Ghost Stories: Visits from the Deceased: Scientific American
The dead stay with us, that much is clear. They remain in our hearts and minds, of course, but for many people they also linger in our senses—as sights, sounds, smells, touches or presences. Grief hallucinations are a normal reaction to bereavement but are rarely discussed, because people fear they might be considered insane or mentally destabilised by their loss. As a society we tend to associate hallucinations with things like drugs and mental illness, but we now know that hallucinations are common in sober healthy people and that they are more likely during times of stress.
Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 6:54
I’m with Nick. I’ve felt the presence of my father looking over my shoulder many times since his passing earlier this year. Living far from him while he was living, the thing that strikes me is that I feel him closer now that he is gone from this earth than I did while he was living. I feel his support and encouragement. Is it just in my head? I don’t know and don’t much care, I just savor it.
Exactly! There’s no need to find solutions, or even to know reasons, for non-problems.
Friday, December 5, 2008 at 17:48
I agree.
I also believe that hallucinations also come in serene times as well as stressful ones.
The past couple of days I have been hallucinating/communicating with my father, who died 25 years ago. No stress brought that on. I have been feeling more centered and peaceful than I have felt in years.