One commonly accepted belief that I question is that if someone suffering from a mental illness has witnessed paranormal activity, they must be suffering from hallucinations. Due to curiosity and open-mindedness, I avoid dismissing people’s experiences when they report something that seems highly unusual and different from our common, everyday experiences in the physical world. And just because someone has been diagnosed with a mental disorder at any point, I don’t believe we should judge that person’s experience as less valid or less trustworthy than what anyone else says they have experienced. Besides, what is mental illness anyway? One person’s idea of sane and normal might look crazy to another.
As it often goes, I’m probably much more interested and open-minded about paranormal phenomena because of my own experiences. As a child, I was highly sensitive, shy, and introverted, so I spent much of my time playing alone in my own little world. Perhaps due to my high level of sensitivity, I could sometimes sense an invisible presence that watched me as I played alone in my bedroom. To be honest, it was an eerie experience that temporarily paralyzed me with fear just about every time it happened. Later, in my teen years, I experienced a couple of strange, unexplainable events involving electronics that I suspect were paranormal. Then, during my late teens, I saw something commonly referred to as “shadow people” walking through the hallways of the house where I grew up. At the time when it happened, I did not know about shadow people or that others across the world had observed the same thing. Quite honestly, I thought I was losing my mind and that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but now I have an entirely different view of it.
The shadow people experiences occurred during the time that I dealt with mood swings, or what some would label as manic-depressive episodes. After recently googling “bipolar disorder and shadow people,” I’m finding that a lot of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder have reported seeing shadow people, as well. Unfortunately, the majority of these people are describing their own paranormal experiences as delusions and hallucinations. The same goes for a lot of people who’ve been diagnosed with schizophrenia; they don’t believe in most of the things they have heard and seen. Should we be so quick to call ourselves crazy and assume that what we have seen or heard could not possibly be entities that actually exist in another realm or dimension? It actually makes me feel a bit sad knowing that most people don’t believe in their own experiences or consider how their experiences with mental illness and paranormal activity can potentially be profound and meaningful.
Am I suggesting that it’s impossible to experience a hallucination? No, not necessarily, but I don’t think we should be so quick to dismiss something just because it is hard to explain or cannot be witnessed by everyone. Who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? What if everything around us is an illusion, and we’re all a bit crazy for mistaking it to be real? I’ve grown tired of the “experts” who claim that this and that is impossible or unlikely. There is so much more to learn and understand about life, including the paranormal and mental suffering, once you’re willing to adopt the “I don’t know” stance. Whenever we say “I don’t know how to explain that,” our curiosity and non-assuming nature might allow us to come up with some pretty cool and interesting theories that bring us closer to the truth.
My biggest argument against labeling paranormal experiences as hallucinations is that it further adds to the mental illness stigma. It basically says that people who “hallucinate” have a problem, that they’re out of touch with reality, that their experiences don’t count because there’s something wrong with their brain, and that they’re not credible or trustworthy sources whenever they speak about unusual experiences. What if we did a 180 and turned this view around? What if people suffering with mental illness became a source of information and possibilities, offering us an alternative perspective about the nature of reality and all the phenomena surrounding us that normal or average people cannot see? Can you imagine that instead of feeling victimized and living in shame about their condition, these people might actually find meaning in their suffering? Instead of making them feel flawed and in need of serious psychiatric help, what if we helped them recognize their unique gifts through curiosity and loving support? What if there are potential significant gains behind mental illness, and we’ve been treating it the wrong way for the past few centuries? The current mindset and approach seem a bit backwards to me.
The ways we’ve been conditioned to view mental illness and paranormal experiences are obviously limiting. Mental illness is seen as pointless suffering, and witnessing paranormal activity is either seen as absolute nonsense by the skeptics or a sign of a defective brain/sensory system that needs to be “fixed” through medication by mainstream psychiatry. I’m going to paraphrase a comment I read on a forum that illustrates the modern, limiting view of mental illness and paranormal experiences: “Your experiences sound very disturbing. I hope your new medications help you. Those entities you’ve seen are the products of your mind and nothing more. Embrace the medication’s ability to quiet the voices, and re-learn to see the world as it is: solid and un-magical.” So, in other words, people who might be able to perceive things beyond the physical realm need to dull their senses through medication because being highly sensitive is not normal, and absolutely none of that stuff you’ve seen is real anyway because all the “normal people” are the experts on what does and does not exist.
