Is this normal?

Hi there and welcome to the game and to the community!

I think maybe this game isn't actually the right game for you. Candy Crush is a solitary game and all the competitions are essentially fake as well, you certainly have no way to find out who those players that appear in your game are or if they even still are playing the game at all. There is no in game chat feature and it is very difficult to establish a friends base early on in the game. You cannot chat to the "friends" you do have and have no way of ever finding out where in the world they live. This game is just too big with millions of players and millions of players dropping out and joining all the time. Also, since King have controlled every aspect of the game more and more tightly in recent months and years, it's essentially a "beat the algorithm" type game, so you are playing against the game rather than other players. Levels 225 to 255 can be very frustrating and you might soon find this game not really what the doctor ordered for you recovery.

I don't know if you like word games, there is great interactive word game called "Two Birds" in which you genuinely play in a league against others and there is a chat feature as well. It's a European game though, so I'm not sure even if your App Store has this. It's great for interactive competition and my 89 year old mother plays it a lot to pass the time, it's relaxing and not too brainy, if you know what I mean.

I wish you a speedy recovery. Hang around the community and check out some of our posts for more tips on playing Candy Crush! You could also try out this thread below, it's about how to add friends from this community to your game.