Xx Invisible Friends xX

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Hey!
My cousin brother’s house is just a couple of blocks down mine, so when he asked me to babysit his 7 years old daughter, I agreed. Now the thing is, when Myara (the girl) was 4 year old, she used to have a, ‘invisible friend’, Pooh who was apparently a young girl (around my age, {I was 14 at that time}, according to Myara, then). So four years ago when she told us about Pooh, we just laughed and said that she is suffering from Christopher Robin Mania… Then one day after a heavy rain and hailstones, she came home, crying, from the park with her nanny and said that Pooh died because she was very small in height (10 inches) and the hailstorm ‘flew her away’.</p>

<p>So yeah we had a burial of an invisible girl along with a bunny ‘because it was her favorite!’…</p>

<p>Now a few days ago, it was raining and because I was babysitting Myara, we both were watching the hailstones from the window. Suddenly she sat screaming and after a few minutes (which seemed like hours to me because it was scary as hell!), she fainted. I was scared and worried so I called up my parents and cousin brother and his wife. Myara had fever for 2 days and she was not eating or talking, just sleeping and crying.</p>

<p>So after her fever came down, we took her to theme-park, to cheer her up and then stayed at our grandparents house for fun… she was pretty back to normal…</p>

<p>We came back to our house and since my cousin and my parents house is pretty close, we planned to drop my cousin’s family at their house first, have a take out and then go back to our house. As soon as we entered the house, Myara started screaming and resisted to enter the house saying that Pooh is back and is scaring her.</p>

<p>Today, I went to babysit her (though I did not wanted to… Yeah I am pretty scared of a 7 year old now!) and she just keep throwing things at random spaces and screaming at one point and at another, she is just sitting quietly, so silently that it doesn’t even look like she is alive!</p>

<p>My whole family is pretty much worried about her and I am scared for her…
What should we do?
Do any other people here have any knowledge about how long this invisible friend thing last and if it is always this scary?
What should we do?</p>

<p>P.S. I like to call this Pooh character Invisible frenemy… </p>

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<p>It could be nothing, or it could be serious. My 21-year-old son had several imaginary friends, and looking back on it, I should have been more concerned. He was diagnosed with a mental illness when he was 18. He told me he struggled for years before that.</p>

<p>If I were the parents, I would contact a counselor who specializes in children. He or she would talk to the girl and let the parents know if she should be taken to a psychiatrist. Counselors for kids are great - they play games with them and make them feel very comfortable. We took our younger son to a counselor when he was in 6th grade, and the woman helped a lot.</p>

<p>I think it’s great you’re concerned for Myara. Keep in mind that all you can do is make a suggestion to the parents. They very well may brush you off at this time. If so, you just have to drop it. You would be within your rights, though, to decline to babysit her in the future.</p>

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<p>It sounds serious to me. (Not the first part, but the second part where she is freaking out.) I would recommend a psychiatrist visit as well. No sense in ignoring an issue that is causing Myara grief and you terror. </p>