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Dear Dish-It, I Have Imaginary Friends

Dec 27, 2006

Dear Dish-It,

I have an imaginary group of mates, but there's no good Google links for it. Please could you help me? Thanks!
ellie


Dear ellie,

I'm not 100% sure what kind of Google links you were looking for about imaginary friends, but I'll do my best to answer your question. Back when your parents were growing up, psychologists thought that kids who had imaginary friends were at risk of becoming anti-social adults. But, in recent years, studies have changed their minds and it's been discovered that nearly 65% of kids under the age of seven have had an imaginary friend. It is now believed that imaginary friends help kids develop important social and communication skills.

This being said, most imaginary friends seem to disappear for kids seven and older. Do you have regular friends at school or from extra-curricular activities or are your imaginary friends the only people you socialize with? Only having imaginary friends means you aren't learning how to interact with other people properly and that is a problem that you may want to discuss with a school counselor or psychologist. Imaginary friends do indicate that you have a very vivid imagination and maybe you can start chronicling your interaction with them in stories. Writing down your experiences will help you to put things in perspective and keep a grasp on what's real and what's not.

So, ya gotta burnin' question? Need some love directions? Thinkin' 'bout stuff like depression, sex,how ya feel 'bout YOURSELF (that's called "self-esteem"), boyfriends, girlfriends, losin' old friends, bullyin' or peer pressure, but too scared to ask the parents? Don't be scared to .

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