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AIBU?

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Original poster

Was my DDs imaginary friend a ghost?

247 replies

MrsDylanThomas · 12/10/2014 11:12

The time of year for such a thread but anyway...!

My DD is now 6 but when she was just 2.5/under age 3 she had an imaginary friend called William. Very young to have an imaginary friend IMO. For a period of about 3 weeks she spoke to William, 'read' books to him and if we were in the park she would stop and say 'C'mon William! Hurry up' whereas she was talking to thin air.

All very normal imaginary friend behaviour.

But one evening around this time, I asked her where was William? I was kind of joking. I remember we were sitting together on the couch before bedtime and she said 'William has gone to college where he lives'.

Turns out my husband's grandfather was called William (they called him Billy) and he worked in the accounts department of a university.

I asked her about him the other day as was thinking about it and she said she often talks to him at bedtime of if she's worried about anything. She's a happy, sociable and clever child so don't think it's anything to worry about.

But I just think William is a name she didn't hear in crèche, or in stories and I didn't think she knew the word 'college' at that age.

Her other imaginary friend was called Alice. I thought it was from Alice in wonderland but (chillingly) my husband's granny was called Alice! Shock

Sorry to spoke you out mumsnetters. Am I filling in gaps or AIBU? Love to hear your thoughts!

OP posts:
EBearhug · 12/10/2014 19:03

Ghost people get their clothes from ghost tailors, obviously. And probably ghost shops these days, like Woolworths. (They only did children's clothes, though, I think.)

ElkTheory · 12/10/2014 19:06

There is no evidence whatsoever for supernatural happenings. Anecdotes mean nothing. If someone could show me a double blind study conducted under rigorous conditions that pointed to a supernatural conclusion, I'd like to see it. The lack of evidence indicates to me that ghosts and fairies and gods all have their origins in the human imagination.

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 19:08

A randomised double blind study would be impossible, surely?

officecharlady · 12/10/2014 19:10

My son - now 15 - had an imaginary friend when he was around 3 years old. We didn't know about him immediately but sometimes my son would come down in the morning and ask questions or tell us about events that happened many, many years ago. Most of these stories could be checked and verified.

We asked him one day "who told you that" and he said it was his friend connor. As we didn't know anyone of that name we asked him who connor was. He told us that he was a friend that came to visit him during the night and talked about the world, he lived in Africa. No-one else could see him and he never appeared at any other time. My son didn't ever mention him unless we asked him about a story he had told us and we didn't know where he could have got it from. This went on for about a year. One day he just disappeared and was never mentioned again, and our son stopped telling us things he had learned from him. He doesn't remember it now and laughs if we tell him about it.

Very strange.

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 19:17

Connor sounds more Irish than African though

Romeyroo · 12/10/2014 19:33

I am perfectly prepared to give some credibility to weird things we can't explain. My DD had an imaginary friend when she was little, who was a black girl. DD drew her, that is how I know. I didn't really think anything of it, but I do know DD saw ghosts at our old house as she spoke to them and looked at them. She was about two, so could be dismissed as imagination, for some reason I just accepted it as a ghost.

DD of her own accord at one point more recently, she is 11, said she knew some things before they were going to happen. After she told me this, I remembered about the imaginary friend. So I asked her if she still had an imaginary friend, she said no, she had a whole imaginary family, one was her twin, and then she had two little brothers and another she was not quite sure if it was a boy or a girl.

The only reason this is of note is that she had a vanishing twin, and the younger 'family' correspond to losses I have had which she knows nothing about (and I have not told her about). She says she talks to them.

DD has always been a bit like she has been here before, too, in a way which is hard to explain. Her grandmother, on her dad's side, who is from the islands, apparently said that second sight runs in her dad's side of the family.

For whoever suggested it, I have asked her to predict the lottery numbers. She says it doesn't work like that, she can't decide what to see.

I don't offer any opinion on this, btw, she is a well-rounded, balanced girl. This has just been some passing things I have noticed.

I have had the sleep paralysis thing, btw, it was quite different to these kind of not quite rational things I am describing.

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 19:36

Very strange.

Its really not.

WaitingForMe · 12/10/2014 19:48

I'm fascinated by woo as a social phenomenon. I hallucinate when I have a high temperature and find it interesting that the images created in my mind tie into legends and myths. When surely my mind could throw up anything, why the ancient vampires and demons?

