I recently read a book called the Dance of Deception where it discusses (with a feminist view) the difference between lying and deceiving and how children and adults use these as methods for coping and surviving.

In it, the author reveals that as a child she created a family from outer space in her head, and she had a friend with whom she would share these fantasies with. She realized as an adult that she created this imaginary family at a time when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She was never told as a child when her mother was diagnosed with cancer but her subconscious was resourceful enough to create this imaginary supportive family to help her cope and survive.

After reading the book I remembered that after a particularly traumatic experience with my dad I did a very similar thing. I had just seen Forest Gump, and immediately I identified with jenny. So, I created this character named Jenny that was a maid, not only did I not have to be myself, but because i was acting as a maid i didn't have to actively live my life. I am in awe that as a child my brain was resourceful enough to create Jenny the maid, and even though she may have been created out of something horrible, I've gotta hand it to Jenny for protecting me then so I could survive until now when I am strong enough to handle and deal with the emotions.

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience with imaginary friends or characters?