Thinking the Unthinkable

Image via Wikipedia"We don't think you're crazy!!"

This phrase appears on almost every single amateur ghost hunting group website. The clarion call of the amateur ghost hunter rings across the internet assuring potential clients that, unlike academics or skeptics, they alone will take the claims seriously.

But what happens if an amateur takes on a client whose claims may be informed by their psychiatric or medical history? In those cases, most groups close their eyes to those factors while rushing around with EMF meters to check the wattage leaking from the fuse box or making sure the pipes aren't rattling under the house.

In the meantime, a client may find no relief from phenomena that is connected to physical problems and if the group can make no explanations for their experiences they are no better off than when they began.

Why are paranormal groups so afraid to bring medical history into the mix? In many cases it is simply a lack of knowledge on their part. Let's look at the Grandfather of most of the current amateur groups - TAPS. This organization began with two plumbers from Rhode Island. Their expertise was in building construction and specifically plumbing. This came in quite useful for discovering loose pipes causing noises. Yet, they were not particularly well equipped to deal with physical disease processes, psychological problems, or other medical issues. Therefore, these do not seem to have been explored in any depth.

As this model took hold, group after group went looking for a leaky toilet while shying away from understanding how stress, social situations, and psychology could affect claims of paranormal activity. Afraid to call anyone "crazy", they chose to ignore the entire subject for the most part.

But, does a paranormal claim that arises from a psychological or physical ailment make someone "crazy"? Certainly not, and the use of the term "We don't think you're crazy!" by paranormal groups show the limits of their understanding overall of this vital component of investigation.

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses. An estimated 21 million Americans experience depressive symptoms each year. The chances of a paranormal group encountering someone who is clinically depressed are quite good.

In recent years, paranoia and anxiety disorders have been increasingly common as well. In the past year it was estimated that paranoia symptoms not associated with psychosis are now as common as depression! (Medical News Today: Paranoid Thoughts Almost As Common As Depression)

What does this mean for paranormal investigators? One of the most common experiences related by clients is a feeling of being "watched" or "not alone." This is a classic symptom of paranoia. While the amateur investigator will pull out the trusty EMF meter to look for a spike and fall back on the unsupported claim that the paranoia is caused by a faulty wire in the wall, they refuse to consider the fact that the paranoia could be a natural and common physical complaint.

In the years after 9/11 paranoid thoughts have become increasingly common in the general public. We are told to be "on guard" by the media and more and more we are under surveillance in public spaces. It is not far-fetched to believe people are more prone to feeling paranoid today.

Likewise, extreme depression can also cause feelings paranoia. Depression over a loved one's death combined with anxiety and paranoia could certainly explain why Jane Smith feels her deceased dad is hanging around the house. Perhaps it's not a faulty wire at all, but a completely natural and normal medical condition. Instead of calling an electrition, perhaps a better course would be to call a physician and get treatment. Is it responsible for paranormal groups to ignore depressive symptoms or to make them worse by feeding into the paranoid thoughts?

But what about those who claim to have seen an apparition? Let's consider the effects of memory. Depression affects short term memory. There is an inability to concentrate for long periods and forgetfulness. In cases such as this a person might mistake a shape (my bathrobe hanging near my bedroom door comes to mind) as an apparition. They may be having trouble sleeping or having unusual dreams (both components of depression and anxiety) and upon waking be unable to tell if they were awake or asleep the moment before when someone "walked" by the door. That has happened to me on several occassions in my life. Because I recognized it as a waking dream, I did not assume I had an apparition. Yet, for someone who is unaware of this common trick of the mind, it could be quite unsettling. Even in my case, my body went into flight or fight response while my mind was still trying to rationalize the event.

In such cases, the apparition could be explained away. Yet again, how often do amateur paranormal groups go into detail with the client about this process? How many even truly understand it?

I am certainly not saying that all experiences fit these molds, but we must be as open to them as we are to other explanations.

Recently, I met a woman who had seen an apparition. She was very clear about the ghost although the event had happened some years in the past. She could describe the entire scene perfectly including what she was doing at that moment.

Was it simply so traumatic that she had the moment burned into her memory? Possibly, and yet, the clarity of detail made me wonder if the intitial event was something much more mundane. Perhaps she thought she saw a person sitting in a chair (that was also a ghost) but what she actually saw was the outline of boxes or bags in low light. She was alone in a dark area at the time and had already been told various "ghost stories" about the place. She notices this "form" and believes it to be the ghost. She rushes out and downstairs where she relates the story to others.

Over time, the positive feedback from the story solidifies what the perceived in her memory. With each retelling and positive response the story becomes more and more concrete. The form becomes not just a person, but a particular person. Over time, it stops being a shadow or outline and become a solid person sitting there.

This is not a lie, this is a function of memory. The more times a story is told the more solid the memory becomes until it eventually supplants the actual event as reality.

This is a function of cognitive dissonance. This situation, made famous by the Incest Survivor Network and Recovered Memory Therapy, comes about when a small seed is planted in the mind. This may be something the subject does not believe at first but that others believe to be true. Over time a dissonance occurs where the subject begins to avoid situations where their original skepticism creates tension and gravitate toward situations where they receive positive support for the false memory.

In our case, we have a little start someone has that she might have shaken off in time as silly. Yet, the seed is planted and when she laughingly tells friends they tell her it was really the "ghost". The dissonance sets up between her belief it was nothing and their belief it was something. Over time, as she is exposed more and more to that reinforcement she begins to flesh out the memory with more and more details. Those "breakthroughs" bring greater feedback and so eventually the false memory of the "ghost" takes shape and becomes the reality.

In cases of false memory, the only way to get at the truth would be to have a second person present who was not susceptible to the dissonance and could give an accurate account. Yet, this is rarely possible in paranormal investigation. Most of the time if two people share an experience they discuss between themselves at length and the two eventually become one. After all, if you are with your friend and they see a ghost but you just see a shadow what do you do? At first you might shrug it off but eventually as they become popular telling the story you will begin to doubt that it wasn't something. Enough time passes and eventually the two stories match.

Simply talking about an event or entertaining questions about the event can create a false memory.

Elizabeth Loftus performed experiments in the mid-seventies demonstrating the effect of a third party’s introducing false facts into memory. Subjects were shown a slide of a car at an intersection with either a yield sign or a stop sign. Experimenters asked participants questions, falsely introducing the term "stop sign" into the question instead of referring to the yield sign participants had actually seen. Similarly, experimenters falsely substituted the term "yield sign" in questions directed to participants who had actually seen the stop sign slide. The results indicated that subjects remembered seeing the false image. In the initial part of the experiment, subjects also viewed a slide showing a car accident. Some subjects were later asked how fast the cars were traveling when they "hit" each other, others were asked how fast the cars were traveling when they "smashed" into each other. Those subjects questioned using the word "smashed" were more likely to report having seen broken glass in the original slide. The introduction of false cues altered participants’ memories. (Stanford Journal of Legal Studies)

So, as we can see, in paranormal terms the memory of "seeing" an apparition can be highly unreliable. The introduction of physical problems including psychiatric problems can exacerbate matters and it would seem imperative that paranormal groups who are truly interested in assisting clients be willing to explore these matters with clients and provide positive guidance to professionals when necessary.

Groups who pride themselves on "debunking" erroneous claims of paranormal activity must be willing to look under every stone and that includes thinking the unthinkable... that the activity may be all in the mind.