I’m extremely curious about why so many people have reported seeing shadow people inside their homes and other dark, shadowy figures during something that is clinically referred to as “sleep paralysis.” Could these paranormal entities possibly be interdimensional beings that can only be seen by people who have higher levels of sensitivity? Perhaps if you are tuned in to the right frequency, you can access bits and pieces of data that exist beyond our narrow field of perception in the third dimension. Or are the entities there to feed off the negative energy of those who are suffering or to increase their suffering, perhaps out of spite? I know someone of a skeptical mindset probably thinks all of this is a big load of crap, but I suspect there’s something more going on here than just silly hallucinations and delusions.
If you were to question a group of people diagnosed with mental illness or sleep paralysis about their paranormal experiences, shouldn’t each person report a unique experience that is significantly different from what everyone else had seen if it was merely a hallucination? Why do people often see the same beings and have such similar experiences? For example, countless people who’ve experienced sleep paralysis have encountered “the old hag” and “the hat man.” Watch this sleep paralysis documentary if you want to hear about people’s experiences with these supernatural beings. Some say the shadow entities are a race of malevolent supernatural beings, called the djinn, who despise and envy humans. Here is a book, The Vengeful Djinn, that can provide you with more information if you’re interested in learning about that. There were also the Gnostics who said that a group of beings called archons are feeding off human energy.
I’m not really attempting to explain why people with mental illness or sleep paralysis have reported paranormal experiences, but I trust that their experiences are valid and should be taken seriously because I trust my own experiences with the paranormal. People who’ve never witnessed any of this will continue to ridicule, criticize, be skeptical, and probably say something completely ignorant like “Go take your meds,” but I don’t think we should minimize our experiences and question ourselves simply because it’s not normal to see certain things. Maybe we possess certain abilities or traits others lack that have allowed us to have these experiences.
I can’t say for sure why any of these paranormal events occur. For now, maybe we should try to accept the fact that we don’t know why some people see entities while others don’t. We could also try to acknowledge that our perception of life and the world around us is very limited during this human experience. It would be truly ignorant if we were to say with confidence that we know all there is to know. I encourage everyone to look deeper into these matters with a curious, open mind instead of dismissing anything paranormal with skepticism and self-assured arrogance.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this or about any paranormal encounters you have experienced.
There is someone on wordpress who shares his paranormal experiences
http://elementalfraction.com
There are definitely many people who can see or hear non-incarnated entities.
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I’m excited to check out that blog! It’s always a delight to come across people who are open-minded and curious about the spirit world. Thank you for reading and commenting, Karin 🙂
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Personally, my friend and I have experiences shared (and with her 2 other friends who I no longer wish to associate) “visions” and can, with much energy, practice, and will, summon beings from the realm we both see into our vessels. Does this mean we have Multiple Personalities? Slightly. With the recent release of the movie SPLIT, my friend and I were apprehensive about what the movie would show, since we experience something of the like. Chopping it up to personalities is a terror. They’re people. Each with their own health, height, appearance, personality yes, etc. She can tell one of my (we’ll call them) mates something, but I will have no clue about it until it is revealed. The movie SPLIT does have one thing that we both have in common with the main character “Kevin”. Trauma. Depression. Anxiety. Does this make our mates any less real? We feel them, see them, hear them. Though, it is hard at times, because this Earthly world dislikes the invocation of these other beings. And no, they’re not all human. If you wish to learn or discuss more, please fill free to get a hold of me.
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Makayla, I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to reply to your comment. It basically sounds like you and your friend are channeling spirits, correct? I don’t doubt that some people have this ability. I hope you’re being careful about what kind of spirits you’re allowing into your space. I’m not all that knowledgeable about the different types of entities, but from what I’ve learned, some of them seem deceptive and try to feed off human energy. They’re sometimes called archons. Anyway, I think it’s important to use discernment and stay aware of what kind of effects spirits might have on humans. Stay safe, and thank you for commenting.
