Did anyone else see the hat man as a kid

Lately, I've been hearing more and more about other people also experiencing this. For a very long time I have just chalked it up to trauma and mental illness, but I am not so sure as I see more and more about it.

When I was around 8-9, I started seeing a tall, all smokey black figure wearing a top hat out of the corner of my eyes. I was a kid with an over active imagination and knew it so I had just ignored it until it started lurking around corners and I would see it head on for a few seconds before blinking and it was gone. It only ever happened when I was alone. It did atop after about a year but the memory still makes my heart race like hell.

What is troubling now is that I do have paranoia issues due to separate issues but I can't stop thinking that this thing is gonna come back and start haunting me again. I just really want to know if this is something legit or if I can try and love normally knowing it was a fitment of my imagination. and if its legit, do you have any tips on making sure it doesn't come back?

(sorry if I applied the wrong flair as well, i didn't really know what to choose since this could also fall under debunk this, encounter/experience, and shadow man)

Pulled from Reddit User gauge218