The following article could have been added to any one of our subsections within this website. However, since fear of ghosts is found in all age groups and cultures we thought it might be most helpful here.
Fear!
You're alone in the house on a dark foggy night when you hear the thunder crack and you watch as the lightning lights up the sky. Then all of a sudden the lights go out and the house goes black!. You hear a noise behind you and freeze in terror. Your heart seems to miss a beat and your breath catches in your chest. As you slowly turn around the lights flicker back to life and you see that your cat has knocked over your favorite plant that you keep in the corner.
Sound familiar ? To most people it would. The feeling of fear is something we have all felt and we have all experienced in one way or another. It may not be a thunderstorm while you are alone. It may be something hiding under your bed. Or something lurking in the closet at night. Or maybe something more general like clowns or dolls. It might even be a fear of someone breaking into your home. The feeling is all the same no matter what form the fear takes. Fear doesn't discriminate, It effects the very young and the very old and everyone in between. So then what is it ? Where does it come from ? And how do we deal with it?
As mentioned above fear comes in many forms, and every person has their own fears. Do you know that fears change throughout a person's life? The main fear in children is monsters, with young women it is being alone, and the older you get the more you fear death.So there are the top fears, but that doesn't explain what it actually is.
Fear is the body's reaction to what scares you. So fear is not really the problem. The fear itself is meant to help you.The body reacts to a situation that may be harmful to you and it makes you pay attention to whatever is going on or whatever you think maybe going on around you.
Fear can come from many different places. Depending on the person and the experiences they have had in their lives. What scares one person may not another. For example if you have just watched a scary movie that has something to do with a phone ringing and then all of a sudden your phone rings that may scare you, while your friend that watched the movie with you has no problem with it. However the clown figurine sitting in your china cabinet may scare them. The phone is easy to explain. You just watched a horror film involving the phone and when the phone rings your mind goes back for a quick second and associates it with the movie. The china clown is much harder and more interesting to try and figure out. It could go back to a horror film or it could go back to a bad experience at a circus as a child. Sometimes there is no known reason for the fear but it can be useful and fun sometimes to try and think back to when the fear started and try to figure it out.
Thinking back to when and how a fear started maybe a good way to try and deal with or even conquer a fear. Trying to figure out the reason sometimes removes the fear. It allows you trace it back and work through what it was that first started it. I have heard over and over that the best way to deal with fear is to face it head on. And this has been the way most people have dealt with it. For example the only way to know if someone is hiding behind the shower curtain is to???
Ok so there is two (2) answers to this one.
#1. You pull the shower curtain back and see that there is nothing there and go on with your night.
OR
#2 you stay in the corner of the room staring at the curtain all night waiting for someone to jump out.
The first one does two (2) things. It makes you stand up and face it and it lets you know there is nothing there and you don't waste your time and energy being afraid all night Choice number two (2) leaves you standing in the corner all night being afraid and feeling foolish in the morning when the daylight hits and you decided to look and you are now tired and exhausted from the whole thing.. So maybe dealing with it is the best option. But the main thing to remember is that no matter what it is that you are afraid of, you are not alone! Everyone feels fear at some point and it does not make you a chicken or less than someone else. It is a normal reaction. Talking about it also helps. I have had many nights that I have kept friends up online or the phone and to them I am grateful.
So in closing thank you to Penny Dobson and Heather Anderson, both of PSICAN, without your help and listening in the past months this article would not have been written.
Fear!
You're alone in the house on a dark foggy night when you hear the thunder crack and you watch as the lightning lights up the sky. Then all of a sudden the lights go out and the house goes black!. You hear a noise behind you and freeze in terror. Your heart seems to miss a beat and your breath catches in your chest. As you slowly turn around the lights flicker back to life and you see that your cat has knocked over your favorite plant that you keep in the corner.
Sound familiar ? To most people it would. The feeling of fear is something we have all felt and we have all experienced in one way or another. It may not be a thunderstorm while you are alone. It may be something hiding under your bed. Or something lurking in the closet at night. Or maybe something more general like clowns or dolls. It might even be a fear of someone breaking into your home. The feeling is all the same no matter what form the fear takes. Fear doesn't discriminate, It effects the very young and the very old and everyone in between. So then what is it ? Where does it come from ? And how do we deal with it?
As mentioned above fear comes in many forms, and every person has their own fears. Do you know that fears change throughout a person's life? The main fear in children is monsters, with young women it is being alone, and the older you get the more you fear death.So there are the top fears, but that doesn't explain what it actually is.
Fear is the body's reaction to what scares you. So fear is not really the problem. The fear itself is meant to help you.The body reacts to a situation that may be harmful to you and it makes you pay attention to whatever is going on or whatever you think maybe going on around you.
Fear can come from many different places. Depending on the person and the experiences they have had in their lives. What scares one person may not another. For example if you have just watched a scary movie that has something to do with a phone ringing and then all of a sudden your phone rings that may scare you, while your friend that watched the movie with you has no problem with it. However the clown figurine sitting in your china cabinet may scare them. The phone is easy to explain. You just watched a horror film involving the phone and when the phone rings your mind goes back for a quick second and associates it with the movie. The china clown is much harder and more interesting to try and figure out. It could go back to a horror film or it could go back to a bad experience at a circus as a child. Sometimes there is no known reason for the fear but it can be useful and fun sometimes to try and think back to when the fear started and try to figure it out.
Thinking back to when and how a fear started maybe a good way to try and deal with or even conquer a fear. Trying to figure out the reason sometimes removes the fear. It allows you trace it back and work through what it was that first started it. I have heard over and over that the best way to deal with fear is to face it head on. And this has been the way most people have dealt with it. For example the only way to know if someone is hiding behind the shower curtain is to???
Ok so there is two (2) answers to this one.
#1. You pull the shower curtain back and see that there is nothing there and go on with your night.
OR
#2 you stay in the corner of the room staring at the curtain all night waiting for someone to jump out.
The first one does two (2) things. It makes you stand up and face it and it lets you know there is nothing there and you don't waste your time and energy being afraid all night Choice number two (2) leaves you standing in the corner all night being afraid and feeling foolish in the morning when the daylight hits and you decided to look and you are now tired and exhausted from the whole thing.. So maybe dealing with it is the best option. But the main thing to remember is that no matter what it is that you are afraid of, you are not alone! Everyone feels fear at some point and it does not make you a chicken or less than someone else. It is a normal reaction. Talking about it also helps. I have had many nights that I have kept friends up online or the phone and to them I am grateful.
So in closing thank you to Penny Dobson and Heather Anderson, both of PSICAN, without your help and listening in the past months this article would not have been written.