If you’ve spent any time on social media you might have heard of a phenomenon called ‘main character syndrome’.
It’s when people act as if they are the ‘main character’ in a fictional version of their own lives
Some psychologists have argued it can be damaging to people’s mental health.
Others say it’s a step on the road to narcissim. A millennial fad. The realm of the show-off who’s desperate to be noticed.
I think it’s more useful than that.
Now I can’t claim to be any sort of mental health expert, but I can say depression and anxiety are two huge things in my life.
And main character syndrome helped me turn my reality around.
Depression is debilitating
I like to refer to my depression and anxiety as dark clouds.
It’s the only way I can fully understand that they will pass.
No thunderstorm lasts forever.
But there have been points when they have completely taken over my every thought, leaving me debilitated.
I’ve spent weeks unable to get out of bed, or wash my hair, or even eat properly.
Drinking a glass of water began to feel like a task.
That’s when my first experience of ‘main character syndrome’ happened.
Was this my way out of the darkness?
The first time, it came to me in a dream.
Literally.
I remember dreaming that I was walking around Perth, with a soundtrack.
It felt like my life was a movie, and I was the main character. In control.
I feel so bad for service workers and children who have to deal with parents who have Main Character Syndrome https://t.co/DJhK698HBc
— Yoshis for student debt cancellation #BLM (@CommieYoshi) February 10, 2022
At that point, it could not have been further from the truth.
I was completely out of control.
In my waking hours I spent a lot of time crying, and wishing I was someone else, and some place else.
But in my dream I was transported to this magical version of my life. Or what my life could be.
I could be the best possible version of myself.
Someone happy.
Not this anxious girl who could only see the darkness.
So I gave it a try.
Main character syndrome and me
Being the main character in my dreams made me want to get out of my bed again.
I saw what my life could be, and little by little I realised I wanted that.
But the only way I could be the main character in my story was by getting myself back into the world, step by step.
It wasn’t easy, and it took work.
But day by day I began to feel like myself a little bit more again.
I was the star of my own show, and I could write the script.
I could write out the things that weren’t making me happy, and write in the things that were.
It meant I could write the soundtrack, have a song for every moment.
This way, I was the director. I was in charge.
Personally, I don’t view that as a bad thing. For me, it was a way to find myself again.
I am lucky with my mental health now.
For the most part, I am out of the scary period.
But the turning point came when I decided to be the main character in my real life .
And if that sounds like a technique that would help you, I for one will be cheering you on.
