12/6/21 #3

Dear abby,

as we have seen how relationships has been difficult to hold in the last two years due to the pandemic, we really understand you situation, as many others like me I really recommend you to see a psychologist, I'm not meaning you are crazy or something like that, don't take it in a bad way, is just my opinion from my own case

Hi gorgeous! You are absolutely not crazy! :) It means that you've embraced the character so much. Sometimes we found ourselves in the story or we love the character in the story. These are all normal as you felt. Your friends also right that is just fictional but doesn't matter. One of the character there has become your favorite. Like the emotions we go in and out of while we watching an emotional movie. I suggest that you can ask your friend who smiles at you has he never read a book in which he can feel so deeply?

Hello,

It is an absolutely normal and common situation. When we read a book or watch a movie we find some similarities between characters and ourselves. It is normal to have an emotional reaction to events in the story. Seeing the connection between us and characters we built parasocial relationships. That means that unconsciously we may build a strong emotional connection with the characters. To feel compassion for the character is a normal reaction and it wouldn’t continue long. If you feel that this emotional condition is lasting too long and you can’t do your normal activities, I recommend you to visit a specialist. I just want you to know that to have different emotions to your favorite characters is an absolutely normal process. And it may repeat with every new book or movie and you shouldn’t be afraid of your feelings. I hope you are doing well. Good luck.

Dear friend,

Thank you for sharing your experience and feeling. I compeletely understand your situation. First of all you are not crazy. It is completely normal to have feeling for someone even it was a character of a book. By the way, it is healthy habit that you are expressing your feeling and let it go.

I hope after sadness of this your favorite character, now you feel better. Because it person or character did their job that giving to your life emotion and feelings. it is a great thing to be alive. Feeling and take caring. I hope you will keep this empathy through your life and feel different feelings and live alive always. I am sure there are a a lot of adventure and people (doen’t matter it is a real or not) waiting you to find.

Sincerely

Your Abby…

Maybe it is not normal to your friends, but this is just another case of parasocial relationship, which is very common.

You could ask your friends if they ever felt bad/sad about any celebrity, influencer, entrepreneur on social media. Or maybe with sports when their team lost or their favorite player missed the last second game-winner. Or watching a movie.

There are plenty of examples to show that parasocial relationship, or having feelings about someone that does not know you or does not even exist, is normal.

Dear Abby,

Recently, I was talking with some friends and I was telling them about a book I just finished reading. I told them that, when one of my favorite characters in the book died, I felt awful and cried. My friends looked at me funny and told me that the character was just fictional and I shouldn't cry. What do you think? Am I crazy or is this a normal reaction?