Help Does anyone else get affected by fictional characters?

[SuicideMonkey123]

I mean, I get too invested in them, and when things go awry, I get fucked up. And not just in a simple sad way. Maybe I am disconnected to reality.

I have tried to remind myself that it's not real, but doesn't work. I try to keep myself away from it, but my mind keeps going back. Distractions don't work as well.

What do I do?

 

[ItsOverIsntIt]

I feel similarly but probably not as strong as you are saying you feel. You could try to figure out what makes you so inclined to these characters and what would help you not feel as strongly about them. Think about other things you try to forget and how you forgot about other things in the past. I try to bury a lot of my emotions by focusing on other stuff so maybe that could work for you. If that doesn't help try to remind yourself of reality, think about what might be going on the news or your friends. You need to focus on the present and not them. They won't come
Hope this helps! Sorry if it doesn't, im not very coordinated at these things yet.

 

[VIBRITANNIA]

i have those feelings too. escapism makes me feel better. i don't have any advice for you, sorry, but i want you to know that you're not alone and that this isn't "weird".

 

[znafu]

The feelings will quickly subside once your brain realizes it is just fiction. When you are watching a show or reading a book, you are more a passive observer and allow yourself and your emotions get swept up in the drama of it all. After it is all over, you no longer have to suspend your disbelief and can keep a healthy distance from it as a work of fiction and nothing more.

I also get unhealthy attachments to fictional characters and at one point would actively avoid anything that might have a sad ending. I think it's a symptom of lacking close relationships or lacking social contact in general. I get too connected to them as if they were real, like my brain is trying to cling onto anything remotely human.

 

[death137]

Yes (especially game characters)

 

[deadbeat]

Richard Harrow from Boardwalk Empire screwed me up for like a week.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Hoo boy. I think escapism is a huge part of it. The thing about fictional characters is they tend to be created by other people trying to get you to love or hate them instead of being real people who sometimes just act randomly inconsistent for no reason. Real people either change too much or not enough but fictional characters, when done right, are presented exactly the way they want to be seen and media can provide a level of context and insight into their experiences that would be kind of creepy to get from any normal person.

The first time I felt an intense urge to ctb was when I finished playing Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and felt like a horrible monster for beating the game but letting all of the characters die (except Marth). Just the fact that I was responsible for guiding these game characters to their permanent death made me feel like such a useless person that I had to procure an Action Replay to hack the game and play through it again with as many survivors as possible.

In 2013, I played Fire Emblem Awakening (on casual mode so I could avoid the ctb feelings from before) and got so invested in the story, especially Lucina. I think Lucina became the representation of just about everything I would love in a person. Marrying her ingame helped me get over someone in reality who I was unhealthily obsessed with. Unfortunately it seems I have replaced it with an obsession for her but I'm more okay with that BECAUSE she's a fictional character. Every Fire Emblem game since then has found ways to really suck me into their worlds though, even Fates, but not in the same way Awakening has.

Also I cried more for Iron Man's death than both the deaths of my grandparents combined who died earlier this year. They weren't even terrible people and they basically raised me when I was 3-5 years old but I guess their deaths just didn't affect me as much, probably because I'm a bad person etc etc.

 

[Bitterman1996]

Escapism is why I'm still alive tbh.. I don't think it's weird at all but at points it could be unhealthy. I've re-read some series multiple times in one sitting in a span of a week while not being functional at all in real life. Ironically enough it's why I don't want to gave up just yet, give and take a few years before deciding ctb..

 

[RC90]

Yeah there's some movies that the character is hard to forget. Mainly old movies, the ones these days are crap. Haven't watched a movie I said wow in years.

 

[Amumu]

I remember crying a loot when watching the end of Scrubs (season 8) and JD.

 

[RottenDeer]

I have the same problem. I am obsessing over fictional characters to the point where I try to masquerade my own personality with theirs. I am trying to work against that for years now though and I made a good amount of effort. I love my escapism but if it's too much, it's hurting me.

 

[Sk1n1M1n]

I relate very well to Effy Stonem from skins so much my life and personality, plus illnesses resemble her quite a lot.. I let myself regularly have my Effy days

 

[SuicideMonkey123]

The feelings will quickly subside once your brain realizes it is just fiction. When you are watching a show or reading a book, you are more a passive observer and allow yourself and your emotions get swept up in the drama of it all. After it is all over, you no longer have to suspend your disbelief and can keep a healthy distance from it as a work of fiction and nothing more.

I also get unhealthy attachments to fictional characters and at one point would actively avoid anything that might have a sad ending. I think it's a symptom of lacking close relationships or lacking social contact in general. I get too connected to them as if they were real, like my brain is trying to cling onto anything remotely human.

Yeah, you are correct. I have never been in a relationship, nor do I have any close friends. I was close with my parents before but now we barely tolerate each other. Got any advice? I tried not thinking about them, but even after2 months, some trigger word would just bring me back to the start of the obsession.