Paranormal investigation and ghost hunting has become a very popular pastime and money making business in recent years. There are numerous event companies out there who will take willing members of the public along to haunted locations to look for ghosts. Is this just harmelss fun though or are people putting their health at risk by attending these events?
Well, let's be honest there are real dangers and accidents waiting to happen sometimes. Risk assessment is important. That is why we always check out locations when we can before investigating and go round with the lights on for a bit to become orientated to the building : low ceilings, uneven floors, protruding branches can all cause injury. More of a worry is the chance of being knocked over by someone else in the room who has just had a fright and is trying to make a quick exit. That's why we try to keep as calm as possible if we see or hear something.
Ghost Sickness is not a new idea, it has its origins in Native American culture although nowadays it has been adopted by paranormal investigators/ghost hunters to explain the unpleasant side effects of investigation, frequent contact with the deceased and spending time in alleged haunted locations.
Originally it was used to describe symtoms attributed to the negative effects of ghosts or spells and hexes of witches, eg reduced appetite, weakness, fatigue, nightmares, anxiety, dizziness, fainting, feelings of terror and perhaps an unhealthy obsession with the deceased person believed to be causing the problems. Most of these symptoms are wide ranging and common to other diseases and disorders, especially clinical depression and other psychiatric disorders.
So what do we mean by ghost sickness?
The dangers of ghost hunting can include spirit attachment which we'll go into elsewhere. Other symptoms can be mental stress. A feeling of being 'drained' of energy is common following a rather active investigation. On top of this, sleep patterns can be altered to fit investigations into your spare time which can take its toll on your health. Of course, there's the psychological aftermath of being in a location where strong emotions linger. If you are sensitive in any way (maybe you don't even believe that you are) then you may have a profound emotional
experience. This can lead to all sorts of consequences, like nightmares, if it was a particularly bad experience, or embarrassment at your outburst or reaction (perhaps you started crying uncontrollably in front of a
group of strangers or peed your pants with fright).
Others have attributed bad luck and negative things happening to them to their involvement in paranormal investigation, eg redundancy, relationship breakdown, ill health, accidents... you name it, the paranormal gets the blame. However, various reasons for it all could be that its maybe just the effects from being rundown due to tiredness and spending too many nights away from home. Perhaps the relationship breakdown is due to your husband's jealousy at you staying out all night with a group of strange men, or your wife finds you boring becasue all you talk about is trigger objects and orb zone theory.
If you are a sceptic then I suppose you might think that the only dangers to the team would be injury from falls etc and perhaps stress or other psychological problems. There would be no chance of being hurt by a spirit/ghost or whatever they are. There shouldn't be any perceived harm from being disrespectful to the spirits either in that case.
I like to err on the side of caution, however. That's why we all do our preferred methods of protecion at the start of investigations. We try to be as respectful as we can to the 'spirits' even though some people might believe that more results could be obtained by winding the spirits up. Thankfully, nobody in the team has been inured except for Mike during our first investigation at Lathones Inn. He was scratched on his neck and forehead and didn't even notice. Another attempt to hurt or frighten one of us was made at the Forest Hills Hotel when a heavy door shut in Gordon's face. Those are the only 2 physical attacks I can think of in 4 years of doing this.
Psychic attack - well that's a different story and one which I may go into at a later date. I have witnessed enought to believe in the dangers. Can spirits follow us home ? Yep, I believe so but, you are all welcome to your own thoughts.
