Does suffering from a mental illness "heighten" ability to connect with paranormal activity?

Question

By "mental illness" i mean suffering from depression/anxiety.. because I definately suffer from those and I draw so much energy... I've SEEN physically full body apparitions of ghosts... what else would cause this heightened sensitivity?

Answer 1

Mental illness make you more prone to have delusions about such things. I'm a Catholic, and some of our saints said that dead people stay in their graves until Judgment Day, so ghosts can't be real. If someone believes he sees ghosts, he's having hallucinations, mistaking normal things for paranormal ones, or being tempted by demons.

Answer 2

Since your grandmother also sees ghosts and does not suffer from any mental illness, its more likely that this is either something you learned when you were young, or perhaps could even be genetic.  (this hasn't been studied as far as I am aware, but it sure would be interesting)

In my experience and studies, connection with paranormal events are not heightened due to mental illness.

However, with some (not all) mental illnesses, there are delusions and feelings of paranoia, even hearing voices. Some people may confuse them for the real deal. But it is fact a very different thing. With proper medication these delusions can usually be kept under control. If you saw a ghost it would still be there with or without medication.

I hope that helps. P:)

Answer 3

maybe the ghosts sense that you are depressed or feeling anxiety  and are trying to contact you

Answer 4

well since you grandmother can see that stuff too, it must run in your family. I don't think that a mental illness heightens your ability, but it might just make you more sensitive to your surroundings. That's the best i can give. Good luck. ^_^

Answer 5

No it only makes you THINK you do.

It's like musicians, lovers, and alcohol.  Musicians and lovers think they perform better when they're drunk -- but they don't.

Answer 6

Interesting question, I was thinking about this today.

I googled it but didn't come up with any thing good apart from this

http://www.pararesearchers.org/Ghosts/se...

but I think this person is looking for the effects of the medication rather than the condition.

"Reports of haunting activity and UFO's have increased exponentially in the last 20 years, coinciding nicely with the advent of a new class of psychiatric drugs called SRI's. I endeavored to prove a relationship between these two events."

Edit

Saints say that ghosts don't exist?  

That's like Saint Nick saying you can't get two bucks in trade for your baby teeth.

Answer 7

No, the ability to sense or see paranormal activity is not heightened by mental illness.

Answer 8

No, but people who suffer from mental disorders are more likely to think that they have contact with some sort of paranormal event.

Answer 9

Well there is no easy answer here. So we have to look at the individual parts. First, there must be an understanding of mental illness. The amount of people diagnosed with a mental disorder is growing each year. This is due to a number of factors, one such being psychiatric evaluation is more common place. Just because one person is not diagnosed as mentally ill, does not mean they are mentally well. It may just mean they have not been properly evaluated or have been undiagnosed. Certain mental disorders are genetic and run through family lines. Thus, this needs to be taken into consideration.

That being said, from what I have read general depression/anxiety disorders are not linked to hallucinatory illnesses or schizophrenia. These are they types of disorders that would allow individuals to see or experience things that are not truly there. For example, an individual "believing" they are seeing ghosts. Just because they are not linked, does not mean a person cannot have multiple disorders. It just means they are most likely unrelated and improbable.

Thus in order to accept this possibility, we must take an assumption that the ghosts witnessed are not a result of a mental disorder. This can be further varified if non-related individuals also see/experience the same paranormal activity that you are.

This leaves your root question, does mental disorders increase the chance of having a paranormal response in your vicinity? Generally, I would say no. The only studies I have read that correlate "paranormal activity" to mental health are those that have seizures and this correlation was only to PERCEIVED events. These events or sensations did not necessarily occur, but were thought to by the patients.

However, a mental disorder such as depression may increase a specific type of activity. There is much talk about the laws of attraction and how like attracts like. A negative person is more likely then to attract negative energy and entities. Thus care should be used.

Another related possibility is what is occurring is not a haunting but psi related phenomenon, similar to poltergeist phenomenon. In this case, you would not be exposed to ghosts at all, but rather you are inducing psychokinitic events subconsciously. Spontaneous PK events are connected to highly emotional individuals. Typical agent demographics are females, ages 13 - 21. However, adults and males have surfaced from time to time. Generally, these events are cyclic and short in duration, lasting perhaps a week to a month before dying down for a while.

Answer 10

If you are physically aligned you will be better able to fight the depression and to differentiate between normal and paranormal phenomena.  Go see a chiropractor to improve your health and discernment.