- Date posted
- 2y
celebrity obsession
i’m not sure if anyone else has struggled with this before and i’m a little embarrassed to talk about it but here we go. i’m really passionate about music and going to concerts and participating in “fan culture” makes me really happy. i’ve had a favorite artist since i was like 12 (i’m 20 now) and am really deeply invested in them. i’ve seen them live a bunch and have even gotten to meet them and talk with them online. they have a fanbase which i’m heavily apart of and i run a fan account for them and everything. i’ve always struggled with anxiety and depression, which this artists music and work has always helped me get thru, but ever since my ocd started to “pop up” in high school, i think my “obsession” with this artist has really become unhealthy. i think i’m a little too invested in this persons life and sort of live vicariously thru them if that makes any sense. i obviously know i’m not their best friend or anything and i know i don’t know them in real life, it’s just my ocd has latched onto them as a person and it really sucks. i wake up and the first thing i do is check my phone to see if they’ve posted. if they’re sad, im sad. if they’re happy, i’m happy. if somethings going on, it immediately affects me and determines my mood for the rest of the month. if they’re struggling, i immediately feel a huge weight in my chest wondering what’s going on and if everything’s okay. i have so many intrusive thoughts about them because i care about them so much and it makes me feel awful because they don’t deserve it. they’re just an artist. i don’t have many friends or a social life, which is why i think i’ve leaned so heavily into being a fan (besides the fact that i clearly love them and their art and admire them) because it makes me happy. but i guess being so invested has impacted my own life in a way because i don’t socialize outside of the internet or seek things outside of “fandom stuff”. i hate that i feel like this because ik it’s not normal to be so invested in the life of someone who’s famous and doesn’t know me for real. and it’s not fair to them because at the end of the day they’re just a person even tho they’re famous. but it’s almost like my ocd can’t help but latch onto everything i love and make me have obsessions and terrible intrusive thoughts about them. i just wanna know if anyone else has experienced this because i feel like i’m the only one. i wanna make it clear too that i’m not one of those stalker-obsessed fans who would ever do anything to hurt them, and i’m very aware that i don’t know this person irl and that everything online is a parasocial relationship. the main issue is that i just think i’m way too invested in this persons life to the point where it impacts me and my mood and most of my everyday thoughts and ik it’s not healthy. idk how to go about this because i obviously don’t want to stop listening to this persons music or stop supporting them and their art because i love them and care about them so much and they’ve helped me thru a lot and make me so happy. but at the same time i know being this invested and not living my own life is unhealthy too. any advice or comments in general would me much appreciated. thank you for giving me this space to talk.