I had an email from a reader last week and she brought up the fact that she was not an paranormal investigator or personally sought out to "ghost hunt". Instead she says she had haunted since she was a little girl and felt that she was able to identify with the varied symptoms of PTSD outlined in my blog. I am glad she brought this up.
As stated last week, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common reaction to traumatic events. In researching this topic I found it is (suggested) that PTSD becomes persistent when individuals process the trauma in a way that leads to a sense of serious, current threat.
Indeed, a long term exposure to a haunting situation without a final solution in sight I think can lead to ensuring stress on the physical and mental capacities of the human body can manifest as this recognized disorder. Like for example a personal haunting!
How certain individuals are coping (or not )with their own individual supernatural experiences can lead to either a good resolution or a serious and difficult outcome.
People who are perhaps experiencing a "personal haunting" are super sensitive to spirit activity and extremes of atmospheric changes in their home environments, of phantom smells and even sensing fleeting shadow people or entities in the homes. They become hyper aware which keeps you on guard all the time and unfortunately keeps you off balance to a ordinary simple routine in daily life. They can even start to doubt themselves "did I just see that?" "I must be going crazy!"
Could the Haunting be caused by an attached spirit?
An attached spirit is when an earthbound spirit is attracted to a living person and then begins to "hang out" with the living person. After a while, the spirit finds that they become emotionally attached. Often the spirit will feel safe or even complacent about being with the person. In most cases attached spirits don't have any ill-will and they don't mean to harm the person. It's almost always just that the spirit had some connection to the person, either emotionally, similar life-experiences, or the spirit could have known the person in life or even a past life (this is an interesting concept).
This is just my take on it but I feel that spirits, like humans are very capable of 'liking' someone and seeking them out for companionship of sorts.
My own personal experience in my home has been I feel of a positive type of spirit connection. We have a resident |Lady" ghost in my home that possible lived here in the Victorian times. She was a care giver or nanny to children who lived on the property in the 1800's. Several of these ghostly children are present in our home ( and seem to want to stay)and we are aware of their sometimes mischievous child's play they like to do here. Example: I often find one of my sun catchers of a cardinal is taken down off the kitchen window while the larger one above it is never touched.
FYI:The cardinal sun catcher was one I took from my deceased friend's home, who was subject of my book, Estate of Horror.
We call our "lady" Marjorie and her ghost has been seen at inside my front doors. (between the front screen door and solid wood door there is only 8 inches of space so no full grown human could possible fit in that space). She appeared as an older woman who is dressed in a high necked blouse and up swept gray hair- typical style of the Victorian era.
She has been leaving me presents of woven threads in intricate patterns for the last 4 years now and I have over a dozen pieces in all different colors and sizes. Her handy work is unmistakable and not some frayed threads from the edge from a blanket or sweater (as some have suggested). My good friend has observed that "Marjorie" handy work resembles the delicate technique of "hair weaving" so popular in Victorian times. I usually find her "gifts" when I am in a stressful situation who in a grieving mode.I find comfort in knowing this kind spirit attachment is one that I recognize and learn to co-exist with. I am lucky in this way, but others are not so fortunate.
So what to do?
There is not enough data in general medical statistics that has been addressed to this problem. Doctors in the rational medical community need to understand and be aware that when someone goes to them that is not sleeping well, feels under unseen pressures and seeing visions, they should not be immediately be considered a candidate for a nervous breakdown, be written a script to go see a psychiatrist, given anti-anxiety drugs or told they need a vacation.They have to be schooled that there can be a much more profound and unusual set of circumstances that is troubling their patient. It seems a bit naive that these days with the proliferation of "ghost shows" on TV and movies and the thousands of believers across the country that say they believe in the paranormal, that doctors could unaware of this phenomena and possible cause.
Maybe the right physician is a Spiritual "doctor", someone who can identify with the person experiencing the haunting or spirit attachment because they themselves have had the same thing happen to them. Psychic mediums suggest that most ghosts are very sorrowful, lonely and 'lost'. It would only make sense for them to feel some sort of comfort with someone who is living.
This is not to be confused with a Spirit Possession where a spirit is able to either temporarily or permanently take over the thinking and/or body functions of a living person.
Several options and methods are available to the person that is experiencing either a personal "haunting" or "attached spirits". Most mainstream religions have their own way of dealing with and releasing attached spirits.
A Christian-based form of Spirit Release is known as Deliverance Ministry, which is similar to the Catholic model but without as much formal ritual. It doesn't require the person to be a specific religion only the willingness to be open to the possibility that they are being affected by a spirit attachment and they can be helped.
People can seek help through recommendations by people in the paranormal community. One of the most respected people in this field of Deliverance Ministry is Bill Bean. www.billbeanministries.com
There are many websites, books and other tools out there to educate yourself. Be aware of the signs that is impacting your life. That is why people in the paranormal community write articles, share their knowledge and even write blogs to help and spread the message so no one has to feel alone.
