don't have "someone" I interact with on a normal basis. But I will still say things randomly that are aimed at fictional characters... holy crap I didn't realize I was doing that...

Haha ok when I was little I had one and try not to laugh at me now but my Billy Idol cd cover is my best friend! I don't rely on or trust my real friends and he makes me super happy, safe, secure and content! He has so much sentamental value and we've been through a lot together in the past few years! He was with me through my diagnosis of Aspergers and he's very special to me! I'm not crazy because I know it isn't the real Billy Idol just a pic! But I make up stories, songs and jokes with him! It's fun! I do this when I'm alone with the CD.

Hm yes, but most I don't even see anymore, because they're off doing other things nowadays, and while not as often as when I was kid, yes I do, sometimes.

Never had an imaginary friend...
- I wished I had friends at certain times
- I imagined people were my friend
- and I imagined I was somebody else...

but no imaginary friends

I've actually had a few imaginary friends over time. It's interesting because one of my friends tells me she had an imaginary friend but not quite to the extent I did, and another tells me she didn't. The first has one sister, the second lives in a huge family and has three sisters, and I'm an only child. I think it's partly related to how lonely you are/ how many people are around you as well, and maybe also AS.

I had imaginary friends who I would talk to quietly when I was alone or who I would talk to in my mind. Sometimes I would just close my eyes and lie back and imagine them. Sometimes I would sit there and observe them as I imagined them doing things. Sometimes I would dream and write about them. I have to admit that I did at one point have an imaginary boyfriend too!

This is strange but has anybody ever had a "bad" imaginary friend? At one point I kind of directed my bad thoughts into creating one. In my diary I would write "-insertname- says that I'm a failure, I should just be dead" and also I created one for "rational thought". The worst I suppose was when I went through a time when I was incredibly suicidal and trying to fight against it but struggling a lot- "suicidal thoughts" in my diary I wrote about as a person. "You are worthless, you can never live, just go and buy the pills...etc." Don't worry, I was completely aware that these were imaginary people- not so much friends though. I think that by personifying these thoughts, though, I probably made it even harder for myself to get rid of them. Honestly it's a bit scary how my imagination runs away with me. Has anybody else ever done something like this?

ForestRose,

I have done all of the things you described, even with the "bad" imaginary friend. I think it's because I had negative feelings I wanted to direct at someone. I'm often too timid to be mean to people in real life and/or pick a fight (verbally).

I had 4 imaginary friends when i was little, the were tiny people who lived in the bathroom!