3 Paranormal Experiences That Have Caught The Attention Of Mental Health Researchers – Forbes

New studies attempt to integrate unreal experiences with reality.

Transcendent, mystical, and out-of-body experiences are becoming a mainstream conversation not just in pop culture, but also in the field of psychological research. While more and more studies are cropping up to try to determine the causes and nature of these experiences, it can still feel unnerving to actually go through one.

Luckily, there has been a resurgence of literature on these seemingly fringe areas of human perception specifically psychedelic, mystical, and ghostly episodes. Heres some information on each to make you feel less alone and less frightened in case you encounter one in the future.

#1. Psychedelic experiences

Psychedelic experiences and psychedelic therapy have shown early promise in the treatment of otherwise intractable conditions such as major depression, existential anxiety, addiction, and PTSD.

Not just that, psychedelics such as psilocybin and ayahuasca that have been used in shamanic cultures for centuries have been known to induce feelings of deep interconnectedness, joy, love, and awe relieving people of the distressing effects of neuroticism and negative emotions.

In some cases, these psychedelics have caused long-term positive personality changes.

However, since there is a lot that we dont understand about these substances, it is important to be mindful of the following factors, should you choose to have such an experience. Here are a few recommendations given by psychologist and psychedelia researcher, Sam Gandy:

#2. Mystical experiences

According to a recent study, mystical experiences, such as feeling like you are part of a higher force and/or temporarily losing touch with time and space (not induced by drugs), can be indicative of healthy psychological functioning even though it is often thought to be associated with psychological illness.

Such a mystical experience characterized by feelings of joy, happiness, unconditional love, collective consciousness and divine predetermination is actually connected to spiritual intelligence that includes a set of adaptive abilities such as:

Psychologists Daiga Katrna Bitna and Kristne Mrtinsone of Rga Stradi University in Riga, Latvia have the following advice for anyone who might be struggling to come to terms with a mystical experience:

The most practical advice for a person who has experienced a mystical experience is, at least initially, to understand that this experience may be part of spiritual development or that it may be a symptom of pathology, they explain. It is important to accept both views at the same time with an open view and the fact that they can both coexist. Don't choose between either but try to understand how it is and how I should react to what I am experiencing.

#3. Ghostly experiences

A ghostly episode or a haunting is probably the most controversial of the three paranormal experiences discussed in this article and is often the toughest to come to terms with. It is important to understand that even these experiences come under the purview of psychological research and, more importantly, are real.

Firstly, if you have had a ghostly experience or an anomalous experience, chances are you are high on the trait of transliminality a concept that represents a thin boundary between the conscious self and unconscious self, as well as the outside environment, according to psychologist Brian Laythe.

Information from any of these sources tends to pass more easily within a person high in transliminality, informs Laythe. The state and trait nature of transliminality share relationships with creativity, imagination, fantasy traits, disassociation, and temporal lobe lability.

According to Laythe, whether or not people choose to interpret anomalous experiences as paranormal, they do not have to feel alone or crazy for having gone through them due to the following reasons:

Laythe points out that ghostly episodes, shamanic experiences, and general high strangeness have been well documented throughout history. Furthermore, over 100 years of modern empirical psychology show they are not going away despite changes in society's zeitgeist.

In these sorts of experiences, knowing that your experience is actually not uncommon, and has some predictable components is often helpful, he concludes.

Conclusion: There is much to be discovered and explained by psychology and research, especially when it comes to such extraordinary experiences. If you or a loved one has had one of these experiences, it is important to know that they are far more common than you think and do not necessarily point to a pathology. In the case of psychedelics, they may even serve as a beneficial course of treatment.

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3 Paranormal Experiences That Have Caught The Attention Of Mental Health Researchers - Forbes