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Hi. I have bipolar disorder and experienced both psychosis and demonic contact. I’ve also experienced sleep paralysis. I hope you are open-minded enough to hear me out. I am. I also became a Christian two years back and are now able to discern between what is real and what not. I have a medical and psychological background and think I have a fairly simple answer to your question. I am going to explain it from my specific circumstances. From the psycological perspective: in most cases a combination of genetic inheritance and circumstances (for instance, trauma) can trigger a mental condition. Physically, how that is possible, we can find in physiology. Traumatic events stir up specific hormones e.g. adrenalin. After the incident the body returns to it’s normal state via a process called homeostasis. If the trauma is severe and prolonged the body finds it more and more difficult to return to the natural state, causing permanent dysfunction. Now the pituitary gland, we know is responsible for triggering hormonal releases. The pituitory gland (in new age…) is associated with spiritual awakening or opening of the third eye. This to me, explains why people with a traumatic background experiences supernatural things. The psychology (and medical and Biblical) field recognize humans as physical, mental and spiritual beings. We also know from human development that the lower bodily functions are coordinated and regulated by higher cognitive functions. Therefore the cortex of the brain “suppresses” lower functions (it integrates it and controls it). With a brain injury for example, if there is trauma to the cortex (gray matter), the lower uncontrolled reflexes become evident. In psychology we also suppress unpleasant traumatic events in the subconcious. (Again, the cortex controls these issues for the person to be able to function). I think God designed us so magnificintly in order to protect us from the spirit realm. This can be opened as explained above via physical and psychological means. (especially trauma) This makes especially “mentally ill” people more sensitive or suseptible to the spirit realm. Physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a person are intertwined and affect each other. Another way of opening the spiritual realm is via new age methodology or via accepting Jesus as Lord. From a Biblical perspective God warns us not to contact the dead etc. For good reason. These things can be frightening and damaging. The Bible explains these entities as demonic, not passed love ones. Opening the spirit realm deliberately via the wrong methods can cause us harm. Lots of people are attacked by demons (sometimes physically as well), which include the so-called sleep paralysis and demonic entities raping them in the spirit. Once opened they have a legal right to harass you however they please. In contrast God shows you His kingdom as you grow in faith. He reveals it to you as you trust in Him and are lead by His Holy Spirit. People can also see and experience these entities. Whereas these experiences (like “sleep paralysis”) are general in nature and can occur across cultural borders, halluscinations on the other hand, I think are more personal. The reason being that it ilicits your perceptual system (which again is also part of to your brain function). An example of the difference between a hallucination (which is one form of psychosis and also physical in nature) and contact with the spirit realm: lots of people in a room, you hear your mother speaking, but you know she is not there. (Here your memory and associations play a great role, because you remember how her voice sounds). You also have cognicance or meta-cognition to discern that it is not real. If you experience demonic entities like seeing them or if they attack you, you know it’s real and it’s frightening. It’s difficult to explain it to others that haven’t experienced something like it, because it is something you experience in the spirit. Some people only have the physical realm (e.g. physical pain) and psychological experiences (like emotional pain) as a reference. In conclusion I think people supress knowledge of the spiritual realm (as we are designed that way), but people with mental disabilities are more suseptible to the spiritual world due to physical and mental defects. The spirit realm is just as real as the physical and mental and are only meant to be experienced through The Holy Spirit Whom will protect us against evil spirits. He is also our Councelor and Healer. We do not need anything else that can be potentially harmful such as hypnosis, for instance. You are welcome to email me with more questioms and my full story and how Jesus saved me from all this.
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Hi Tes,
Thank you for commenting and taking the time to share your perspective on this topic. I definitely agree that stress from intense or prolonged trauma can affect the brain, the endocrine system, and likely all major body organs/systems. Perhaps in some cases, these physiological changes do in fact somehow open up a person’s ability to perceive much more than the average person can see. I’m just not sure that I would refer to it as a mental defect. When a child, who is raised in a relatively stable home and who also shows no signs of significant behavioral or emotional challenges, tells someone they’ve been seeing a ghost, is this due to a mental defect? Many people believe that children are more sensitive and psychically inclined than adults. Children have reported seeing a variety of entities. I don’t think these children have mental defects, and I am hesitant to say that a “mentally ill” person has a defect if they can see spirits also. Rather than humans being designed not to see spirits, I wonder if we are born with this ability instead and are gradually conditioned to be skeptical and distrustful toward our own perceptions. Perhaps it is more of a defect to be so shut off and disconnected from anything that is non-physical. Highly sensitive people, I believe, are more advanced in some ways compared to those we consider normal or average. The ability to notice more than others ought to be recognized as a gift or strength, but it’s typically pathologized or misunderstood since the majority cannot relate. This is just my current perspective, though. It seems that you and I can agree that people should not be so quick to label every unexplained paranormal related experience as a fake or a hallucination. There are still so many unanswered questions that remain about humans and our perception abilities.
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Hi. Yes. Thank you. I completely agree with you. I also think children are naturally more inclined to the useen. My take on normal development and psychology can also explain that these abilities are naturally open and supressed over time. (As the neurological system matures, and other factors and definitely also like you mentioned, we tend to gradually shut it out as our cognitive function matures. It then overrides our natural intuition). As I have also been “labeled” as “mentally ill”, I tried to come up with a way to logically and scientifically and even pathologically explain this to other people. And especially the difference between hallucinations and delusions and the very real spiritual realm. What is interesting to me also was that Jesus Himself said that we should be like children. (Meaning that we should believe like them)…As a new Christian I am gradually introduced to the spirit realm (the kingdom of God). The bible also mentions spiritual gifts…It’s all so very interesting. As far as for us being designed in a way to be protected, I meant to be protected from the “bad effects” of this. I believe it should be re-introduced by the Holy Spirit, unless of course we believed in Jesus from childhood. Thanks for your input.