I've "seen" ghosts which I believe has been my mind interpreting light into the closest approximation of a picture but sometimes I do pause and wonder whether I'm being dismissive.

Ultimately woo is interesting because of how people feel about it.

neiljames77 · 12/10/2014 19:50

DiaDuit, you mention that dogs don't sense ghosts but they DO. Moreso than humans.
I've said this before on here but I didn't get a satisfactory answer to the mystery.
I had a dog years ago. It was watching me grill a nice big juicy sirloin steak. When I'd cooked it, I left it on the side to cool down a bit and went for a slash. When I got back, the steak had disappeared into thin air and whatever had taken it must have really scared the dog because it was sat in the corner, absolutely petrified.

Romeyroo · 12/10/2014 19:51

The only time I have hallucinated was when I got off my face completely on gas and air in labour. I hallucinated people into the room who could not have possibly been there, but I knew afterwards that I was hallucinating, iyswim, as I was so out of it.

Bowlersarm · 12/10/2014 19:54

Very good neil. But seriously, dogs don't sense ghosts?? That has freaked me right out - I thought as long as I have dogs in the house I'm safe.

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 19:56

DiaDuit, you mention that dogs don't sense ghosts but they DO. Moreso than humans.

Well i didnt mention anything of the sort, i said dogs dont worry about whether or not ghosts exist. but that's besides the point. They DONT sense ghosts because ghosts dont exist Grin

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 19:58

I thought as long as I have dogs in the house I'm safe.

Is this a serious comment?

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 19:59

Just for the record, most mental illnesses which involve hallucinations, such as schizophrenia and bipolar, involve auditory hallucinations. This is normally in the form of hearing voices.
Visual hallucinations is not a common part of any mental illness.
The only visual hallucinations which are well documented result from drug use.

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 20:01

DiaDuit, how do you know what concerns a dog? Are you Cesar Milan.

My dogs react to any noises that threaten them, even a knock on our front door, they are guarding their territory.

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 20:03

The only visual hallucinations which are well documented result from drug use

Really? No record of hallucinations due to high temperature, fever, exhaustion, dehydration?

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 20:04

DiaDuit, how do you know what concerns a dog? Are you Cesar Milan.

Pah! Grin what would cesar milan know about what concerns dogs?

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 20:04

I thought as long as I have dogs in the house I'm safe.

Is this a serious comment?

Depends on the dog really. My 2 dogs at the moment could not put up any type of defense if a burglar got in.

However my Dobermann (who died 3 years ago) would have given any intruder a good ragging up.

Bowlersarm · 12/10/2014 20:06

Yes Dia. Quite serious. I thought that as long as my dogs didn't give out signs of sensing something, then there wasn't anything to sense.

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 20:07

As for what i know? I asked my dog- he did a survey amongst his mates. Unanimous results stating no consideration given to the existence of ghosts. But again, that's anecdotal isnt it? Wink

And if you dont believe i can talk to my dog then you're closed minded and just because you've no proof doesnt mean i cant.

The dog agrees. "Bark"

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 20:08

Yes Dia. Quite serious. I thought that as long as my dogs didn't give out signs of sensing something, then there wasn't anything to sense.

Umm. Ok....

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 20:08

The only visual hallucinations which are well documented result from drug use

Really? No record of hallucinations due to high temperature, fever, exhaustion, dehydration?

As with mental illness, visual hallucinations can occur in any of the above conditions, but are rare.

As are visual hallucinations in severe mental illnesses. They can occur, but are rare.

In psychiatry when dealing with someone with visual hallucinations the differential is normally drug use or certain types of seizure/tumour.

DiaDuit · 12/10/2014 20:11

So explain the visions i described upthread? I take no drugs/alcohol/nicotine/caffeine/medication. Nothing.

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 20:12

where upthread (do not want to scroll through 7 pages), what time approx did you post them?

raltheraffe · 12/10/2014 20:14

Yes this happens to me when i am very tired or stressed. I seem to have a theme of black animals. I very clearly see and hear them in my room, on my bed, moving around. I have had. A black bat, rat, cat (i know- they rhyme too grin) and spider. The cat was so real that i thought it was my actual black cat and started calling him but when i gave my head a shake i saw my door was closed and cat was in the landing. I am under no illusions about what these 'visions' were- a figment of my imagination due to stress.

Found it. Hypnagogic hallucinations which are normal.