When you are unhappy, do your dolls cheer you up? (Emotionally dependent on them?)

After reading the first few pages worth of posts I feel like I really want to get a doll even more. I'm pretty dependent on my stuffed animals and my boyfriend. I have separation anxiety, which doesn't always get in the way (like when I moved to college) but it makes me very clingy. I feel weird talking to a stuffed animal, but I used to play with dolls a lot when I was younger and they always made me feel so much better. Living in an area with no other kids and being an only child meant a lot of time spent alone. Dolls just help pass the time and get some creative juices flowing.

 

i wouldn't say that i'm emotionally dependent on it, but it does give me a certain comfort, especially when times are bad, it's probably the only constant existence in my life and that's somehow comfort me.

 

Definitely.

I don't really have any health problems, but sometimes, when I feel depressed, cuddling/"playing" (even talking) with my dolls helps me relax and focus on something else. I get very emotionally attached to them almost at the moment I get them; heck, even before I get them, and so they're very precious to me, I think of them as human beings and spoil them utterly.
Therefore, when I am down, I'll just decide I Cerian needs a new dress, and I'll start sewing it, and then I feel so much better at once

 

I don't have any illness, that I know of that is and I don't tend to be emotionally dependent on material things. But dolls do make me happy since I'm a loner and they are a solid proof that anything's possible through prayers and honest hard work. Also as long as I am alive, I can do anything to change and improve myself. Before, I was like totally depressed and crying about how my parents won't buy me one. Now, I got two and I'll be buying one this month. Maybe even two or three due to my good school performance last semester. X3

 

DEFINITELY not emotionally dependent on them, but I can see certain instances where it is healthy to be.

They have cheered me up on occasion though, just like watching a funny viral video when you're sad or something like that.

I was stood up on a date once and my doll was in the car because I had a meetup earlier that day and when I finally realized he wasn't coming, and he probably asked me out on a joke or dare, I ran out to my car and had dinner with my doll. Boys? Who cares about boys. I've got my doll.

 

I think that I do but only because I really don't have many friends or at least very close friends. And recently a close friend decided not to be my friend anymore it hurt a lot and my dolls have been there I have one doll who is my protector character and he has been very comforting and cheers me a bit...so yes I depend on them to make me happy and cheer me up because who else is going to do that for me?

 

My opinion on this topic is rather general, and not limited to my own behaviour. I would like to point out that feeling cheered up by dolls in sad and difficult times doesn't equal emotional dependence. And that depression, anxiety disorders and other illnesses are probably not the reason someone finds comfort in dolls when he/she is sad or depressed. I think finding solace in one's hobby is something everybody does, no matter if they have an underlying mental illness or not.

 

Well. I suppose people could find solace in any hobby and that is likely the reason why someone has a hobby to begin with. I don't suffer any physical ailments but I do suffer depression. Sometimes my dolls help me through it and other times they're just not enough.

 

I wouldn't consider myself emotionally dependent on my doll but I do find happiness in the hobby when I feel sad. More often than not, the time that I spend sewing for my doll, taking pictures, ect. helps to clear my head.

 

I would say that I'm somewhat dependent on them emotionally. Being Bipolar, it can be hard to find things that make you happy when your depressed. When I have time to take out my dolls and fiddle with them, change their clothes, ect. I can shut my brain down slightly so it's not trying to wrap around 200 different things. I can focus on what's in front of me for a while.

 

Yes, BJDs definitely help me out so much. I struggle with intermitten periods of depression, and sometimes when I'm down, I just play with my girls, or make something for them, or buys omething online for them, and I feel so much better. It's not only my dolls either. Seeing doll photography really satisfies me. I feel content and calm after browsing flickr's BJD photos. This hobby also gives me a bit of motivation and ambition, which I usually completely lack. I often find it difficult to find reasons to live, but I think that my BJD hobby is my raison-d'etre at the moment. Sewing clothes and browsing pictures and making miniatures and shopping for my dolls is what I am really passionate about. And that passion is something that's incredibly valuable for a depressed person.

 

I don't know what it is, but just having them in the same room as I am makes me happier. I think, like anything, when you're surrounded by things you love, you feel better. (So in a sense, I guess money does buy happiness!? Haha.)
I'm not emotionally dependent, but there have been times when, if I'm so upset that I don't know what to do with myself, I'll pick up August and just carry him around the house with me wherever I go. It's like comfort food that you don't eat!

 

While I do have various health problems, I've never actually turned to my BJDs as comfort from them. But I do suffer with long-term depression. There has been several occasions where I've been crying or horribly upset and have hugged my doll, Lucien, in the same way a child would hug a stuffed animal. There are some things I can't talk to anyone about (not family, nor close friends) and am guilty of talking to my doll about it briefly so I "feel" like I've told someone to a certain extent. No I don't believe they can hear me, but it gives me some venting room for when I am really upset. I am also an extremely antisocial person and have some social anxiety - so occasionally they are my escape from real people. But I try not to go that far too often because I don't want to end up completely crazy or something relying on my dolls too much o.O

 

emotionally dependent? no. When im sad or have a bad day, does interacting with them make me feel better? yes. But so does writing, sewing, drawing... much like any other hobby one would have.

-An adult still struggling with childhood PTSD

 

Emotionally dependant? No. Do I talk to them? Yes. Do they cheer me up? Yes

 

Yes, my dolls make me feel better. I've been sick alot over my lifetime, and I rarely get out to be social. Sometimes it's hard for me to connect with people in real life...... But when I feel really alone, even if everyone I know is busy, the dolls are still there. I can rant to them and cry on them, and it's a huge help.

 

Yes, they cheer me up. But so do my boyfriend, my friends and my pets.

 

I've never felt the need or urge to turn to my dolls for comfort when I'm down. I have a 20 yr old teddy bear & "the cat returns" for that :P but kloey usually ends up sitting with me anyway.

 

They help me out a lot really! for me they're some way of therapy...
I ' suffer ' from personification. And sometimes it doesn't only confuse the people around me but also myself.
To keep it in control, I have to accept it and actually find something to use it for.
Therefor, giving a personality to my dolls, giving them emotions and feelings in my own little world, allows me to focuss my personification on my dolls alone and so, keep it from other situations and moments.
Now my personification no longer kicks in , at unpleasant situation.

do not want to sound like a freak or anything, so please let me add that personification is completely harmless, it's just another ' point of view ' in a way. People that don't know about my personification just think I have a lot of imagination.

and for just feeling ' sad ', thinking about my ' Blood ' arriving next month immediatly makes me happy again!

 

If I'm extremely unhappy/sick, the dolls are no help at all. Usually nothing helps but time (or maybe my dog/family to some extent). However, if I'd just had a bad day or been mildly stressed out with work, getting a new doll/outfit or spending some times with my others does help calm me down. I've noticed if something really terrible/stressful happens on the same day I get a new doll, I'm less likely to appreciate the doll permanently because the doll brings back bad memories. So, in some cases, the dolls make the unhappiness worse.