With billions of the world’s population now using social media, the phenomenon of parasocial relationships has become exponentially more common. The term ‘parasocial relationship’ was coined in 1956 by Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl. They observed that people who regularly listened to radio and television shows were developing the illusion of a relationship with the hosts of the shows. Parasocial relationships were originally seen as a side effect of loneliness, but a study was conducted showing that these two concepts are uncorrelated. As of now, parasocial relationships are considered a normal and healthy way of interacting with another person in an entirely one-sided way (Rubin). 

However, there are, of course, cases when it is taken to the extreme. Celebrity worship syndrome is an obsessive, heightened state of a parasocial relationship that can result in delusion, stalking, and other types of crimes. There are different levels of it, and a person must pass through the first two to reach the highest. The lowest level - and the one most commonly seen today - is “entertainment-social," which is characterized by keeping track of a celebrity’s life online and offline. This level of CWS has been found to be related to the development of eating disorders, anxiety and other mental problems, specifically in female adolescents. This is likely because of the following of fashion models and women who have had lots of plastic surgery and photo editing. It pushes the impossible female appearance standards to the maximum for these young women. 

The next most intense level is called “intense-personal,” and it is characterized by an intense obsession with the celebrity. This level is not experiencing delusions, but the obsession is at a higher level than the previous one. Where a person in the entertainment-social level devotes some time out of their day to check for updates on and talk about their favorite celebrity, a person in the intense-personal level may be uncontrollably thinking about them all the time. Individuals in this level may also have extremely poor self-esteem.  
The third level is the most intense and is also the most dangerous. The “borderline-pathological” level of CWS is characterized by a level of obsession so strong that the individual may be compelled to commit crimes on their favorite celebrity’s behalf. The individual’s world revolves around the celebrity at this point (“Wikipedia”). 

Of course, parasocial interaction and CWS are highly correlated, since CWS is seen as a heightened and abnormal form of a parasocial relationship, but there are differences. Celebrity worship syndrome is characterized by addictive elements. The higher levels of CWS can involve psychosis, intense obsession, and both online and offline stalking (“Wikipedia”). At the base, the two are similar - deriving happiness from a one sided relationship one has built with an unattainable figure - but in the case of parasocial relationships, this is as far as it goes (“Find A Psychologist”). That is the main difference between parasocial interaction and CWS.