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Hi Tes,
How can I contact you? I’d like to continue the conversation with you.
Sincerely, Mariel
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Amazing write up. I work at a Drug and Alcohol detox facility and myself and my techs are always talking about this. These people with these “illnesses” are seeing a true reality that most of us can never see. Why? No idea and maybe someday in my research ill find out but Charles Manson, sorry to bring him into this but he’s a perfect example of being on such a Higher wave length and so in tune with the true reality around us and not the perceived one most live that he comes across crazy and insane but truly he see the world through different eyes. Just as these others do to. They are enlightened in a way and don’t have the confines holding them inside a cell. It’s beautiful in all its ugly forms. Thank you for this sir
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Hi Zac. Have you read my comment?
I observed exactly what you have. I tried to explain the connection as I see it. Enjoy your day.
Tes
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Zac,
I agree that those who are more in tune with themselves and sensitive enough to pick up on what others don’t notice are often gifted and have a better shot at reaching deeper realizations about life and reality than the ones who judge them to be crazy fools. What is not understood by the majority typically gets written off as weird nonsense. Having a spiritual awakening or seeing entities could get someone sent to the hospital for an evaluation. Just shows how much we are presently lacking in knowledge and compassion in western society to treat people this way when they’re possibly accessing higher spiritual wisdom. We’re not prepared to help these people in a way that could be massively healing and transformative. I’m glad to hear you and your co-workers recognize that there’s potentially truth and wisdom in what many patients say and experience that a lot of people would not understand. Thank you for not dismissing them and their experiences, and thank you for commenting here.
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Thanks so much for sharing. When you said Djinn 🧞♀️🧞♂️ I knew I had opened up to evil. Honestly we wish they were like Genie from Aladdin.but they are not. They are just Satanic annoying
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Yes, I agree that there’s a good chance a lot of these entities are not benevolent. I currently lean towards the theory that they’re feeding on our energy and especially our suffering. Thank you for commenting.
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I really enjoyed your article and I completely agree with this comment. I have been diagnosed bipolar 2 and have been going through some spiritual awakening within the past few years that I have been dealing with the mood fluctuations as well. Last night I was in what I would call a hypomanic phase and when I was in that not quite asleep phase I saw (in my mind’s eye) an entity that I thought was an old frail woman although I couldn’t see the face right away It was just a shadow of someone hunched over in a cape and it looked over at me with a sadness and anger in her eyes; I got the sense that she was leaving my body and had been feeding on my deep depression I was dealing with the past few months. I told the entity that it no longer served me and to find the light and I called in my angels and guides to help protect me. I had a few flashbacks before going to sleep but it quickly subsided.
Thanks for sharing your article! It really helped me on my quest. I am very sensitive to energies myself and I don’t think I will research the dark shadows too much as it really tends to stick with me for a long period of time or give me nightmares. I used to watch scary or violent shows all the time and now I just can’t take it for some reason.
Anyway, off topic there. Thanks again for posting! I appreciate it!
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Hi Amber,
Thanks for sharing your experience here! I find it interesting that you saw this entity just before you fell asleep. When we’re in that not quite asleep yet phase, we’re entering into deeper relaxation which allows our guard to come down. This is likely why some people have strange experiences, like hearing voices and noises, when they become intensely drowsy from sleeping pills. Maybe the filters that usually block out sensory stimuli from other realms/dimensions become weakened and impaired as our brain and body relaxes.
This entity you saw sounds a lot like “the old hag” that people see during sleep paralysis episodes. From the accounts I’ve heard, it sounds like a malevolent entity. Even with entities that claim to be angels, guides, or ascended masters, I think it’s good to be cautious and use your intuition. There are possibly lots of masters of deception hanging out in other realms.
A lot of us who have been labeled bipolar at some point might instead be highly sensitive empaths. We’re often made to feel crazy or flawed, but maybe it’s just that our system requires unique attention and care that most people don’t understand. Your sensitivities might be increasing considering how you can no longer tolerate scary or violent shows. As our sensitivity increases, we know certain energies are no longer good for us.
Thank you again for taking the time to comment. I hope you continue finding answers that will help you learn and grow from your unique experiences 🙂
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