Self Induced Hauntings: Can We Create The Boogeyman???

By Ryan Harshbarger

I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experience behind him. Eleanor Roosevelt

“Times are tough these days.” With the economy crisis and people losing their jobs, homes and families being forced to live below their normal means of survival. It's no wonder that so many claims of paranormal activity have began to surface. Stress has became any everyday emotion for most of us that have been affected by these rough times. Can this cause us to create a buffet for spirits to feed on? If you are familiar with poltergeist activity then you might concur with this possibility. Stressful homes are a playground so to speak for those on the other side. Due to all the residual energy that is left behind by families that are undergoing changes that they are normally not accustomed to can build up, and cause the sightings of shadow people and many other forms of the unknown to make its presence known. If you have any familiarity with how energy works and how it flows then you can understand that stressful homes can in fact become saturated with malevolent spirits.

I worked a case where a family was being troubled by apparitions appearing in the hallways and electrical devices acting strangely. As I began to investigate the recent changes within the home that could be the catalyst of this haunting. I learned that the husband had recently been laid off and the wife recently became another statistic with her business going under. I was curious about how close these occurrences began after these unfortunate events, and the wife informed me “not until the home went into foreclosure.” Later that night after learning this terrible addition to an already tragic shift I began to notice a sense of heaviness as well and some shadowy figures manifesting in the main hallway. I noticed as well that upon entering the home that the upkeep was less than standard “as far as cleanliness goes,” this is another level to the building blocks of a haunting that I have learned over my years in the field. I was always taught that the cleanliness of our home is a reflection of ourselves. I see it as, “if a home is tidy and neat than the person is usually chipper and happy,” but “if a home is crowded, dusty and dirty than that person is usually unhappy and depressed.” “To summarize the analogy a home's upkeep is a reflection of our own emotions.”

The same philosophy applies to individuals that are dealing with health issues. They seem to be more susceptible to run-ins with the paranormal as well. Stress is an emotion that opens a lot of doors that not always can be explained by science. So here is a question to ponder, “can a person that suffers from mental illness be haunted?” “Where does the mental illness end and the hauntings begin?”

If we shut ourselves off from society and trap ourselves in our own worlds we are basically becoming the perfect target. Many reclusive and troubled individuals claim to experience paranormal activity. The sad part is that many professionals deem them as merely undergoing “psychological disorders” such as bi-polar schizophrenia or under the influence of some sort of illegal drugs. What if their claims were actually legit? What if the traumatic experiences that the subject has experienced did actually open them up to some sort of unknown realm? I know the skeptics will probably say “they need professional help” and in some cases that very well may be true. Trauma, depression, death and negative emotions are a gateway to experiences that may not be as simple as black and white. We unfortunately live in a time currently that is full of all sorts of heavy emotions and many people are experiencing hauntings so we are left with many unanswered questions. I too have been an example of this theory. In moments where stress levels have been high and my health was below par I have freaked myself out and have seen things creeping in the shadows. I want to open this article up to the readers and see what kind of different thoughts you the reader have. I personally believe that moments of despair are the roots that bloom into ghostly trees.

Okay, so think about all the times that you have experienced something unexplainable and ask yourselves “what were your emotions at that current time?” Did you recently lose someone? Were you in a bad mood?

 Have you ever been on a ghost hunt with your team, and at a location that you are unfamiliar with?  Were you given info about that certain place you suddenly started to experience? The human mind can easily be manipulated subconsciously especially in moments of weakness. There is a test you can try for yourselves the next time you're hunting with your team members take two separate locations 1) a home or whatever that has absolutely no paranormal claims at all and 2) a home you get, that in-fact has a plethora of ghouls lurking, and don't tell the lucky candidates which is which just the stories and see what happens. I can guarantee you that no matter what story you tell you will have all sorts of personal experiences in the location that isn't even haunted.......... Try It I Dare You!!!!!!!!

I am one of those skeptics that believes. I am just skeptical of most evidence that is presented to the public. No one has yet to provide any substantial evidence to conclude that ghost even exist to the scientific community. I have seen things, heard things and experienced many things that I cannot explain. I know that there is more to life than what we see and understand but I think that too many teams are getting a little carried away with what they are claiming as actual evidence. So we need to start taking more time to examine what we present, and use our brains to analyze instead of convincing ourselves that we have captured the undead with security cameras and fluctuations in the natural EMF.

Believe me I cannot wait to see a piece that stumps everyone, I would cherish that moment forever: Until then I am convinced that most claims can be explained by folklore and imagination.....

We can convince ourselves of many things, as a child I would scream because I used to think my G.I Joe's were creating a conspiracy to murder me in my sleep. Atmospheres that are unique and or a bit creepy always hold tales of some kind of mystery. If we can separate ourselves from that human flaw of creating the boogeyman in every dark corner, and injected a bit more logic and question the scary stories perhaps one day we can better understand the unknown. We are all products of our own surroundings and like the client's that are under stress or the man who is ill. We have to ask ourselves can we create these hauntings and are they the real kind????